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

[Barmaglot]

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.

I've done close to 300 dives over about 4.5 years in three different SeaFrogs housings and my A6300 camera which I got in April 2017 is still alive, although, to be fair, it hasn't been 100% smooth sailing.

The first housing was a fixed-port model (link), as that was the only thing available at the time. I did maybe 50-ish dives with it, and a year later, in mid-2018, I replaced it with the freshly released Salted Line housing and eventually sold the original.

The Salted Line Gen1 housing lasted until March 2021 when the pistol grip plug corroded and started admitting a few drops of water per dive into the housing. I was on a liveaboard at the time and just covered it with superglue, so it held until the end of the trip. Contacting SeaFrogs afterwards, they said they don't have spares for Gen1 housings anymore, but they could sell me a new Gen3 housing at a discount - I ended up getting a brand new housing with an extra port for $160.

The Gen3 housing has had 95 dives on it over the past four months with no issues except for the VPS-100 vacuum valve - that one has leaked during a dive at Koh Bon last month; again, not major - just a few drops, and the camera is fine - but I'm replacing it with a Leak Sentinel V5 XB which is currently somewhere between Zagreb and Phuket.

The SeaFrogs A7R IV housing has the same steel bottom plate as the Gen3 Salted Line housing, which is supposed to not suffer from corrosion issues anymore. On the downside, however, it uses a hinged clamshell back with a plastic latch, which is less reliable than the steel latches used on the Salted Line housing. These plastic latches are known to break sometimes - it is not dangerous as long as you have the housing under vacuum, as the external pressure will hold it closed far tighter than any latch, and SeaFrogs sell the replacement part for $26, but still, it's something to keep in mind. Another annoying design quirk is the location of the vacuum port - it's on the left side of the housing, directly in line with the tray handle, so you can't access it while it's mounted on a tray. Unless you forgo a vacuum system altogether (NOT recommended!), this means taking the housing off the tray every time you need to open it.

 

[Hoag]

Given the cost of the A7R4 and any of the lenses that you are considering, I would not look for the lowest cost option for a housing. Backscatter has several high quality options. Of these, I would probably go with (in order of preference) the Aquatica, the Issota or the Ikelite.

Everyone has to do what they feel is right, and along with that goes a risk assessment, but an A7R4 with the lenses you are considering are approaching $4500. Personally, I would not risk $4500 worth of camera gear in a housing that costs a few hundred dollars from Amazon that has a lot of bad reviews. It might be fine, but that is not a risk that I am willing to take with my gear, and nor would I recommend that option to others.

Another option, that will likely get you in at a lower cost than the Nauticam housing for the A7R4 would be to go for a lower cost camera such as the A6xxx series camera & housing for it. That way, if you opt for a housing and it fails, you have not put a $4500 camera/lens combo at risk. (Full disclosure, this is what I personally do. I shoot an A7R3 above ground, and an A6000 in a Nauticam housing underwater.)

 

[Barmaglot]

Backscatter has several high quality options. Of these, I would probably go with (in order of preference) the Aquatica, the Issota or the Ikelite.

The OP is in Bangkok; unlike Nauticam, European and American brands don't have much of a presence here.

 

[Hoag]

The OP is in Bangkok; unlike Nauticam, European and American brands don't have much of a presence here.

I realize that they is in Bangkok. I also assumed that if given options, they could research them online and then order what met their needs online as well.

 

[Barmaglot]

I realize that they is in Bangkok. I also assumed that if given options, they could research them online and then order what met their needs online as well.

It's a bit more complex than that. As I understand it - I'm not a native, but I've stayed in Thailand for extended periods - imports from China are either tax-free or nearly so, whereas imports from rest of the world are heavily taxed. Worse, if you send something expensive abroad for servicing and you don't do it through a local dealer, customs can hit you for a second round when it comes back, and good luck fighting them. Importing a housing from Canada or Italy can end up more expensive than using a local Nauticam dealer despite the difference in price tags going the other way and the dealer's markup.

 

[Nemrod]

You may have over bought on the camera and now want to under buy on the housing. Not advisable. The Nauticam housings are superb and function so well that some features and operations are easier to perform with the camera in the housing than out. There is no cheaping out. The WWL-1 is superb. The housing is 33% of the UW camera rig and arguably the most important part. The camera is another 33% and the strobes the remainder. Some might say the lens is 90% and everything else is the remainder.

You might consider doing the A6400 and Nauticam for your UW use and leave the A7 for surface duties. It supports the WWL-1 nicely.

N

 

[N8nbkk]

It's a bit more complex than that. As I understand it - I'm not a native, but I've stayed in Thailand for extended periods - imports from China are either tax-free or nearly so, whereas imports from rest of the world are heavily taxed. Worse, if you send something expensive abroad for servicing and you don't do it through a local dealer, customs can hit you for a second round when it comes back, and good luck fighting them. Importing a housing from Canada or Italy can end up more expensive than using a local Nauticam dealer despite the difference in price tags going the other way and the dealer's markup.

Do you feel the brand of the 230mm dome makes any difference? I might go with the isotta housing or marelux housing and their own 230mm domes. How would the isotta or marelux domes compare to the zen 230? I considered the wwl-1 but it can't do splits.

 

[Barmaglot]

Do you feel the brand of the 230mm dome makes any difference? I might go with the isotta housing or marelux housing and their own 230mm domes. How would the isotta or marelux domes compare to the zen 230? I considered the wwl-1 but it can't do splits.

I'm not really qualified to comment on this, seeing as how I'm shooting with the absolute least expensive option that is available (SeaFrogs 8-inches), but in all of my extensive reading, I haven't seen any complaints about Zen domes vs other manufacturers' options. In fact, although it might be my memory playing tricks on me, I think I've seen a couple mentions that the actual glass part of Nauticam and Zen domes are made by the same company.

 

[Hoag]

Do you feel the brand of the 230mm dome makes any difference? I might go with the isotta housing or marelux housing and their own 230mm domes. How would the isotta or marelux domes compare to the zen 230? I considered the wwl-1 but it can't do splits.

I don't know if this will be any help or not, but here ya go ...

I do not own, and have never owned the port you are talking about. I have, however owned the 4inch (100mm) mini Dome Port from Zen for an Olympus M4/3 camera that I used to have. I was very happy with the optical performance of the port. At only 4 inches, "split" shots were a challenge, but manageable. I would imagine that with a larger (230mm) dome, they would be significantly easier.

Based on the experience that I had with my 100mm mini dome, I would see Zen as a manufacturer of quality products.

 

[WS007]

I don't know if this will be any help or not, but here ya go ...

I do not own, and have never owned the port you are talking about. I have, however owned the 4inch (100mm) mini Dome Port from Zen for an Olympus M4/3 camera that I used to have. I was very happy with the optical performance of the port. At only 4 inches, "split" shots were a challenge, but manageable. I would imagine that with a larger (230mm) dome, they would be significantly easier.

Based on the experience that I had with my 100mm mini dome, I would see Zen as a manufacturer of quality products.

I have the Zen 100mm and the 180mm dome and also the Nauticam 140mm dome (all glass). I see no differences is quality.
One thing to consider is that the Nauticam dome came in a nice bag that can be used for storage, but also for transportation of the dome in a suitcase in the check-in lugagge. For the Zen domes I had to buy such bags extra...
=> When comparing prices, one should add the cost of the transportation bag to the Zen domes...

Wolfgang