Underwater housing for Nikon D90

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ejg62

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Location
Southern California
# of dives
200 - 499
What housings are available for the Nikon D90? I know of the Ikelite, but are there any others? I have a fairly new Inon strobe with TTL that I would like to continue to use. However, TTL with the Ikelite housing requires the Ikelite strobes. There is a cord available to connect the Ikelite housing to the Inon strobe, but I understand it is not TTL.

Is there any house to fit the D90 and permit TTL with the Inon strobe?

Thanks
 
What housings are available for the Nikon D90? I know of the Ikelite, but are there any others? I have a fairly new Inon strobe with TTL that I would like to continue to use. However, TTL with the Ikelite housing requires the Ikelite strobes. There is a cord available to connect the Ikelite housing to the Inon strobe, but I understand it is not TTL.

Is there any house to fit the D90 and permit TTL with the Inon strobe?

Thanks

I have the D90 in an Ikelite setup but I have a mate who uses a Canon 50D in a Aquatica housing with his Inon strobes and loves it.

Aquatica also make a housing for the D90: Welcome to Aquatica - Featuring an extensive line of underwater housings for today’s finest digital cameras

Regards Mark
 
Thanks for the reply.

I went to the website. Do you know his set up? He is able to use TTL with the Inon strobe? What lens does he use? and Port size? There appear to be a number of different set ups, TTL, TTL-Ikelite, manual and port sizes. A zoom lens is useless since you can't hold the lens so what size lens does he use?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks
 
Thanks for the reply.

I went to the website. Do you know his set up? He is able to use TTL with the Inon strobe? What lens does he use? and Port size? There appear to be a number of different set ups, TTL, TTL-Ikelite, manual and port sizes. A zoom lens is useless since you can't hold the lens so what size lens does he use?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks
 
Thanks for the reply.

I went to the website. Do you know his set up? He is able to use TTL with the Inon strobe? What lens does he use? and Port size? There appear to be a number of different set ups, TTL, TTL-Ikelite, manual and port sizes. A zoom lens is useless since you can't hold the lens so what size lens does he use?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks

He has a Canon 40D in a Aquatica housing with dual Inon 240 strobes i believe. The strobes are fired in manual mode.

He uses the 11-16 tokina, 60mm Macro and the Sigma 17-70mm.

This is his flickr site if you want to look at what he has taken so far. Flickr: Ryan Pedlow's Photostream

Regards Mark
 
Thanks again. Not quit sure why my question as posted 2x.

I read the message then went to the site. I should have re-read the message again before I sent my reply. The housing looks decent and not as bad a price as some others. I will give them manufacturer a call and ask a few questions. I had hoped to take advantage of the ttl that both the camera and Inon strobe provide.

I also have the Tokina 11-16 mm lens, Very nice lens like it a lot. Does your friend dive with the Tokina lens. It would appear it is such a wide angle that it extends beyond the width of the light patch (hope that makes sense). The 60mm may be better for diving.
 
I also have the Tokina 11-16 mm lens, Very nice lens like it a lot. Does your friend dive with the Tokina lens. It would appear it is such a wide angle that it extends beyond the width of the light patch (hope that makes sense). The 60mm may be better for diving.

He uses the 11-16mm underwater. said he hasn't the zoom gear for it yet so has to leave it at 11mm.

I use my 10-17mm Tokina alot and I love it on both my D80 and D90.
I dont really understand the light patch comment?

Do you mean the coverage of strobes when using at the widest angle ie 10 or 11mm?

Having long arms helps alot and proper placement of strobes for the subject especially if your really close. I have no problems with shooting at 10mm on a large range of different subjects.

Check out some of my flickr wide angle properties most of them are taken at 10mm.

Regards Mark
 
If you want TTL with your Inon strobes, you will need an external TTL converter from Heinrichs Weikamp (or Sea & Sea if you use their housing). This will sit between the sync cable to the strobe and your housing connector.

