Question Housings for Sony a7 and Minolta a-7

[ZephyrNYC]

Greetings, everybody.

I did a quick search here but didn't find an answer.

I started shooting 126 and 110 film in the late '70s and I got my OW in 1995, but apart from taking a waterproof disposable film camera barely under the water's surface years ago, I've never taken a camera underwater. I have two of the
Sony a7 (first generation) and a film Minolta Maxxum a-7. Are housings still available for these old cameras?

 

[Nemrod]

UW camera housings are extremely expensive for this level of camera. Nobody would likely invest thousands in a new housing for an older model camera. As models are discontinued the housings follow shortly thereafter. You might find a used housing. You might contact some of the UW photo stores and look in the classified here and on the waterpixel forum.

Frankly, not what you want to hear, I would not start with such a large and intimidating camera underwater. You might be much better off to look at something in an APS-C or M4:3 or even a compact like the Canon G7 or Sony RX series or even better the new Nauticam fixed port housings for the Nikon Z50II or Canon R50.

The list of UW housing manufactuers that I can think of, not in order, just as I thought of them. I may have left out one, dunno:

Nauticam
Ikelite
Isotta
Marelux
AOI
Aquatica
Sea&Sea
Inon
Subal
SeaCam
SeaFrogs

Some of the UW photo equipment stores, again these are the ones I know of but there are others:

Reef Photo and Video-Underwater Pros
Backscatter
Bluewater Photo

 

[Nemrod]

Oh, I did leave out one, SeaFrogs. I went back and added it.

Be aware, you get what you pay for. Nowadays vacuum systems, leak detection systems and integrated optical flash triggers are becoming norm.

 

[Barmaglot]

If you want to just snap GoPro-quality pictures, yeah, you can get a SeaFrogs housing for $300 -

Seafrogs Unterwasserkameragehäuse für Sony A9 /A7R3 A7RIII A7III / A7 II A7II A7M2 A7SII A7RII / A7 A7R A7S Tauchgehäuse - AliExpress 44

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www.aliexpress.com

But you will still be dealing with sluggish and unreliable autofocus as well as very poor battery life. I don't have personal experience with the A7 line, but per my understanding, it didn't start to get decent until A7III - prior models represent a lot of compromises in comparison to contemporary DSLRs.

If, however, you want good image quality, as one would expect from a full-frame interchangeable-lens camera, you're going to start bleeding money. You'll need a wide-angle lens and a dome, so figure spending $1000-2000 on that, depending on your choices. You will also need a macro lens, which, along with the appropriate port, will set you back another thousand. A pair of strobes and a dual sync cord (you can't use fiber optics with this setup) will cost you another $1500 or so, more if you go upmarket. Vacuum system - $300. Tray, arms, clamps, flotation, lanyards, etc - budget $500. At this point you've spent somewhere close to $5000, but at the core of the rig is a 1st-gen camera from 2013... is it worth it over a massively more capable A7III or IV?

 

[DragonUW]

You can go secondhand with Sony. Be patient on eBay; something will come up. Forget Minolta.

 

[hilljo88]

As previous responders said, UW photography with an interchangeable lens camera is very gear intensive and expensive. Housing, ports, strobes and lenses will cost a multiple of what you pay for the camera body. (Minolta is a non-starter. The first gen SONY A7 is not worth much now. There are several reasons why you would be unhappy shooting it underwater, not the least of which is the poor battery life.) Maintaining the gear and travelling with it is a major commitment. You might consider a GoPro or even a used Olympus TG-5 or 6. Get some experience with the very different diving style required for UW photography. If you then feel you want to take the next step, consider one of the used packages for sale on SB, often listed for 1/3 or 1/2 of original retail. You don't need the latest and greatest, but gear that's 5 years old or so should be fine. Have fun with it. Enjoy the images you take and don't feel you have to compare your shots with those published in dive magazines which were taken with gear totaling $10,000 or more.