D90 housing choice

Hi

I've been reading the thread from a guy who was choosing between Hugyfot and Aquatica for his D90, and went for the Hugyfot. I'm trying to make a similar choice, but I've narrowed the shortlist down to include the Sealux housing as well. Does anyone have any thoughts/advice to offer please? My hot buttons have boiled down to the following;

- price; All 3 are very similar in price, so no discriminator there.

- Port material; Hugyfot is acrylic, Sealux and Aquatica are glass. I would be biased in favour of glass, but I've been using an acrylic Ikelite dome for some years without an issue.

- Port size; Hugyfot dome port is smaller and therefore more curved than the others. Does this impact the images?

- Weight; Sealux looks lighter (1.769Kg), but it could be because the other 2 quote weight including a port (2.7 and 2.83Kg).

- Hugyfot leak detector looks really good - very positive point.

- Any difficulties using the viewfinders? My eyesight is not what it used to be, and I use a bifocal mask. (Sealux angled viewfinder looks really nice, though expensive.) Can this be fitted to the others?

- Any problems working the controls underwater?

Thanks in anticipation. Pete

I received my Hugyfot for my D90 last week but am still waiting for the dome port so I've not had a chance to try it out yet. Hopefully I'll take it for a test drive in the pool over the next few weeks, then I'm off to St. Johns mid November.

First impressions are very positive - ergonomics seem very good, great build quality and finish, viewfinder seems fine. Admittedly I've not tested it u/w but I've been running round my garden in the fading light with my mask on taking photos of my dog

One of the main reasons I went for it is the leak detector; in terms of value for money, I think this option makes the Hugyfot the best package, and gives me piece of mind.

A potential issue I'll face later on is the lack of gearing for the Nikkor 105mm AF-S micro which I own. Leaves me with the choice of just going down the autofocus route or getting a Hugyfot adapter for a different manufacturer's port.

As soon as I receive the dome and get underwater I'll report back some findings.

Cheers,

Tim

Hi Pete,

Just came back from a Red Sea safari yesterday. I got a Nikon D90 in a Hugyfot housing, shooting the Tokina 12-24 with the big dome port and a Nikkor 105 with the flat port. An INON Z-240 was used as flash. It was the inauguration trip for my new rig, and I have to say I am really glad with it.

The whole rig fitted into my hand luggage, together with lenses, camera and two dive lamps. Hand baggage was limited to 8 kg, and I almost could keep it ... no complaints by the airline! Acrylic ports have certainly a advantage when it comes to weight issues.

The whole thing is rather a monster above the water, but was easy to handle u/w. With the dome port, it had neutral boyancy, with the macro setup it was slightly negative.

The hugycheck system did a good job to convince me that I had assembled everything the right way. Easy to use. With the dome port on, it takes about 45 sec to get the housing to the right negative pressure... quite a lot of volume...

I saw the 45º viewfinder in the shop, and it must be great to have it. It really magnifies the image quite a bit. But my budget did not allow this purchase right now. The standard viewfinder did a good job, too. At least the framing is manageable, and all important camera settings and lighting measurements can also be seen on the screen at the back. No problem.

All controls worked fine u/w.

I can post a few pictures taken if required.

Hope this helped. Gazpacho.

I returned from my Red sea trip a few weeks ago and also got on very well with my Hugyfot D90 set up. I was using a Tokina 10-17 and a Sigma 17-70 - I didn't get the gearing or extension for the Sigma, but with the aid of a little velcro I could use the Tokina gearing on it without problems. I couldn't zoom it all the way though, so it was effectively a 17-55. I also put a bit of padding on the end of it to stop it hitting the dome port. I found the LCD on top a little difficult to see at times but I just used the info button and looked at the main screen instead. Other than that, no real problems to be honest; didn't take long to mount the camera and the Hugycheck system worked fine and provided me with piece of mind. On about 2 dives I had problems with the gearing but I think it was my fault for not securing the camera in exactly the right position; it does take a little getting used to. I just had one Inon z240 this trip so spent a lot of time learning how to light shots with the Tokina; I think I started to get the hang of it. Next time round I'll either get another strobe or maybe the flat port seeing as I have a Nikkor 105mm. The Hugyfot flatport doesn't allow gearing to use the (new) 105mm in manual which is a slight issue but I think I'll go with it anyway. Here are some samples, the rest of them are here: http://flickr.com/gp/25320274@N03/ow3sNa

@blimbo: nice pics!

Here are some of my shots:

If I had a D90 today I would go with Nauticam.

Good Luck