Gurus on uw-housings, foreward please!

[KOMPRESSOR]

The new D80 will sit on dry land for quite a while, until I've unvealed it's mysteries. And by then there might be some more housings available. But what are your choices anyways? I'm not into going plastic fantastic to save a bundle, and then have regrets for wrong choices later. I'll rather wait, and then get what I REALLY want for our new D80.

The same goes for strobes. The best time for diving in general, and uw-photo in particular around here, is in the winter. -And the winter is dark...

Anyone with ideas, please?

 

[Mike Veitch]

i recommend the Aquatica with Ikelite DS125 strobes.

Aquatica is robust with a 100m depth rating.

But seeing you are in Europe, you might look at some of the Euro ones like UK Germany, Subal, Bruder or Hugyfot

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

i recommend the Aquatica with Ikelite DS125 strobes.

Aquatica is robust with a 100m depth rating.

But seeing you are in Europe, you might look at some of the Euro ones like UK Germany, Subal, Bruder or Hugyfot

I like aluminum housings. Any knowledge to Nexus?

 

[Borset]

If you like aluminium housing, do not forget that Subal and Hugyfot housing are made of seawater resistant aluminium alloy.
Subal is rated down to 70 meter and Hugyfot down to 100 meter

For myself, I have just bought a Hugyfot for my Nikon D200 with dome and port for several Nikon lenses (12-24, 60 macro and 105 VR macro). It is rather expensive : +/- 4800 Euros for the set. My only regret is that the dome and the port are made with polycarbonate (by Subal, they are made of glas but it more expensive)

 

[shellbackdiver1]

I like aluminum housings. Any knowledge to Nexus?

Nexus housings are nice and I almost bought one for my D200. You can see my post at http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2801089&postcount=10

The UW shop that I work part time at just received Nexus, Patima and Sea & Sea housing for the D80. For the money I would go with the Patima housing...

For prices you can PM me.

 

[swisstrav]

ever looked into seacam? not as expensiv as subal. all ports are made from coated glas. don't buy a hugyfot without having had it in your hands. design is the best on the market. ergonomic wise they are just not what they uesed to be. at least the adjusting wheels offer quite some room for inprovment.

 

[RonFrank]

I have the Ikelite housing for the D200, and have no regrets.

I REALLY need to try and get Ryan to let me try a Subal housing to see what the differences are. In the Ike flavor however, I have full access to all controls, my camera has never flooded, and it's 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of anything out there PLUS it has full TTL control built in.

Add Ike's service, and it's kinda hard to beat that.

Don't wait too long. The D80 is like 50 years old in Digiital camera years (similar to Doggy years). The upside is there maybe some used housings on the market if you wait. The downside is that you may finally get a $5000 housing down the road only to discover that your camera is no longer available if you flood it.

Strobes OTOH are a more long term investment. If you want iTTL capabilities, than make sure the strobes you purchase are capable of that. If you like to shoot manual, than it does not matter. If you think iTTL, or eTTL is something that is not really useful, you may want to take a peek at the macro work Dennis and others come away with.

Popular brands are Ikelite, INON, Sea&Sea, etc. DigitalDiver has a good reference tool for strobe selection HERE

 

[Mariozi]

I have had a Hugyfot... really nice!!!
I just bought a Sea&Sea DX-D80, also amazing housing.

 

[kidsdream]

I first demo'd the Nexus housing (thanks Ryan) and while it had good basic ergonomics and great standard handles there were a few things I did not like. Including:

1. No quick release mounting tray for the camera.
2. No external lens release button (a great feature for changing lenses between dives).
3. The buttons on the back of the housing/camera needed to pushed all the way in to activate the camera controls.
4. The standard view finder was not great.

I do like the port lock and the hot shoe clamp.

The subal housing has nearly perfect ergonics for me once I added the adjustable ULCS handles. The housing locks are fantastic and pretty fool-proof. I have perfectly happy with my choice after a year of diving with my Subal (D200).

The Seacam housing is also quite nice but even more expensive than the Subal. The Aquatica housing is another nice Alu option and the D200 version is quite a step-up form their previous offerings.

 

[A Chanster]

Ive decided to go with the D-200, 105VR, 12-24 and 60mm lenses. Im figuring 70% of shots will be tight macros...
Now the big question:
Aquatica
Nexus or
Subal ?
Love the Seacam from what Ive seen online but hate the pricetag after adding up all the other things needed for the housing.
Which one above is closest to nuetral with the 105mm lense? I do NOT care about how heavy they are dry, but dont want to be diving with a lead weight infront of me.

Thinking about getting Z240 strobes.

Fisheye HG20DX focus light too, but is it true that those bulbs blow as fast as 15hours?? Can this light be mounted with any of the above mentioned housings and without being a forehead bumper when viewing the LCD?

Are magic filters worthy? (gotta like mustards picts)

Anyone try using Infrared lenses???

Love to hear your comments on any of the above based on first hand experiance...

Thanks,
A Chanster