For Aquatica housings MAKE SURE you specify that you will be using a TTL converter as the connectors for manual and TTL convertors are very different. If you connect a strobe to a standard (manual) Nikonos connector on the housing and try to use TTL, there is a possibility your camera will freeze. This is why on housings like SEa & Sea, there are 2 bulkhead connectors. One is for manual strobe control, the other is for plugging in a TTL convertor if you choose to use TTL.

With Ikelite, you will get TTL if you use their brand of strobes. If you don't you will also have to get a TTL converter.

Sea & Sea will be releasing their polycarb housing for the D90 soon. That housing will have the option for optically fired TTL. This I find is the best choice. No expensive cables or convertors and no failure points which can flood. Nexus (Anthis) also has optical connections for Fibre optic cable fired TTL. However, I am unsure of when they are releasing their D90 model (D90F-SO I think). The housing is aluminum and Nexus has a history of pairing up with Inon products. You will find that although the Nexus and Aquatica housings are much stronger than Sea & Sea's and Ikelites housings, they are also much more expensive and heavy.

My approach would be this. Get a fibre optic connection for TTL. This means either the Sea & Sea or the Nexus housings. Whichever you choose will depend on your budget and willingness to carry a heavy housing. I am a Sea & Sea fan but Nexus does come a close 2nd. In this case, I would certainly get the Nexus (budget not withstanding). This is because Sea & Sea's D90 offering is polycarbonate and Nexus is machined from aluminum. Nexus also has port adaptors which will allow you to use other brands of ports. I also like Seatool housings which also offer fiber optic connection but they have no D90 model in the works as yet I believe.

For lenses, I believe the 11-16 will require the use of a diopter to focus properly underwater. I think a 4T will do but you should check. The Tokina 10-17 fisheye is a much better wide angle lens underwater in my opinion. AussieByron (Mark) seems to agree....as do many other wide angle (WA) shooters. It focuses SO close that you can literally have the dome port touching your subject and still fill the entire frame while keeping everything in focus. You WILL need a dome port for any proper WA work.

The 60 is my favorite lens to use. It is the most versatile and probably the easiest to use. I can capture macro shots, fish portraits or even accomodate whole mid sized fish. If you are more interested in general aquatic life mid sized to tiny, this is the lens to use. If you are into seascapes, schooling fish, really large pelagics and the occasional close focus wide angle shots, the Tokina 10-17 FE is your best bet.
 
I agree that the 10-17mm Tokina and the 60mm Macro (both AFS,AFD) are excellent lenses. I would use these two lenses 90% of the time.
I also use the 17-70mm Sigma macro and the 105mm Nikkor Macro.
The Sigma is a general purpose lens for when your can decide to shoot macro or wide as it gives you both. It doesnt do the both as well as a dedicated lens but it gives you a great focal range to play with.

I like the 105mm on macro subject which you can't get too close too, but prefer the 60mm most times.

I can't comment of the strobe setups for Aquatica or others as I am using Ikelite strobes with an Ikelite housing. But I should have had a good look at the Aquatica D90 housing with Ikelite TTL before I bought the Ikelite housing. The Aquatica is very compact and lite weight compared to Ikelite.

Regards Mark
 
I agree that the 10-17mm Tokina and the 60mm Macro (both AFS,AFD) are excellent lenses. I would use these two lenses 90% of the time.
I also use the 17-70mm Sigma macro and the 105mm Nikkor Macro.
The Sigma is a general purpose lens for when your can decide to shoot macro or wide as it gives you both. It doesnt do the both as well as a dedicated lens but it gives you a great focal range to play with.

I like the 105mm on macro subject which you can't get too close too, but prefer the 60mm most times.

I can't comment of the strobe setups for Aquatica or others as I am using Ikelite strobes with an Ikelite housing. But I should have had a good look at the Aquatica D90 housing with Ikelite TTL before I bought the Ikelite housing. The Aquatica is very compact and lite weight compared to Ikelite.

Regards Mark

Wow...I didn't realize the Aquatica was lighter than the Ikelite! I would have thought differently given the materials they are made from!

Seems like our underwater lens arsenal are pretty much the same Mark! heheh!
 

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