Feedback needed for Meikon, Nauticam, or Sea & Sea housing for Sony a6000?

[Divezilla]

I think that is partially because it's so new.

Here's my 2 cents of logic.

The a6000 will be last years news quickly. Just like the NEX 5 or Olympus EM5 etc.
The premium housings for these cameras are typically 2x the price of the body. (I just bought my a6000 with two kit zooms for 800)

IF I buy an expensive housing, and IF I buy into the systems LENSES/PORTS AND I want to dive different lenses and ports...

Then it may make sense to spend 2 to 3x the cost of the camera body for a housing.​

And this makes it a long term investment in this systems lens family that I want to protect​

And therefore the cost of lenses and ports will be more than the cost of the housing and body​

Then I may want to buy a premium housing and port family

I should also buy a spare a6000 body, because it will be hard to find an a6000 retail 3 years from now​

Now, if I live in an area where I'm diving a lot, .. then I'd buy the more expensive aluminum housing.
Otherwise, if I'm just a hobyist, then I would look for the most cost effective housing.

 

[mselenaous]

You & I must have gotten the same deal over the holidays.

 

[KeithG]

Some Meikon feedback.. If you are happy with Canon polycarb housings, then you will be happy with the Meikon. They are EXTREMELY (suspiciously?) similar.

I have used multiple housings over the years: mechanical Amphibico, electronic Amphibico, Sea & Sea polycarb, Fantasea polycarb, Canon polycarb and Meikon polycarb.

I just returned from a trip using a Meikon housing for my new canon G16. It was totally adequate. I took a flyer and choose it as the lowest cost alternative to try out a new camera. It did lack 2 controls (front and back wheels for shutter speed and aperture) that some other G16 housings provided. This did not really affect my world as I shot manual and controlled lighting via my strobes. But something you should be aware of when considering these housings. Are all desired controls available?

The one negative was a sloppy shutter control. It lacked sufficient feel to consistently sense the half press. So I often ended up with an unintended picture instead of a half press. All other controls were easy to use and provided proper "feel".

Verdict: Solid construction, not top notch controls. Fully adequate. Great value.

 

[DENLASCUBA]

I have a different camera but you will not regret going with the Nauticam housing built in leak detectors and vacuum syatem, durable machined aluminum and great flexibility for upgrades for lenses, strobes, ect. The housings are also quite compact with great ease of control use. I had a colleague with me last month with the A6000 and he loved the Nauticam housing, the only thing he has an issue with was when he installed the camera sometimes he didn't realize the camera flash was not positioned all the way up and his Inon strobes would not fire. Also I have found Nauticam housings hold their resale value compared to other mfgs

Sea & Sea I have never cared much for their housings but it is still a decent brand.

Meikon stay far away unless you only want heartache when it comes to u/w equipment you get what you pay for and Meikon is a horrible brand. I had a Chinese housing and well it flooded as they did not buff off all the plastic mold pieces (luckily on a test dive), and then again as they did not provide the correct O-ring it passed the test dive after I carefully filed down the extra plastic from the mold in the o-ring channel, but then found out there was still one small piece on an actual dive and flooded at depth. luckily it was an older spare G-12 for rental use.

 

[Interceptor121]

If you are committed to the sony mount system (challenging as they like to change frequently) get brands that will allow you to keep your lenses.

 

[KeithG]

Meikon stay far away unless you only want heartache when it comes to u/w equipment you get what you pay for and Meikon is a horrible brand. I had a Chinese housing and well it flooded as they did not buff off all the plastic mold pieces (luckily on a test dive), and then again as they did not provide the correct O-ring it passed the test dive after I carefully filed down the extra plastic from the mold in the o-ring channel, but then found out there was still one small piece on an actual dive and flooded at depth. luckily it was an older spare G-12 for rental use.

Agreed! Very good point. You get what you pay for, there is no free lunch.

I believe canon housings also got a bad rep around the G12 timeframe. (this further perpetuates my conspiracy theory that Meike makes Canon housings...)

I failed to include a warning for the faint hearted in my Meikon feedback: Nauticam and Sea & Sea individually test each and every housing. meikon? Not so much. Well, probably none. But I do not know. I would be surprised at the price point.

Warranty & service? Nauticam and Sea & Sea understand North American expectations. Meikon? They will likely be very happy to send you yet another same quality housing if yours is defective.

My (missed/ignored) point? A Meikon housing "can" work, but it "may" not. If you take this route, be prepared to perform your own QA. And do not be surprised by failures.

My experience was great. No issues. YMMV.

 

[Divezilla]

No question, the expensive aluminum housings are much better products, and have better ergonomics / ease of use.
But there's also a place for the lower priced housings, especially if this is just casual vacation use.

Google is your friend. There are many reviews of the Miekon housings.
They all seem to say the same thing ... the early housings had some problems, and some folks were sent the wrong equipment and it didn't fit.
But now .. there's a ton of very positive reviews. Especially with the new 'Black' front cases.


Meikon Underwater Housing for Sony DSC-RX100 Review: Digital Photography Review
Chris lives here.: Meikon underwater housing review
Extensive review for a NEX is here Meikon underwater housing - first impressions - Lloyd Clearihan Imagery

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Meikon seems to also make aluminum housing, and unlike the other chinese brand Nauticam, this one has double o-ring:

Meikon aluminium housing - Lloyd Clearihan Imagery

Seems to be direct from mfg price (at least for the RX100) is around $500, but if you think they are cutting corners, I guess you can pay $1000 for it here:

Meikon Aluminium Alloy Underwater Case for Sony RX100 UW-Fotopartner.de - buy online