Sea & Sea D200 Housing

Now just act really casual - "Yeah, sure it weighs 22 lbs or less." :-0 Great detailed info, thanks!

Cheers

James

I'm impressed with your packing skills! I have the same Lowepro backpack carryon, and I have to admit, it never occured to me to squeeze the Subal in there too! (Of course I do carry 3 camera bodies... D100, D200, NikV ( in case all else fails!), plus a 12" travel Mac.

I looked pretty carefully at the Sea and Sea for the D200.... nahh. I'm a true believer in Subal. Plus, I already have the ports.

No question the Subal is a very nice housing...with a premium price! That was what I originally had in mind for my D70 when I bought it, but that was largely governed by the idea of shooting with dual SB-800s in the Subal housings. Realizing a dedicated u/w strobe was more powerful and cost effective, I ruled out the SB-800 strobe approach and started looking at less costly housing options, finally settling upon the S&S after also thinking hard about the Aquatica. What I really did was just heed Ryan's advice regarding the build quality of the Sea & Sea housing, in spite of the minor problem I encountered with a non-functional AF Selection pushbutton. The TTL Controller was also a perk that biased me toward the DX200.

Packing my backpack as I did was to follow the approach of having a functional u/w righ in it. Had I instead opted to put the handles, arms, clamps, and TTL controller with sync cables into checked luggage, then I could have fit my D70 body and possibly the Nikonos V with 15mm lens into the pack also and still been under a 40-lb. limit, acceptable for at least some airlines. I just wouldn't have a functional u/w photo rig if my checked baggage was delayed. But I would have the peace of mind of being able to keep watch over all the fragile electronic goods rather than watch it disappear into the "hazard zone" of checked luggage.

Daryl

Hi Everyone!

To bring some life in this topic: today I visited the Sea&Sea dealer in Budapest to ask about the DX-D200 housing which I'll probably buy. Few days beforehand I phoned them with my questions and got a disturbing answer that the company is not shipping this housing... I tought it was some mistake and went after it in person. In the shop the guy showed me a letter from Sea&Sea Sunpak Japan that they don't have this housing, it cannot be ordered, order D80 housings from now on...

Khmm... Does anybody know anything about this? Or are we just a tiny little country again, somewhere in the Dagoba System?

I am really keen on buying a piece as it looks very convincing to me and has a price tag in reach (other contenders were hugyfot and subal, but they both are out of reach for me)

Thanks,

Zook

Hi Zook,

I think it is true that Sea&Sea has stopped producing this housing. About a month ago, I was exchanging emails with the Sea&Sea dealer in Istanbul, asking him questions and trying to figure out whether I should buy the housing or not. A few days later, I received an email from him telling me that the housing would be discontinued and that he'd be able to place a final order for me. So, I went ahead and purchased one.

This was mentioned in another thread recently. I also read somewhere else (can't remember where) that this might be because Sea&Sea would put out a new housing for the D200 with the TTL converter built in.

The dealer here in Turkey tells me that this isn't the first time Sea&Sea is doing something like that and the housing for the D70S wasn't a long lived model either. He also thinks this might be the sign of a new Nikon DSLR model on the horizon.

hi Turquise,

thanks for the info, in that case i'll wait a little - or go for a second hand housing, as i don't find ttl to be really really such a must... maybe a nice domeport from the difference, mmmm...

however, please post if you have new information from your dealer, i can't get any info here...

TIA

zook

All housing manufacturers make a production run based on an estimated demand. No doubt Sea & Sea underestimated on this one and have run out of stock but the nightmare of any manufacturer is to have a lot of stock of a housing for a DSLR that has become obsolete.

If the D200 is not replaced with a newer model soon, no doubt they will start the production machine rolling again or bring out an 'improved' housing.

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