Nauticam or Aquatica

Afternoon all!

I have finally out grown my Oly 560uz & housing and am looking to upgrade my setup. I have the Nikon D90 with a macro lens and the 10 - 17 FE and am now trying to decide which housing to choose. Where I am (Victoria, BC Canada) there isn't really a place where I can physcially see either unit, so sadly a lot of Internet comparsions are taking place.

What I am asking is which unit to go for, what the pros and cons of both of makes are. Personal experiences with either manufactor.

I currently will be using the setup with a pair of YS-90's ...

Thank you in advance.

I am hardly the best source of advice on this as the first time I handled a Nauticam was when it was delivered... But it hasn't failed to impress me so far and I am very pleased with the purchase. Other than the excellent reviews the Nauticams received from well respected WP contributors, I was also drawn by the manufacturer's impressive response to minor critisisms and reactiveness to new cameras as well as the innovations which continue to be included in their product line. Yup, so far a 10 out of 10 from me!

Another thumbs up for Nauticam. Can't comment on Aquatica having never used one.

I've used both the Nauticam and Aquatica 7D housings and wrote this comparison earlier this year:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...showtopic=35507

Since then I've done a heap of diving with my Nauticam and love it, the best housing I've used.

One difference with the D90 is it doesnt have optical on the Aquatica version? But its very competitive pricewise if thats not a priority.

I would suggest maybe having a look at Nexus too, it also has optical as an option, and my diving buddy JimSwims seems happy with it - he might comment further.

Im pretty happy with my Nauticam 7d. Piano keys are great once you stop forgetting about them because you're so used to buttons .

Otara

Given the current rate between US$ and Euro, I would consider the Hugyfot housing as well .... You can connect your strobes both with fiber optics (though I doubt you could use them in E-TTL) or wired cables (if you need TTL than you should have a TTL adapter installed inside your housing .... Hugyfot will be happy to install it for you) .... Hugyfot is the only housing with the HugyCheck systems which creates a vacuum inside your housing to prevent flooding, a very nice feature to have, especially now that it comes pre-installed at no extra cost !!!

All the Best ..... Francesco

I've used both the Nauticam and Aquatica 7D housings and wrote this comparison earlier this year:

 

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...showtopic=35507

 

Since then I've done a heap of diving with my Nauticam and love it, the best housing I've used.

Gudge,

Super review. I didn't pick up on it before since I shoot Nikon. It is worth a read by any brand of camera user who is considering a new housing. In the review, you mentioned that your wife is using a Seatool housing. Maybe not the same camera, so you can't do a one-to-one comparison, but what is your opinon of the Seatool?

Bob

In the review, you mentioned that your wife is using a Seatool housing. Maybe not the same camera, so you can't do a one-to-one comparison, but what is your opinon of the Seatool?

One difference with the D90 is it doesnt have optical on the Aquatica version? But its very competitive pricewise if thats not a priority.

 

I would suggest maybe having a look at Nexus too, it also has optical as an option, and my diving buddy JimSwims seems happy with it - he might comment further.

 

Im pretty happy with my Nauticam 7d. Piano keys are great once you stop forgetting about them because you're so used to buttons .

 

Otara

Hi BGFThelner,

if you are interested in adding the Nexus to the mix I can definitely say I'm happy with mine. It is a light and compact housing even more so with their

newer D90 housing model. I've had no issues with the controls, diving in temperate conditions and have found the system to be ergonomic. When I was at the shopping

stage Nauticam was still a gleam in the manufacturers eye so it was a decision between Aquatica and Nexus for me. I had already decided on using an Inon Z240 strobe

and was in preference of a system that would allow for optical connection so that eliminated the Aquatica. The Inon STTL system is excellent and Optic Fibre cables

don't suffer the issues that can plague Electronic Sync Cables. It also removes a number of flooding potentials.

If I was deciding now though I'd have to say I think I might be leaning towards the Nauticam option. One quibble I'd have with the Nauticam is that the D90 was one of

their first housings which had Shutter and Aperture controls that were not very well textured for divers in cold water with numb fingers in thick gloves. I think they may

have rectified that though with the later models and it's possible the D90 housings being produced now have the better knobs?

As an aside I've had a Nauticam viewfinder installed to my Nexus housing and have found it an excellent investment. The D90 is my first SLR camera and after shooting

with a compact I found composing through the housing viewfinder a real pain in the ass. The Nauticam VF has totally solved that issue now.

I guess its also down to your budget and finding a vendor that your happy dealing with on-line. I totally understand the whole remote shopping scenario and personally

found it an agonising process.

Cheers,

Jim.

I just came back from Wakatobi shooting Nauticam with 7D and Seacam with 5D Mark II. I have one irritating issue on Nauticam. The back dail (the one that adjust Aparture) on my unit malfuction and can only work one way i.e I can only increase the aperture value. Everytime I tried to turn the back dial anticlock wise it got stuck and and the Av not move. I have to work this around by using Q button. It is too slow because it requires me to press Q button, then select Av then use front dail to adjust the Av.

I cannot comment about Aquatica. I love the Seacam 5D MII. BTW, I think the closing hatch on Nauticam is a bit old style. I understand they came up with new latch style in their newer model.

I would suggest that you hunt for a cheap air ticket to Monterey or Ft. Lauderdale Florida and go into one (or two) of the underwater photo shops (Backscatter in Monterey) or (Reef Photo and Stephen Frink) in southern Florida. Feel the different brands of housing in your hands. See if housing has controls that let you access the camera's features that you would want to use underwater. And how well the most important controls are reachable when you have your hands on the hand grips of the housing. Also look at viewfinders, and port systems to find out if the housing has the ability to offer the capabilities you want to grow into. Over a few years you are likely to spend a lot of money on a complete underwater housing system. Choose for the long run.

I think it is really important to find a housing that feels comfortable in your hands and at your eye. I also want the controls I will use when things happen fast to be accessible when my hands are on the housing hand grips and the housing at my eye. If you have to take the housing down from your eye to make changes like from one auto-focus point to another, you will miss a lot of shots. The same may be true when you want to change exposure compensation. And if you want to try TTL flash - does the camera (I don't know about the Nikon D-90) have a flash compensation control and does the housing allow you to use it easily?

If you want to use optical sync cables, some housings will allow that easily. Others will not. If you want a wide range of different length extension rings to be available, some housing systems have them. Others do not.

If you think you may like to use manual focus as well as auto-focus, does the housing have an M-S-C control. And can you engage and disengage the manual focus gear easily underwater or will you have to set the housing to shoot one way or the other before each dive?

I believe these questions, especially the personal comfort ones, are much more important than the actual make of the housing and who else may be using it. A company can make a really good housing for one camera and then fall badly on another model camera.

Good luck,

Fred