Underwater housing for Sony A7r IV that won't break the bank?

[N8nbkk]

Hi everyone,

I know the Nauticam is great for the a7r iv, but is there another one that is reliable doesn't cost so much? I'll be using my Sony 16-35 2.8 GM with it. Will also be getting 2 strobe, but not sure which ones. Feel free to suggest. Thank you.

 

[Barmaglot]

Least expensive option is SeaFrogs, at $530 for the housing + $275 for a dome + $30 for a zoom gear, but that dome is fairly small (SeaFrogs call in 8", but physically it's about 175mm by the outer surface), and on a full-frame rectilinear, that will compromise corner quality quite severely.

Ikelite has a housing for $1795, plus another $1035 for a dome with extensions and zoom gear, but that's still just an 8-inch dome - for best quality with this lens, you really want a 230mm, and Ikelite doesn't have one. You could get a Zen DP-230 with an Ikelite adapter, but that will set you back $2099 for the dome alone.

Isotta housings have a good reputation, and their aluminum housing costs about $1000 less than Nauticam - that will serve you much better than either SeaFrogs or Ikelite. 9" crystal dome costs 1764 euros.

Marelux is a new player on the market, I haven't seen reviews for their housings yet, but on the face of it, they look pretty good. Cost ($3000 for A7R IV) is slightly below Isotta, port costs are comparable to Zen/Isotta/Nauticam.

One possible alternative is to use a Sony 24mm f/2.8 prime with a Nauticam WWL-C wet lens, or the 28-60mm zoom with Nauticam WWL-1/B wet lens. According to reviews, this will provide better image quality than any wide angle lens/dome combination, and is only beat by Nauticam's WACP, which is a dry port derived from WWL-1. Note that while WWL-1 (not B) lens can be mounted on any flat port with 67mm threads, WWL-C and WWL-1B come with Nauticam's proprietary bayonet built in, and while a 67mm to bayonet mount adapter exists, it only fits on Nauticam's ports because the threading is inside a narrow groove.

Regarding strobes, my personal favorite is Retra Pro, but they're not cheap - I was lucky enough to snag a pair with a pre-order at a significant discount, but that opportunity is long gone. If you want to save money, it's difficult to go wrong with Inon Z330. Sea & Sea has been plagued with reliability problems in recent years, Ikelites are bulky and use proprietary batteries, and OneUW/Isotta/Seacam are even more expensive than Retra.

 

[N8nbkk]

Least expensive option is SeaFrogs, at $530 for the housing + $275 for a dome + $30 for a zoom gear, but that dome is fairly small (SeaFrogs call in 8", but physically it's about 175mm by the outer surface), and on a full-frame rectilinear, that will compromise corner quality quite severely.

Ikelite has a housing for $1795, plus another $1035 for a dome with extensions and zoom gear, but that's still just an 8-inch dome - for best quality with this lens, you really want a 230mm, and Ikelite doesn't have one. You could get a Zen DP-230 with an Ikelite adapter, but that will set you back $2099 for the dome alone.

Isotta housings have a good reputation, and their aluminum housing costs about $1000 less than Nauticam - that will serve you much better than either SeaFrogs or Ikelite. 9" crystal dome costs 1764 euros.

Marelux is a new player on the market, I haven't seen reviews for their housings yet, but on the face of it, they look pretty good. Cost ($3000 for A7R IV) is slightly below Isotta, port costs are comparable to Zen/Isotta/Nauticam.

One possible alternative is to use a Sony 24mm f/2.8 prime with a Nauticam WWL-C wet lens, or the 28-60mm zoom with Nauticam WWL-1/B wet lens. According to reviews, this will provide better image quality than any wide angle lens/dome combination, and is only beat by Nauticam's WACP, which is a dry port derived from WWL-1. Note that while WWL-1 (not B) lens can be mounted on any flat port with 67mm threads, WWL-C and WWL-1B come with Nauticam's proprietary bayonet built in, and while a 67mm to bayonet mount adapter exists, it only fits on Nauticam's ports because the threading is inside a narrow groove.

Regarding strobes, my personal favorite is Retra Pro, but they're not cheap - I was lucky enough to snag a pair with a pre-order at a significant discount, but that opportunity is long gone. If you want to save money, it's difficult to go wrong with Inon Z330. Sea & Sea has been plagued with reliability problems in recent years, Ikelites are bulky and use proprietary batteries, and OneUW/Isotta/Seacam are even more expensive than Retra.

Thank you so much for all the info. I will look into your suggestions.

