Nauticam vs Aquatica

[Tigerman]

Ditto what fdog said -- If you don't already have a DSLR, you might wait a bit. Canon is supposed to announce the 7D Mark II soon, and you could pick up an old 7D setup for a fraction of the price once they do. Or you could probably get a 5D Mark II setup right now for a very good price.

The 7D mark II has been "supposed to be announed soon" for quite some time though, so it might not be available as soon as needed :/
I gave up the wait and got one not long ago though, so with my luck itll drop to half the price just in time for xmas

 

[dab]

Trying to decide between the 5D MarkIII and the Nikon D800. Leaning toward the Canon due to the better low light performance and ease of white balancing.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Why not get a hardshell cooler that would do the same job and still be strong enough to protect the camera from physical damage (somebody stepping on it or dropping something on it, etc.)??

+1 for the Polar Bear. DSLR rig goes in it, from the house to the car to the boat, back to the car to the house. Simple, protective transporting of rig. Built in "rinse bucket". Once on the boat, the cooler goes under the seat, table, etc. Camera doesn't come out of the bag until it is handed down to me in the water.

 

[BoltSnap]

+1 for the Polar Bear. DSLR rig goes in it, from the house to the car to the boat, back to the car to the house. Simple, protective transporting of rig. Built in "rinse bucket". Once on the boat, the cooler goes under the seat, table, etc. Camera doesn't come out of the bag until it is handed down to me in the water.

Wouldn't the bag be heavy with the water?

 

[muzikbiz22]

Wouldn't the bag be heavy with the water?

You won't be transporting with water in it. You would dump before you get off boat. Ideally, you hand your camera back up to the boat, they put in THEIR rinse bucket, you sit down and take off your tank/BC, THEN grab your rig out of the rinse bucket and put in the Polar Bear until the next dive or until you get off the boat. Worst case scenario, if there is a dozen of other cameras banging around in the community rinse bucket, THEN you can fill up your Polar Bear/cooler bag with fresh water from the boat and you have your very own "rinse bucket".

 

[BoltSnap]

You won't be transporting with water in it. You would dump before you get off boat. Ideally, you hand your camera back up to the boat, they put in THEIR rinse bucket, you sit down and take off your tank/BC, THEN grab your rig out of the rinse bucket and put in the Polar Bear until the next dive or until you get off the boat. Worst case scenario, if there is a dozen of other cameras banging around in the community rinse bucket, THEN you can fill up your Polar Bear/cooler bag with fresh water from the boat and you have your very own "rinse bucket".

OK, this assumes that there is sufficient supply of fresh water on the boat somehow.

In my case probably take the camera onto the boat in a hardshell cooler (with the extra batteries and little things), get the soft cooler filled with water from the boat (in the dives where the boat is big enough to have its own supply of fresh water), dive and come back and put the camera in the soft cooler with fresh water until next dive. Do same thing after second dive and leave camera in soft cooler with fresh water until almost back to dock. Take out of soft cooler and put back in hardshell cooler and dump water out of the soft cooler and off you go.

This won't work for the what we call here "fast boats" when it is a smaller size boat with no fresh water supply or even rinse bucket for anything. These "fast boat" trips are only half a day. I guess put fresh water in the soft cooler after arriving back at the dock for the long drive home.

Too much work I think for the short time we spend on the boat (usually only 5 - 8 hours).

 

[muzikbiz22]

OK, this assumes that there is sufficient supply of fresh water on the boat somehow.

In my case probably take the camera onto the boat in a hardshell cooler (with the extra batteries and little things), get the soft cooler filled with water from the boat (in the dives where the boat is big enough to have its own supply of fresh water), dive and come back and put the camera in the soft cooler with fresh water until next dive. Do same thing after second dive and leave camera in soft cooler with fresh water until almost back to dock. Take out of soft cooler and put back in hardshell cooler and dump water out of the soft cooler and off you go.

This won't work for the what we call here "fast boats" when it is a smaller size boat with no fresh water supply or even rinse bucket for anything. These "fast boat" trips are only half a day. I guess put fresh water in the soft cooler after arriving back at the dock for the long drive home.

Too much work I think for the short time we spend on the boat (usually only 5 - 8 hours).

It is a lot of work. Leave the hard cooler at home, (you're just taking up space), along with the "extra batteries and little things". While some people do, I usually NEVER crack my camera open out on the boat. Batteries last 2 to 3 dives, and use at least a 16GB card in your camera.