D70S Housing - Aquatica, Nexus or Subal?

I've narrowed my choice of housing down to three for my D70S. OK, to be honest, Ikelite is under consideration, too!

The Aquatica housing complete with all ports required for the lenses I currently own would cost about $3,000 and would be purchased new from a dealer.

The Nexus is the one advertised in the classifieds right now. It is used.

I just found out about a used Subal ND70 available from a dealer and I'm getting really excited about this housing as it is small and lightweight, two features that are very important to me. IMHO, buying used from a dealer is different from buying used from a private party and can be a little less risky.

And, I posted about this on another uw photo board, and they pointed out ,almost to a man, that it's not a good desicison to spend beaucoup bucks on an older camera such as the D70S and recommended I go for the Ikelite, something I hadn't considered before my post on that board.

I've heard great things about the Subal ND70, but, if I'm not mistaken, there's only one strobe connection on this housing. Not sure if that would seriously limit me. My prior uw photography was using double strobes on the Nik V.

The main thing is I just don't want to blow big bucks on this purchase, but want to get a decent lightweight housing for my D70S.

I really wish they had housings available in my area that I could try out to see which feels best in my hands.

As it stands now, that's not an option. So I have to go with recommendations of others and the results of my own research.

I'd be interested to hear the opinions of others, especially opinions about the Subal ND70.

Ellen

Hi Ellen,

The Nikon D70S is an absolutely fantastic underwater DSLR. It will be a LONG time before its 'limitations' will

outweigh the abilities of some of the experts that love to spend others money with outrageous proposals. If you like the look of the Subal then you can rest easy knowing that you have a very reliable brand name housing; as long as the dealer is prepared to back the sale with some sort of warranty.

I personally use the Nexus housing for my D70S and absolutely love it.

If you are worried about the single bulkhead, then I would suggest one of Ike's new sync cord i-TTL adaptors with a dual cord and two of his strobes...

IMHO...

Bruce

I agree with Bruce. I'm shooting the D70 in an Ike housing, while I do have the money to upgrade if I wanted to now the camera still takes better pictures than I'm capable of. I'm using my money to buy better glass. I have thought about buying a different housing, but only for the upgraded view finders that are being offered.

If you can get a great deal on a Subal housing, go for it. I don't think you'll regret it at all

Just my thoughts.

Stephen

I agree with Bruce. I'm shooting the D70 in an Ike housing, while I do have the money to upgrade if I wanted to now the camera still takes better pictures than I'm capable of. I'm using my money to buy better glass. I have thought about buying a different housing, but only for the upgraded view finders that are being offered.

 

If you can get a great deal on a Subal housing, go for it. I don't think you'll regret it at all

 

Just my thoughts.

 

Stephen

I too am shooting a D70s with an Ikelite housing. On several occations, I've considered upgrading, but I've too found that the single best upgrade I could make is the lenses.

So for the price of a upgrade to another body, or an upgrade to another body and housing. I've been able to raise my whole photographic skill and powah (above and below water) set with better glass, better software, second strobe and more knowledge.

I'll be awhile before I upgrade from the D70s, I'm really waiting to see if my pipedream comes true and Nikon puts out a D70x, that will allow me to retain my housing in their next round of cameras...

It'll take alot of new features before I upgrade, as I don't think I've totally unlocked all that my D70s has to offer.

Just my 2 cents....

Joel

There is a Nexus D70s housing on Ebay for $1,200 buy-it-now. You should get it!

James

There is a Nexus D70s housing on Ebay for $1,200 buy-it-now. You should get it!

 

James

I have finally made a decision after careful consideration of the options. It was not an easy decision.

I decided to get the used Subal housing. At $1,400, I figured it was a bargain and not much different in price from that of the new Ikelite housing.

I didn't check out the Nexus housing on Ebay because of an unrelated problem I'm currently having with Ebay. I got sent some phony Emails from Ebay purporting to ask questions about an item I had for sale on Ebay (I currently have no items for sale on Ebay). I got over half a dozen of these emails. Even though I did not go to any links, they ended up taking control of my computer, including setting up new folders on my email program. To make a long story short, I can't use Ebay at the moment. Ebay shut down access to my account after "suspicious activity". My computer tech recommended I close my Ebay account permanently.

Thanks for alerting me to the listing.

Now I need to make decisions regarding purchasing the GS viewfinder (at $1,250 ouch!) and ports for my lenses. Fortunately, there are already two strobe bulkheads on the housing.

Thanks again, James.

Ellen