Add a Handle & Stabilizing Tray to your Olympus PT-059 Underwater Hous

Logan Wood shows you how to attach a stabilizing Tray and Handle to your Olympus PT-059 underwater housing. This will make your housing more ergonomic and allow you to attach accessories like an Ikelite TLL Strobe or Cable Top Grip.

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Benefits of a Tray & Handle

A tray with the handle makes your housing more comfortable to hold both underwater and on the surface. It can also help you get better photos and video by adding stability to your system. The Ikelite Action Tray II has a curved, rubberized grip which fits really nicely in your hand, and has a unique quick release mount that allows you to efficiently add and remove external lighting to fit your shooting style.

Once you have your handle set up, you can quickly add your TTL Strobe to the top of the handle and you can even throw on a Right Hand Quick Release Handle to have a dual tray and a second strobe. You could also use the same ball mounts to attach the Cable Top Grip to carry the housing around on the surface.

olympus tough housing with ikelite handle and strobe

The one can't-miss accessory for underwater photography is proper lighting. Our Action Tray II makes incorporating our state of the art TTL Strobes a breeze.

Attaching the Adapter to the Housing

If you're shooting on an Olympus PT-059 housing for the Tough TG Series, you'll need an adapter set to attach the Action Tray to the bottom of the housing.

We're going to get started with the adapter kit, which comes with the adapter itself and two 1/4-20 screws. Flip the housing over, place the adapter on the bottom, and simply slot in the 1/4-20 screws, and just tighten them down. We're already halfway there.

Attaching the Action Tray II

Now we're just going to grab our Action Tray and the two 1/4-20 screws that came with it. When attaching the action tray, we want the silver quick release button to be facing you as the user. On the bottom of the housing, put the action tray on and line up the three 1/4-20 slots with the adapter. Drop in the screws and tighten them down using a screw driver.

ikelite action tray ii for olympus housing

Tray alignment with 1/4-20 screws, note that you want the silver quick release button on the handle to be facing you while the housing is in use underwater.

That's all it takes! Now you have an ergonomic tray and handle for your Olympus PT-059 housing. This simple upgrade helps you accommodate strobes and a cable grip handle and will make using your housing that much easier.

Looking for more assembly tips or underwater photography guides? Check out our Photo School which has 650+ articles all geared at making you the best underwater photographer you can be.

Logan Wood is a published photographer, cinematographer, and Producer at Ikelite. Stemming from a great appreciation for the outdoors and living an active lifestyle, his work focuses on capturing and sharing the natural world through the latest technologies. When not in the studio, Logan can be found cruising on his bike, going to concerts, and researching where to go next. You can see more of his work at loganwood.net and on Instagram @jlowood