EWA Marine flexible housings - any experience with them?

The short answer is you don't want a housed anything for a rafting trip,
esp. not a high $ digital anything, IMHO. The biggest risk for flooding is
in shallow water too (less water pressure), e.g., while snorkeling.

For rafting and casual snorkeling, I'd pick a nikonos camera (used V?);
they're hocky pucks, take a beating, and have great optics. Scan the film
if you need digital images. You can resell for little loss after your
trip, if you don't decide to keep it for wet weather work etc. ;-)

You can buy a nikonos for less than the ewa marine bag new prices. Even
better, look into renting. You can often rent for a weekend or week at
some resorts or rafting operations. Alternatives like rugged
water-resistant P&S 35mm cameras can also be useful, if less rugged than
the nikonos III or V series.

If you do elect to go housing or esp. ewa marine bag, be sure to check out
your insurance protection will cover such use (Pro? householder?) You may
be looking at a 1% to 5% or worse chance of loss from a flooded digicam
depending on experience and housing and conditions during use (e.g.,
rafting). The cast metal housings would be more compact and not much more
$$, but you really have to have a good reason for spending these kinds of
$$ to make some images, or cash to burn? ;-)

I have at least a dozen underwater housings (See for example rollei TLR
http://medfmt.8k.com/bronrollei.html and my hysterical bronica 6x6cm SLR
ikelite housing http://medfmt.8k.com/bronuw.html , as well as some ewa
marine 35mm slr bags (I like them for casual travel, surf and rain stuff,
with cheap 35mm SLRs..), housed 8mm and even a 16mm film camera (courtesy
of NASA surplus), hasselblad Superwide housing, half dozen 35mm Ikelite
housings, etc. etc. In your shoes, the first thing I'd grab would be the
nikonos cameras - hocky pucks, very compact, fit inside thin wet suit
nicely etc. ;-)

hth good luck! bobm

--
************************************************** *********************
* Robert Monaghan POB 752182 Southern Methodist Univ. Dallas Tx 75275 *
********************Standard Disclaimers Apply*************************

The short answer is you don't want a housed anything for a rafting trip,
esp. not a high $ digital anything, IMHO. The biggest risk for flooding is
in shallow water too (less water pressure), e.g., while snorkeling.

For rafting and casual snorkeling, I'd pick a nikonos camera (used V?);
they're hocky pucks, take a beating, and have great optics. Scan the film
if you need digital images. You can resell for little loss after your
trip, if you don't decide to keep it for wet weather work etc. ;-)

You can buy a nikonos for less than the ewa marine bag new prices. Even
better, look into renting. You can often rent for a weekend or week at
some resorts or rafting operations. Alternatives like rugged
water-resistant P&S 35mm cameras can also be useful, if less rugged than
the nikonos III or V series.

If you do elect to go housing or esp. ewa marine bag, be sure to check out
your insurance protection will cover such use (Pro? householder?) You may
be looking at a 1% to 5% or worse chance of loss from a flooded digicam
depending on experience and housing and conditions during use (e.g.,
rafting). The cast metal housings would be more compact and not much more
$$, but you really have to have a good reason for spending these kinds of
$$ to make some images, or cash to burn? ;-)

I have at least a dozen underwater housings (See for example rollei TLR
http://medfmt.8k.com/bronrollei.html and my hysterical bronica 6x6cm SLR
ikelite housing http://medfmt.8k.com/bronuw.html , as well as some ewa
marine 35mm slr bags (I like them for casual travel, surf and rain stuff,
with cheap 35mm SLRs..), housed 8mm and even a 16mm film camera (courtesy
of NASA surplus), hasselblad Superwide housing, half dozen 35mm Ikelite
housings, etc. etc. In your shoes, the first thing I'd grab would be the
nikonos cameras - hocky pucks, very compact, fit inside thin wet suit
nicely etc. ;-)

hth good luck! bobm

--
************************************************** *********************
* Robert Monaghan POB 752182 Southern Methodist Univ. Dallas Tx 75275 *
********************Standard Disclaimers Apply*************************

In article ,
says...
In your shoes, the first thing I'd grab would be the
nikonos cameras - hocky pucks, very compact, fit inside thin wet suit
nicely etc. ;-)

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into that, even though I'm enjoying the
extra desk space not taken up by a scanner!

I guess the other option would be getting a cheap P&S digital and one of
the molded housings for them. Those seem to be fairly simple and allow
full functionality, and if it drowns - well, not AS big of a deal!
--
http://www.pbase.com/bcbaird/

In article ,
says...
In your shoes, the first thing I'd grab would be the
nikonos cameras - hocky pucks, very compact, fit inside thin wet suit
nicely etc. ;-)

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into that, even though I'm enjoying the
extra desk space not taken up by a scanner!

I guess the other option would be getting a cheap P&S digital and one of
the molded housings for them. Those seem to be fairly simple and allow
full functionality, and if it drowns - well, not AS big of a deal!
--
http://www.pbase.com/bcbaird/

Brian C. Baird wrote in message ...
In article ,
says...
In your shoes, the first thing I'd grab would be the
nikonos cameras - hocky pucks, very compact, fit inside thin wet suit
nicely etc. ;-)

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into that, even though I'm enjoying the
extra desk space not taken up by a scanner!

I guess the other option would be getting a cheap P&S digital and one of
the molded housings for them. Those seem to be fairly simple and allow
full functionality, and if it drowns - well, not AS big of a deal!

I went the route of the Ewa Marine's U-AXP for my snorkeling
trip to the Caribbean. I was very pleased with the result
My Canon Digital Rebel stayed completely dry. Here are
some photos of the housing plus some examples of photos
I took :

http://www.mikewelch.com/photogaller...water_housing/

I was glad I made the decision to use the DR and not a P&S.

Good Luck,

-Mike

Brian C. Baird wrote in message ...
In article ,
says...
In your shoes, the first thing I'd grab would be the
nikonos cameras - hocky pucks, very compact, fit inside thin wet suit
nicely etc. ;-)

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into that, even though I'm enjoying the
extra desk space not taken up by a scanner!

I guess the other option would be getting a cheap P&S digital and one of
the molded housings for them. Those seem to be fairly simple and allow
full functionality, and if it drowns - well, not AS big of a deal!

I went the route of the Ewa Marine's U-AXP for my snorkeling
trip to the Caribbean. I was very pleased with the result
My Canon Digital Rebel stayed completely dry. Here are
some photos of the housing plus some examples of photos
I took :

http://www.mikewelch.com/photogaller...water_housing/

I was glad I made the decision to use the DR and not a P&S.

Good Luck,

-Mike