Underwater photography with the Sony A100 and Ikelite #6841

I have been diving since 1999 and have been photographing for many year more. During my first diving lessons in the pool I already was experimenting with a simple Canon AS-1 to take some shots. After some years of shooting with a Sony F707 and Olympus C4000, I switched to a digital SLR, the Minolta 5D. This choice was mainly based on the fact that I still possessed a number of Minolta lenses from my analogue body. But I couldn't get a underwater housing for the 5D.

When Sony took control of the Minolta photography department and introduced the Alpha 100 (in fact this is the 5D with a higher resolution sensor and a number of new features), Ikelite soon followed with their DSLR housing for this camera.

After some doubts about choosing Ikelite (I did own the Ikelite F707 housing in the past) or a housing by BS Kinetics, I again decided to go for the Ikelite. Most important consideration for this was the excellent experiences with the Ikelite DS-125 strobe I already owned and which would fit directly on the Ikelite housing and not on the BS Kinetics.

I have already over 180 logged dives with photo equipment, of which 42 with the Sony A100.

Apparatuur

The Ikelite #6841 DSLR housing for the Sony A100 is a plastic housing that has a maximum operational depth of 60 meters, personally I never went below 55 meters with it.

The housing is based on a standard design for DSLRs, that gets customized buttons and controls depending on the type of camera that it should house. Complete specs are available on the Ikelite website.

Every function of the camera can be controlled under water, which presents a large number of buttons in front of you. These are in some cases somewhat tightly positioned, but even with drysuit gloves I managed to take photos. Each lens you put on the camera requires a different port. These are simple pressed to the front of the housing and locked in place with 2 clips.

The nicest part of the housing is the TTL circuitry and exposure correction. When the camera has been screwed onto the base tray, a special connector can be attached to the flash show which leads the signal through special electronics to the external strobe. Together with Ikelite strobes, this results in a super combination that delivers correct exposure most of the times.

With a dial on the back of the housing you can set 1 1/2 stop over- and underexposure, or you can use it to lower the output from full to -3 stops when in manual mode.

Ervaringen onder water

My workhorse is the Minolta 50mm f2.8 macro lens, one of the first series released in the 80s. Autofocus is slow, but the images are very sharp and the colors are very realistic. I use this lens behind an Ikelite flat port. Also use the Minolta 16mm f2.8 fisheye behind a 6 or 8 inch dome port. On a full frame sensor, this lens would deliver 180 degrees of image, but on the APS-C format sensor of the A100 it delivers a mere 110 degrees. It focuses much quicker, and also produces very sharp images.

The 6 inch dome is nice and compact, the 8 inch is actually just a little to big. 8 inch is nice for half-half shots, but the 6 inch suffices for all other photos.

It took me quite some time to get used to an underwater DSLR. Especially looking peeking the view finder instead of watching the LCD screen is a little difficult at first: you body already has a different position under water and you then need to look through a fairly small window from a distance to compose the picture. But I did learn the skill, and the benefits when compared to my F707 are still very much worth it. The shutter lag is no longer an issue, so when I press the release the camera takes a photo of what you were looking at and not what would happen 0,4 seconds later.

With the circuitry I now finally also benefit from real TTL with the external strobe. It no longer needs to fire at full power, and often is recharged within half a second to illuminate the next photo.

I usually switch the camera to manual mode. For macro I set it to 1/60 second and an aperture of f10. At f16 the strobe still supplies sufficient light, but at smaller apertures some shot will get turn out too dark. For the fisheye lens I often measure the background light, and end up setting the camera to f6.7 or f8 at 1/60 sec. Sometimes I tend to use the fisheye in the P-mode (automatic exposure), which delivers good results in most cases.

The white balance remains on automatic and I take most photos on high quality JPEG, I am so far not convinced of the benefits of RAW. I like the results of the JPEGs and I do not (yet) require the additional features offered by RAW.

Conclusion

The major drawbacks:

• The size of the housing is both a pro and con. It does provide stability under water, but it is just a little to heavy to operate with one hand (e.g. when using a finger on a rock to help position yourself). Taking my whole set on a plane means an additional 10kg of baggage (still carry-on though).
• Sony and Minolta are still fairly small players. Their small market causes reluctance amongst manufacturers to develop equipment for Sony/Minolta cameras. For example, Tokina has produced a fisheye lens that can deliver 180 degrees on APS-C sensors, but it will not be available with Minolta-type mount.
• Autofocus by Sony/Minolta is not the quickest. The AF motor is part of the camera's body and not in the lens, and thus not as fast as Canon and Nikon. This makes it difficult to shoot fast targets (shark / dolphins).
• Choosing lenses/ports in advance. It is no longer possible to attach wide angle or macro lens when under water. Before jumping into the water with a DSLR, you must have decided what you will be photographing.

The benefits:

• Anti Shake. The camera has a sensor with anti-shake functionality. Every lens thus "comes with" image stabilisation and can be used in dim light conditions.
• Minolta colors. Many Minolta lenses deliver saturated colors. Combined with Sony's BIONZ image processor nice and colorful images are always obtained.

Taking a digital SLR under water is not cheap. But you get what you pay for as the results are excellent, especially when also investing in quality lenses.

Ikelite offer high quality for a reasonable price. Agreed, many metal housing do look much more impressive, but they come at a price. The nicest feature of Ikelite housings is their transparent body that allows you to spot even the tiniest drops of water and abort the dive before irreparable damage is done.

I can recommend this set to every diver with a Sony A100, I did not have any regrets. When you are starting underwater photography with a DSLR and you are (not) yet attached to a specific brand, Sony might not be the best choice at this time due to their small market share. But I suspect that the balance will shift in a few years time.

Review by: Jaap Voets. More A100 underwater photos can be viewed at the Ultimate Dive Log

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