Thursday, March 28, 2024
DEMA Show CoverageThe Ikelite Equation: Great Tools + Better Photographers = Stunning Photos

The Ikelite Equation: Great Tools + Better Photographers = Stunning Photos

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DeeperBlue.com stopped by Ikelite‘s booth at DEMA Show 2015, and found out that the company wants to let you in on a little secret: You don’t have to be a professional photographer with thousands upon thousands of dollars in fancy camera equipment to capturing breath-taking underwater images.

It’s just a matter of the right combination of an artistic eye, an interesting subject, and great tools. You worry about getting your creative self into the water, they’ve got the tools covered.

Every aspect of the new housing they’re releasing is designed to be customizable and durable. Made of a polycarbonate ABS blend, it’s lightweight so you can focus on setting up the perfect shot instead of using all your energy to keep the camera steady.

An opaque ivory-colored body reflects light rather than absorbing it, so your camera will stay cool even under the bright sun.

Like their cousins in the extensive Ikelite housing family, the new system has a clear acrylic back door which enables you to see every millimeter of the o-ring. The best protection against a flooded camera, after all, is complete transparency.

The door that comes standard is the lightweight option, suitable for everything from surfing, snorkeling or editorial shots at the surface to underwater images at depths of up to 45 feet. A second, thicker door is available for when you want to take your camera deep.

The stripped-down, standard housing further cuts weight by incorporating only the essential controls and no electronics, though you can add them after-market. Also available are a whole plethora of lights and filters — including one that’s dichroic for capturing biofluorescent shots, as well as lens ports and even viewfinders. Each option is modular, so you can keep adding to your toolkit and expanding your capabilities piece by piece.

If you’re worried that fewer onboard controls will diminish the quality of your shots, let us put your mind at ease. Ikelite offers a unique feature called “Through-the-Lens,” or TTL technology. This allows the camera and flash to communicate directly, shutting off the flash when the exposure is right. That’s especially useful for quickly-moving subjects like fish, and it means you have one fewer variable to worry about.

With a reliable, intuitive tool like the Ikelite housing and lighting system, you’re free to focus on composition, which is the real secret to making extraordinary images.

The fixed ring port is secured with three thumb screws rather than twisting on, which eliminates the worry of torquing the o-ring, and the larger diameter will accommodate today’s popular wide-angle lenses. Ikelite products are made in the USA, and every unit is pressure-tested to 200′ and alignment-tested to ensure the best-quality photos.

Whether you’re an enthusiastic amateur or a professional who likes to keep their options open, Ikelite has a system for you. The guys at the booth were especially excited by the Underwater Compact TTL Housing, Canon EOS 100D Rebel SL1 DSLR Camera, and Lens Kit package (MSRP: US$1,900). They told us to be on the lookout for some excellent video tutorials in 2016, in addition to the comprehensive Photo School you can find on their website. Even their catalog is sprinkled with tips for taking better photos.

Simply put, the good people at Ikelite are doing everything they can to help you take great pictures, no matter what you choose to shoot or how you want to shoot it.

Erin Durbin-Sherer
Erin Durbin-Shererhttps://www.deeperblue.com
Erin began diving in 2012 as preparation for a trip to Hawaii and before the year was out she'd left her old life behind to work in the dive industry full-time. When she's not out exploring the deep and collecting c-cards, you might find her making art or working on her master's thesis in cultural anthropology at San Diego State University. Erin is an Associate Editor with DeeperBlue.com.

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