Depth Rating for Top Dawg II and Stingray III

I am hopefully going to be buying a Top Dawg II housing in the next days or so and am looking at the depth specs and the TD site says

The housing looks a lot like the Stingray housing by Light & Motion?

The Top Dawg housing is made by Light & Motion and yes it is similar to the Stingray housing. The Stingray housing is camera specific, so only one camera will function in that housing. The Top Dawg offers the ability to use multiple camera models in the housing. That means you can upgrade your camera without having to buy a new housing. Four main differences between the Top Dawg and Stingray: no flip down filter (you can place one on the camera inside the housing), no amphibious microphone (most people dub music into the final product), no interchangeable ports (you can place a wide angle on the camera inside the housing).

Does the housing have a warranty?

Yes, the Top Dawg comes with a one year warranty against manufacturers defects. There is no warranty for the camera. Each housing is pressure tested to 150 fsw prior to release from the factory.

Depth Rating

• Each housing individually tested to 330 fsw

Is the difference down to the difference in testing, or the difference in manufacture of the housings? I am starting down the Technical route and currently have a ticket for 45m but might end up deeper and would like to be able to take the camera if I do.

Anyone know anything?

Thanks

Gareth

www.imagesoflife.co.uk

I am hopefully going to be buying a Top Dawg II housing in the next days or so and am looking at the depth specs and the TD site says and but the L&M site says

 

Is the difference down to the difference in testing, or the difference in manufacture of the housings? I am starting down the Technical route and currently have a ticket for 45m but might end up deeper and would like to be able to take the camera if I do.

 

Anyone know anything?

 

Thanks

 

Gareth

www.imagesoflife.co.uk

Gareth-

I have taken this housing down to 110', the housing did much better than I did at that depth. The double orings and the lack of penetrations help out a great deal. I never had any leakage using this housing.

It is very bouyant so be carefull, if on a deep tech dive you happen to let go (no leash) it will be gone rather quickly.

Coldwaterdude

Gareth-

I have taken this housing down to 110', the housing did much better than I did at that depth. The double orings and the lack of penetrations help out a great deal. I never had any leakage using this housing.

It is very bouyant so be carefull, if on a deep tech dive you happen to let go (no leash) it will be gone rather quickly.

Coldwaterdude

Thanks Clae. I ended up speaking to the UK importer and asking the question. There is no difference between them in the manufacture process, it is only the warranty that is different. L&M will cover it to 330ft and TD will cover it to 150ft - good enough for me.

I am to have it slightly bouyant at 6m and then the compression of the O-rings at depth should make it neutral at depth.

Looking forward to the toy when it arrives

I was with Peter Readey and Luke Inman and others with PRISM rebreathers when we picked one up from the bottom near El Bajo in Baja California. (We later opened it up to try to find that out who it belonged to.)

When we went back to El Bajo in our boat after a few hours drifting on deco, there was another boat there. We asked if they had lost a camera. They said it was no use looking for it because they had looked for hours and it must have gone into deep water.

We asked if it had a Sony TRS camcorder in it. They said it was no use looking because they already had. We asked if it had Radio Shack batteries in it. We then got a VERY big smile.

It had been dropped from their boat. Being near to neutrally buoyant, it had flown a long way on its wing before reaching the bottom.

I can tell you it went pretty deep and did not flood!

I was with Peter Readey and Luke Inman and others with PRISM rebreathers when we picked one up from the bottom near El Bajo in Baja California. (We later opened it up to try to find that out who it belonged to.)

When we went back to El Bajo in our boat after a few hours drifting on deco, there was another boat there. We asked if they had lost a camera. They said it was no use looking for it because they had looked for hours and it must have gone into deep water.

We asked if it had a Sony TRS camcorder in it. They said it was no use looking because they already had. We asked if it had Radio Shack batteries in it. We then got a VERY big smile.

It had been dropped from their boat. Being near to neutrally buoyant, it had flown a long way on its wing before reaching the bottom.

I can tell you it went pretty deep and did not flood!

Go on John, how deep? I doubt that I will be going that deep but it is nice to know

Go on John, how deep? I doubt that I will be going that deep but it is nice to know

You made me look up the record (Max Bygraves best). It was only at 60m after all that.

You made me look up the record (Max Bygraves best). It was only at 60m after all that.

I love the fact that this housing is so bouyant, it takes some getting used to but I soon figured out that in bewtween shooting I could center the housing on my chest while swimming with my arms folded over it. It is a very comfortabe position and the housing just kinda fits right in there.

I was recently doing some Diving in Lake Tahoe where there were lots of kids swiiming around, the kids thought the housing was the coolest thing. While floating at the surface with the lights on it looks like a little R2D2.

I will be at Backscatter on Saturday if you want me to ask any questions for you?

Coldwaterdude

Sorry, I should have addressed this "deep" question "in depth" earlier, but I've been on the road.

Top Dawgs and StingRay Sports are rated to 150 fsw and individually tested to 100 psi or 230 fsw. Please note that housing ratings are generally not based on the o-ring seals, but based on implosion and related safety concerns. Diving deeper than the published rating could result in a housing imploding which would create a vacuum which could be filled by bits and pieces and parts (like masks, regulators, fillings, eye balls, etc.) of the diver who chose to push the limits.

Barrett

Barrett, that's a nice graphic deterrent to people pushing your gear too deep

I needed some extra buoyancy on my Zepp on the Britannic so I used the bodies of some UK torches. Without the batteries inside they imploded at around 110m. Thankfully all body parts still intact, which is lucky since they were around crotch-strap level.

Imploding scuba gear makes a wicked sound. You could hear it on my DV tape but quiet cuz of no mic on that housing.

I normally use high density foam for this purpose but it did stop me from making the mistake of leaving an empty screw-top glass jar in my BC pocket once. (I had been using it to carry shark bait, in which case it was previously filled with water so I could get the top off at depth.)

I heard a very loud bang and then my BC was full of shards of glass.