 

[N8nbkk]

Least expensive option is SeaFrogs, at $530 for the housing + $275 for a dome + $30 for a zoom gear, but that dome is fairly small (SeaFrogs call in 8", but physically it's about 175mm by the outer surface), and on a full-frame rectilinear, that will compromise corner quality quite severely.

Ikelite has a housing for $1795, plus another $1035 for a dome with extensions and zoom gear, but that's still just an 8-inch dome - for best quality with this lens, you really want a 230mm, and Ikelite doesn't have one. You could get a Zen DP-230 with an Ikelite adapter, but that will set you back $2099 for the dome alone.

Isotta housings have a good reputation, and their aluminum housing costs about $1000 less than Nauticam - that will serve you much better than either SeaFrogs or Ikelite. 9" crystal dome costs 1764 euros.

Marelux is a new player on the market, I haven't seen reviews for their housings yet, but on the face of it, they look pretty good. Cost ($3000 for A7R IV) is slightly below Isotta, port costs are comparable to Zen/Isotta/Nauticam.

One possible alternative is to use a Sony 24mm f/2.8 prime with a Nauticam WWL-C wet lens, or the 28-60mm zoom with Nauticam WWL-1/B wet lens. According to reviews, this will provide better image quality than any wide angle lens/dome combination, and is only beat by Nauticam's WACP, which is a dry port derived from WWL-1. Note that while WWL-1 (not B) lens can be mounted on any flat port with 67mm threads, WWL-C and WWL-1B come with Nauticam's proprietary bayonet built in, and while a 67mm to bayonet mount adapter exists, it only fits on Nauticam's ports because the threading is inside a narrow groove.

Regarding strobes, my personal favorite is Retra Pro, but they're not cheap - I was lucky enough to snag a pair with a pre-order at a significant discount, but that opportunity is long gone. If you want to save money, it's difficult to go wrong with Inon Z330. Sea & Sea has been plagued with reliability problems in recent years, Ikelites are bulky and use proprietary batteries, and OneUW/Isotta/Seacam are even more expensive than Retra.

Would you recommend using the Sony 12-24mm f4 or the 28-60mm underwater? Is 28mm with the wwl-1/b wide enough?

 

[Barmaglot]

Between 12-24 in a dome and 28-60mm + WWL-1. I'd go for the latter. You get the equivalent of 10-22mm zoom range, although at the cost of some barrel distortion.

A less expensive alternative to WWL-1 is AOI UWL-09; you can get in in Thailand for 26k THB for the regular version with acrylic front element, or, if I remember correctly, 42k THB for the pro version with a glass front element which is more resistant to scratches. However, I don't know how well it will work with a full-frame camera - I know it works with APS-C, but I haven't seen any reviews from FF users.

 

[N8nbkk]

Between 12-24 in a dome and 28-60mm + WWL-1. I'd go for the latter. You get the equivalent of 10-22mm zoom range, although at the cost of some barrel distortion.

A less expensive alternative to WWL-1 is AOI UWL-09; you can get in in Thailand for 26k THB for the regular version with acrylic front element, or, if I remember correctly, 42k THB for the pro version with a glass front element which is more resistant to scratches. However, I don't know how well it will work with a full-frame camera - I know it works with APS-C, but I haven't seen any reviews from FF users.

Looks like I'll be shooting for the Sony 28-60mm with the WWL-1/b combo, Nauticam housing, and inon z330 lights. A few questions:

1. Would it be possible to use the WWL-1b on a housing other than Nauticam?
2. Is the 28-60 with WWL-1/b good enough for split shots?

 

[Barmaglot]

1. Would it be possible to use the WWL-1b on a housing other than Nauticam?

Unlikely. WWL-1B (same as WWL-C) comes with an integrated Nauticam bayonet mount, and while Nauticam has M67 to bayonet mount adapters, they have the M67 threading inside a narrow groove designed to fit over Nauticam ports. It won't fit on a flat port that has a wide front flange.

The older WWL-1 comes with M67 threads and fits onto any port with the appropriate threading.

2. Is the 28-60 with WWL-1/b good enough for split shots?

Marginal; the front element is too small. For split shots you want as large a dome as possible; some go as large as 17-18 inches (almost half a meter!): Custom Dome Ports - Matty Smith Photo

 

[N8nbkk]

Unlikely. WWL-1B (same as WWL-C) comes with an integrated Nauticam bayonet mount, and while Nauticam has M67 to bayonet mount adapters, they have the M67 threading inside a narrow groove designed to fit over Nauticam ports. It won't fit on a flat port that has a wide front flange.

