Housings for nikkon 5700 sony 717 and

[orbiter]

minolta 7i.
Im interested in purchasing any of these cameras but cant find appropriate housings (the first two have ikelite's but they cost more than the camera which is impossible as far as i'm concerned, the minolta has none i've found).
Does anyone here have an idea as to manufacturers/shops/online shops and to a reasonable price range as the camera is expensive enough by itself without having to deal with about 800-900$ of a housing and that's without going into the strobe consideration which is a must with all since they have pop up flashes - not suitible for housings.
Thanks
Yaron

 

[Seapix]

Amphibico just released its newest version of the Surveyor housing (the Surveyor II). I used the Surveyor I with mixed success. The light sensor for the strobe would only work sporadically, and only with a few strobes. After a lot of trial and error, I finally managed to get it working for the last few days of a dive vacation. I got some excellent shots. The housing itself is beautifully machined. Here's a link to the images taken with the Surveyory I and a Sony F707. Digital Gallery with Sony F707

The replacement light sensor on the Surveyor II supposedly works with all strobes using a nikonos connector. Also the previous housing had a tendancy to vignette a bit in wide-angle mode. The new housing has eliminated that problem according to Ron Hand, the president of Amphibico.

I just got my new housing a few days ago, and still haven't had an opportunity to test it out. It can be used with the Sony F707 and 717 (which I just upgraded to). Eventually I'll write a review on the system. If you're interested, here's my review on the F707 (the new F717 is virtually the same, with few upgrades) Digital Sony F707 The Sony is a superb camera, and I'm very happy with it.

Good luck on finding a housing. Here's the link to Amphibico... Amphibico

George

 

[frogfish]

I think that none of these cameras is very good for taking underwater - probably the reason why housings are very limited...
I would recommend the Coolpix 5000 which is an outstanding camera for underwater pictures, has many housings available and is apparently soon to be discontinued by Nikon - Hence you would probaly be able to get very good deals...

 

[orbiter]

hopefully will have other choices open too - such as the g5 canon just released