Upgrade Question From D70 to D90 or D300

Folks;

I currently shot with a Nikon D70 in an Aquatica housing.

I am a serious amateur and want to step up my gear.

Because of my current investment, I will stay with Nikon and Aquatica.

The choice for me is whether the I go with a Nikon D90 and the new housing that just came out from Aquatica or I spend an extra $1000+ and go for the D300. It would be a stretch for me, but this is a long term investment and I want to get it right.

Any thoughts or insights are greatly appreciated.

Charles

Folks;

 

I currently shot with a Nikon D70 in an Aquatica housing.

 

I am a serious amateur and want to step up my gear.

 

Because of my current investment, I will stay with Nikon and Aquatica.

 

The choice for me is whether the I go with a Nikon D90 and the new housing that just came out from Aquatica or I spend an extra $1000+ and go for the D300. It would be a stretch for me, but this is a long term investment and I want to get it right.

 

Any thoughts or insights are greatly appreciated.

 

Charles

Hi Charles,

I would have thought that this would be a "no-brainer", and this is not an insult!

The new Nikon D90 is receiving rave reviews, offers great video, AND FITS IN THE SAME HOUSING AS THE D70. . . .

This would save you a helluva lot more than 1K.

I would confirm this with Jean (Aquatica) but everyone elses housings are a 'shoe-in'.

I am currently thinking through this option.

Bruce

The new Nikon D90 is receiving rave reviews, offers great video, AND FITS IN THE SAME HOUSING AS THE D70. . . .

This would save you a helluva lot more than 1K.

I would confirm this with Jean (Aquatica) but everyone elses housings are a 'shoe-in'.

I am currently thinking through this option.

Bruce

Bruce - the D90 definately does not function in the D70 housing.

I have heard of a few folks who have fitted a D90 into their D80 housings.

Let me know if your coming to Oztek and I'll make sure there is one available for you to handle.

Cheers

Bruce - the D90 definately does not function in the D70 housing.

I have heard of a few folks who have fitted a D90 into their D80 housings.

Let me know if your coming to Oztek and I'll make sure there is one available for you to handle.

Cheers

Hi Peter,

Sorry to hear about the D90 not being an Aquatica update. . . ???

The Nexus D70 housing has updates to the D80 and now to the D90, so Aquatica must be lagging somewhere behind?

I have also personally seen D90 camera in an Ikelite D80 housing that has also had a D70S used in it!

Sorry mate, but Oztek is a pipedream and my finances are laughable after a decade of personal injury.

I have entered the door raffle and hope to, maybe, win a ticket to the next one in two years time?

Regards,

Bruce...

I had a D70 then D70S - was a good camera but felt that it was slow or hard to focus in low light and when cropping down on small stuff limited megapixels lost sharpness - was happy with Aquatica housing - when my D70S flooded (user error - dome port not as flush as I thought) - I upgraded to the D200 with Aquatica housing - good camera - better resolution and focus lock in low light - of course when the D300 came out I had to upgrade again - definitely light years ahead of the D70S as far as focus lock in low light and sharpness when cropping down - just a much better camera. I got the Aquatica back upgrade and am very happy. Hoping for a D300X or something - just because I like new toys and the economic stimulus plan just wants me to spend more money. Have not heard anything from Aquatica about the D90 fitting in a D70 housing but a quick phone call to Jean Bruneau at Aquatica will give you an answer there.

Good luck.

Andy

Hi Peter,

Sorry to hear about the D90 not being an Aquatica update. . . ???

The Nexus D70 housing has updates to the D80 and now to the D90, so Aquatica must be lagging somewhere behind?

I have also personally seen D90 camera in an Ikelite D80 housing that has also had a D70S used in it!

Sorry mate, but Oztek is a pipedream and my finances are laughable after a decade of personal injury.

I have entered the door raffle and hope to, maybe, win a ticket to the next one in two years time?

 

Regards,

Bruce...

Bruce and Peter;

Thanks to both of you for the input...right now I am heavily leaning towards the D90. I don't think I will ever work the camera hard enough to justify the D300. I will check with Aquatica about the housing question, but even if I do need a new housing, I think I will take the savings on the camera and housing and invest in a new strobe.

Charles

I recently bought a D300, Before that I only used small bodies (N80, F80, F80s, D50, D80...) and going D300 was he best thing I ever did. The image quality is about the same, maybe even better on the D90, but the productivity on the D300 is amazing, the metering, AF speed, the sealed body, the 100% viewfinder...

Hi!

I kind of have the same question. I own a d300 but thinking about selling it and replacing it with the d90 because housing it with an aquatica is 1000 bucks cheaper for a d90(i live in sweden and our currency have lost 50% of it`s value against the dollar in six months)and my question is: is it really worth staying with d300 and maybe go for an ikelite housing? 12bit in raw(d90) against 14bit(d300) any difference in dr? more advanced autofoucs in d300(better?) etc...

jacob

Hi!

I kind of have the same question. I own a d300 but thinking about selling it and replacing it with the d90 because housing it with an aquatica is 1000 bucks cheaper for a d90(i live in sweden and our currency have lost 50% of it`s value against the dollar in six months)and my question is: is it really worth staying with d300 and maybe go for an ikelite housing? 12bit in raw(d90) against 14bit(d300) any difference in dr? more advanced autofoucs in d300(better?) etc...

 

jacob

I wonder why the housing prices seem to be based on the price of the cameras? A D300 and D700 are practically the same and the D90 is not that far off in regard to buttons etc. The D3 housing price is a ton also. I mean...maybe it is the expected sales and they can mass produce more D90's I don't know but it almost seems like the same tire on a rolls costs more than the same tire on a toyota. Materials and design aside 1000k less for the D90 is a consideration with the ability to get some video, though manual focus UW hmmmm might need the bigger viewfinder. I think there might be something on nikon's horizon to compete with the canon 5dMKII with 24mp and video but waiting sucks.

Do any one here using D90 in ikelite D80 Housing??? any comment?

For anyone thinking of a "long term" investment (more than 6 months these days) I would suggest buying 2 camera bodies now while they are available. Not only does this give you a separate topside camera but also a direct backup body that fits in the same housing. The D90 is a great camera for u/w. You can almost buy 2 D90's for the cost of a D300.

I recently upgraded from a D70 to D300. Definite improvement in picture quality (not that D70 pics were bad), AF speed, AF tracking, faster CS fps.

Keep in mind that an upgrade also may mean a bigger faster computer for larger file size, new CF cards, etc. These things tend to snowball. But that's why we all have Platinum Cards.

Fewer housings are sold for the high end cameras ($3000+) vs the prosumer class ($1000-1500). Hence the higher price for high end since design & tooling costs must be recouped over the sale of fewer units.

Do any one here using D90 in ikelite D80 Housing??? any comment?

WOAH! Anyone here using a D90 in an Ikelite D70 hoousing? This would be very good news to me if true.

D70, D80, D90 are all different in terms of button location and alignment. I had Iketlite D70 & D80 housing before, not the same thing.

I think the only thing work might be the shutter release :-) D80 & D90 has different button alignment on the left side and totally different arrangement on the right side of the LCD.