Nikon D80 and Sea & Sea DX-D80 Housing

I've been shooting above water with my Nikon D80 for a couple of months and now I wish to use it underwater. The housing I'm looking at purchasing is the Sea & Sea DX-D80. I know very little about underwater photography and equipment but I have a connection with a Sea & Sea dealer and can get very good deals on that brand. My question is....what will I need, beside the camera housing, to put together a complete underwater photo rig?

I plan to shoot mostly photos of divers and larger marine life. I'm sure I'll want to shoot Macro but not immediately. Can anyone suggest what strobes, arms, lens ports, etc., I should choose from the current Sea & Sea line?

Thanks..........

I've been shooting above water with my Nikon D80 for a couple of months and now I wish to use it underwater. The housing I'm looking at purchasing is the Sea & Sea DX-D80. I know very little about underwater photography and equipment but I have a connection with a Sea & Sea dealer and can get very good deals on that brand. My question is....what will I need, beside the camera housing, to put together a complete underwater photo rig?

 

I plan to shoot mostly photos of divers and larger marine life. I'm sure I'll want to shoot Macro but not immediately. Can anyone suggest what strobes, arms, lens ports, etc., I should choose from the current Sea & Sea line?

 

Thanks..........

I just got myself a Sea&Sea housing for the 350D.

From my limited experience, you will need a dome port and extension ring (depending on the port and the lens you will use) in case you want to do wide angle photos. If you want to do macro you will use a flat port.

Apart from the port you will use depending on the camera you will probably want one or two strobes (and the arms coming with it). In terms of arms, check the thread going on here regarding the Stix buoyancy arms. A problem with the housings for smaller SLRs is that they are very negative UW and will feel very heavy. You will eventually want arms that will make your rig more neutrally buoyant. Additionally, the Patima BC is working pretty well for now for me.

If you want to use strobes you have several strobes you can choose from. From my view the most popular are the Inon Z240 and the S&S YS110. You might want to check the S&S TTL external converter if you want TTL in your camera.

I hope this helps.

Regards

Nuno

Nuno,

Thanks for the reply. The lens that I plan on using underwater is the AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor ED 18-70mm. Would you still recommend a domed port or should I go with a flat port? The reason is that I already have this lens and I'm assuming it will do what I need.

I'll have to go with S&S strobes in order to get my deal. For 2007, they offer the YS-110, YS27-DX, YS-90 TTL Duo and the YS-60 TTL. All others have been discontinued. I plan to use dual strobes, so is the YS-110 the one to go with or is the YS-90 TTL Duo better? I'm assuming I'll need a sync cord for using double strobes?

I saw the TTL external converter in the catalog. Could you elaborate more on this? I know TTL means through the lens but could you explain it further?

Thanks in advance for all of your help......

Sub

i would suggest the 110s over the 90s as i think (not sure here) that they are more powerful. And i think its always best to have more power than less.

Yes, you need the dome port for the 18-70 as well as an extension ring, you should also buy a diopter +4 to get better close focus as that lens doesn't focus very close. The flat port is not wide enough to accomodater the wide end of that lens.

The TTL converter basically lets the camera talk to the strobes, the camera will quench the output from the strobe when it thinks it has enough power. Very useful in macro and close up areas, somewhat controversial on how well it works in WA situations.

Mike,

Sea & Sea makes three dome ports.....the NX Fisheye Dome Port, the NX Compact Dome Port and the CX Compact Dome Port. Any idea as to which one I should choose?

Just so I understand....the TTL converter is useful in macro and close up but will it hurt anything in WA situations?

I really appreciate the input.....

Sub

Mike,

 

Sea & Sea makes three dome ports.....the NX Fisheye Dome Port, the NX Compact Dome Port and the CX Compact Dome Port. Any idea as to which one I should choose?

 

Just so I understand....the TTL converter is useful in macro and close up but will it hurt anything in WA situations?

 

I really appreciate the input.....

 

Sub

I have the Sea&Sea Glass Dome Port. This Dome port is about 7 inch (between the compact dome and the fisheye dome port). The S&S Glass dome port is the same as the Athena Dome Port.

TTL works fine with me in macro. I still did not have a shot to try my glass dome port.

You might want to look here for Sea and Sea's system chart. from my minimal understanding of the sea and sea system there appears to be only 1 option for this lens.

Simon

You might want to look here for Sea and Sea's system chart. from my minimal understanding of the sea and sea system there appears to be only 1 option for this lens.

 

Simon

Simon, thanks for posting that link. According to Sea & Sea, only the Compact Wide Port wih the NX Compact Macro Port Base works with my lens. Now I'm really confused...........

Simon, thanks for posting that link. According to Sea & Sea, only the Compact Wide Port wih the NX Compact Macro Port Base works with my lens. Now I'm really confused...........

Me too!! But i'm sure there must be another option... Maybe someone else has a S+S D80 or 200 and can help!