The older WWL-1 comes with M67 threads and fits onto any port with the appropriate threading.

Marginal; the front element is too small. For split shots you want as large a dome as possible; some go as large as 17-18 inches (almost half a meter!): Custom Dome Ports - Matty Smith Photo

Would it be better to get the older WWL-1 instead of the B model?

 

[Barmaglot]

Optically I believe they are identical. WWL-1B has an integrated aluminum float collar whereas WWL-1 has a foam collar as an optional accessory. WWL-1 has better compatibility, but as far as resale goes, every sale offer for used WWL that I've seen, regardless of model, seems to go pretty quick. There's lots of people out there with Nauticam housings, so the used market doesn't lack for buyers.

Still, if you were looking to save a few thousand dollars, you could go with a SeaFrogs housing for A7R IV, flat port for 28-60mm with zoom gear, and WWL-1. If you use it with Inon Z-330s, you can connect them with a dual sync cord, or you can get a UW-Technics TTL converter which includes a replacement optical bulkhead that will allow you to use fiber optics. For vacuum, I would recommend Vivid Leak Sentinel over SeaFrogs' own VPS-100 - it's more expensive, but VPS-100 doesn't stand up to saltwater immersion very well. You're meant to use it on land, then replace it with the regular cap before the dive, which is less reliable (what if there's a problem with the cap? You won't know until you submerge) and does not preload the o-rings. Leak Sentinel can stay active throughout the dive. The site doesn't list it, but Miso does have a version that fits SeaFrogs' custom vacuum port.

The flip side of those savings is that you lose ergonomics - the button placement is not as good as on Nauticam, there are no built-in handles so you have to use a tray, the included viewfinder is useless and there are no options for a magnifying viewfinder, so you have to use the LCD screen, and there's no way to attach a recorder/monitor if you're into video either. If you want to do split shots with a wide-angle lens, your largest dome option is an 8-inch acrylic (although, again, it's very cheap at $275, compared to Nauticam's $1500-2500 glass domes). You're also limited to 40 meters of depth.

Bottom line, it's over $4000 in savings, more if you add a macro solution, as Nauticam's port + gear for Sony FE 90mm will set you back almost $900, whereas the SeaFrogs port + gear for the same cost just $159. Whether or not Nauticam's advantages are worth the Nauticam price is a personal choice.

 

[N8nbkk]

Optically I believe they are identical. WWL-1B has an integrated aluminum float collar whereas WWL-1 has a foam collar as an optional accessory. WWL-1 has better compatibility, but as far as resale goes, every sale offer for used WWL that I've seen, regardless of model, seems to go pretty quick. There's lots of people out there with Nauticam housings, so the used market doesn't lack for buyers.

Still, if you were looking to save a few thousand dollars, you could go with a SeaFrogs housing for A7R IV, flat port for 28-60mm with zoom gear, and WWL-1. If you use it with Inon Z-330s, you can connect them with a dual sync cord, or you can get a UW-Technics TTL converter which includes a replacement optical bulkhead that will allow you to use fiber optics. For vacuum, I would recommend Vivid Leak Sentinel over SeaFrogs' own VPS-100 - it's more expensive, but VPS-100 doesn't stand up to saltwater immersion very well. You're meant to use it on land, then replace it with the regular cap before the dive, which is less reliable (what if there's a problem with the cap? You won't know until you submerge) and does not preload the o-rings. Leak Sentinel can stay active throughout the dive. The site doesn't list it, but Miso does have a version that fits SeaFrogs' custom vacuum port.

The flip side of those savings is that you lose ergonomics - the button placement is not as good as on Nauticam, there are no built-in handles so you have to use a tray, the included viewfinder is useless and there are no options for a magnifying viewfinder, so you have to use the LCD screen, and there's no way to attach a recorder/monitor if you're into video either. If you want to do split shots with a wide-angle lens, your largest dome option is an 8-inch acrylic (although, again, it's very cheap at $275, compared to Nauticam's $1500-2500 glass domes). You're also limited to 40 meters of depth.

Bottom line, it's over $4000 in savings, more if you add a macro solution, as Nauticam's port + gear for Sony FE 90mm will set you back almost $900, whereas the SeaFrogs port + gear for the same cost just $159. Whether or not Nauticam's advantages are worth the Nauticam price is a personal choice.

How reliable do you feel the seafrogs housing is? Reviews for it aren't very good on Amazon. Then again, maybe some people aren't taking all the necessary precautions.