Housing Recommendations: Sony A7III

[KMScuba]

Hey All,

It's time for me to take my underwater photography to the next level. I've been a photographer for the last 4 years and diving for the last 6ish. have tried the GoPro, Olympus, SeaLife and various models of each but I just can't get the kind of quality out of them that I know I can with my A7iii

Can anyone provide recommendations on housings for the A7iii. Certainly want to get feedback from this community before making such a large investment.

Thanks,
Kyle

 

[Barmaglot]

SeaFrogs:

• Least expensive option by far ($439 without ports).
• Fairly feature complete - you get access to all the controls, there's a flash trigger and a vacuum port, etc.
• Restricted selection of lenses and ports, but it covers the basics - you can shoot macro with 90mm and wide-angle with 16-35mm in 8" port or 28-60mm with flat port + Nauticam WWL-1 (not WWL-1B, that will not fit).
• Own-brand vacuum valve is garbage, but can use Leak Sentinel.
• EVF eyepiece is useless, shoot with the screen only.
• Restricted to recreational depths.
• Largest available dome is 8 inches, which, by my measurements, is closer to 175mm,
• No extension rings.
• No magnifying viewfinder adapter.

Ikelite

• Mid-price option ($1795 without ports).
• Ergonomics are possibly even worse than SeaFrogs; just a big rectangular box.
• Better lens compatibility than SeaFrogs, but still only 8" as the largest dome, although you can get a Zen 230mm dome in Ikelite mount.
• No fiber optic ports, only electrical sync for strobes.
• 45 degree magnifying viewfinder available.
• 60m/200' depth rating

Nauticam

• Eye-wateringly expensive, especially after the recent price hike ($4127 without ports), but since your body is a few years old now, and Nauticam is popular, you may be able to find a used article at a significant discount.
• Best-in-class ergonomics - basically, Nauticam's design philosophy seems to be about placing the controls where they're most accessible to the shooter, then figuring out how to actuate the camera buttons and dials; this is great to use, but very complicated and fiddly to service.
• Best selection of lenses and ports, including water-contact optics.

Aquatica, Isotta - Nauticam's cheaper cousins; the former from Canada, the latter from Italy.

Subal, Seacam - European manufacturers, priced similarly to Nauticam, pros and cons are minor.

Easydive -

• Universal housings with electronic controls, i.e. instead of mechanical linkages to the camera buttons and dials, there's a USB cable that plugs into the camera, and the housing acts as a remote and/or a WiFi access point that the camera connects to.
• Older models tended to suffer from control lag, but I believe this is no longer the case with what's currently available.
• Compatible with dozens of camera models from different manufacturers, including future models, in the same housing, although minor hardware swaps such as mounting plate adapters are still needed.
• All the controls are buttons, no dials, so you need to page through lists in order to set aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc.
• If you're a serious technical diver, these housings can go to 150 meters, although glass domes (not acrylic) tend to be limited to less than that.

Keep in mind that taking a full-frame camera underwater, you're likely to spend $5-10k or more on lenses, ports, adapters, strobes and various other accessories, regardless of which housing you pick.

 

[KMScuba]

Right on! Thanks Barma!

 

[flyingwhale]

I have experience with both Nauticam (a6500) and Ikelite (A7C). Nauticam is leagues better than Ikelite. I am actually trying to sell an Ikelite housing now.

The set-up of Nauticam is so much better and frustrations free. There is a reason why it's so much more expensive, and it's worth it.

 

[Chrisan]

I use a Sony A6500 with a Nauticam housing and can also vouch for Nauticam. Their housings, adapters and ports are top notch. They offer a wide variety of water contact optics and nice accessories like 45 and 90 degree viewfinders. But, yeah, it's expensive. I built up my rig over a couple years with new and slightly used components.

 

[SuperSeaMonkey]

Check out Marelux. A few Nauticam engineers started their own company after leaving, so it's Nauticam build quality but without the $$$ Nauticam pricing. They have some really cool products and their snoot is all the rage if you're into macro.

MX-A7RIII Housing for Sony Alpha a7R III Mirrorless Digital Camera

MX-A7RIII Housing for Sony Alpha a7R III Mirrorless Digital Camera

www.marelux.co

 

[tcle80]

Isotta makes an impression from the red - sturdy just had issues getting the domes on and off they seal in very hard. not easy for one handed use the trigger is quite a reach back.

 

[Nemrod]

Nauticam if you have the money. Nauticam housings are as easy to operate as the camera is when in your hand, sometimes easier. Total control, durability and service costs $$$.

An issue with all Sony cameras (as a fellow Sony user) is the darn always on preflash TTL. It would be nice if Sony would give a manual flash control with no preflash. Like Olympus, Nikon and Canon.

So, I am going to suggest OM and Nauticam and keep your Sony for above water. In fact as I sit here packing my Nauticam NA6400 up to send to the mothership for service I contemplate how I can talk my wife into the Nauticam NAG7Xiii. Thus far she has just given me the LOOK . Why, well, manual flash control, no preflash, small housing and X-sync to 1/2000 second.

 

[Nemrod]

Not sure that camera is supported by Nauticam any longer. The product cycle for higher end housings is very short. Buying a camera today with the intention of getting a housing for it three years hence, sketchy, you might be stuck with an Ikelite bread box with coat hanger controls with rubber stoppers on the ends that fall off.