Nikon D300 housing advice

So I have been doing my research and wondered what opinions people had on my thoughts.

I have a D300. I was contemplating upgrading to D300s but don't think the movie mode on it justifies the purchase.

I have been looking at models that can use the inbuilt flash to trigger external strobes optically - taking advantage of iTTL. Does that sound best?

I would probably go for INON strobes - good idea or not?

So I have been looking at Nauticam or Seatool but would be happy to hear other opinions. I am in the UK so prices can be quite steep for imports.

I already have a 10.5mm DX Fisheye lens.

I would want to get probably the tokina 10-17mm and a macro lens.

Any thoughts more than welcome.

I'm using a new Nauticam D300s housing with Inon strobes, but I use manual optical control for wide-angle photography, keeping sTTL for macro.

I've taken these recently with this system:

I do have a passion for the Nikon 10.5mm lens, and don't use the Tokina 10-17mm that much. I have found, contrary to common opinion, that the Tokina lens is better in a big dome, but that the Nikon is very happy in a mini-dome which is both cheaper and easier to light with strobes.

Tim

You are very welcome to come and have a play with a Nauticam housing if that helps.

I personally would not upgrade to the S model. The D300 is a great camera. Plus, you can pick up used housings now because the D300 has been out awhile. And, I would not use optically triggered strobes for that camera (not even sure there's a housing that offers that option). I have the D300 in a S&S MDX300 housing with two S&S YS110a strobes. I also use DS160s as slave strobes for cave photography, which is what I do most. Here's a link to the gallery on my website. As for lens, I'm using the Tokina 10-17 with the S&S fisheye dome port.

Blue Horizon Photography -- Springs and Caves Gallery

So I have been doing my research and wondered what opinions people had on my thoughts.

I have a D300. I was contemplating upgrading to D300s but don't think the movie mode on it justifies the purchase.

I have been looking at models that can use the inbuilt flash to trigger external strobes optically - taking advantage of iTTL. Does that sound best?

I would probably go for INON strobes - good idea or not?

So I have been looking at Nauticam or Seatool but would be happy to hear other opinions. I am in the UK so prices can be quite steep for imports.

I already have a 10.5mm DX Fisheye lens.

I would want to get probably the tokina 10-17mm and a macro lens.

 

Any thoughts more than welcome.

... I would not use optically triggered strobes for that camera (not even sure there's a housing that offers that option)...

If you can't say something based on experience, perhaps you shouldn't say it at all? Optically triggered strobes work well with the D200 and the D300s, so I have no qualms about recommending them for the D300. Nauticam and Anthis/Nexus certainly have facility for optically triggered strobes, as do Seatool and both Inon and Heinreich Weikamps make optical adaptors.

Tim

I have a D-300 in a Seatool housing. I also have two optically fired INON Z-240 strobes. I use STIX arms. The result is a small, light, well balanced unit for macro (60mm, 105MM). I shoot sTTL. Nice setup.

Don't know about Nauticam. I think the Seatool is a bit smaller.

I think the Seatool is a bit smaller.

I'm pretty sure that you're right: the Nauticam is definitely larger than my old Anthis/Nexus housing.

But very nice!

Tim

With a dome on I don't think smaller matters much. For me it would come down to price! At Reef Photo the Naudicam is $2800 and the Seatool $2999. I think that one should also check out port availability and costs since the housings are within $100-200 of each other. I happen to have the 180 degree INON viewfinder ($900) which moves the Seatool (Reef Photo) to $3800. I assume that you can add a magnifing viewfinder to the Nudicam also. Bottom line I would call Ryan at Reef Photo (He is the Nikon guy. Richard is an Olympus puke and Kelly is Canon) and ask.

For macro and shore diving the smaller housing is slightly superior. For example The Naudicam appears to have dual handles built in. The Seatool, otoh has a built-in ball mounting. With a single strobe macro setup I can go without any tray at all, mount a single strobe on that ball and use a hand strap. Alternately, I can mount a single arm and use two strobes, attaching the focus light to the strobe mount if I want to. Overall i believe that the Seatool an be a smaller package.

I was able to get a 17-70 Sigma to mount in a flat port (the zoom ring is permanantly attached to the 17/70) so that I could take decent midrange shots (near macro to near wide angle) but I have not yet invested in a dome. My compound ports will support the Sigma 17-70 (needs a flaired flat port), Af-105-VR, af-105-vr+ 2:1 TC and a 60mm.

Adding a dome would be trivial (I have a 12/24) but IMHO one needs a model for most serious wide-angle shots. I solve the "Whale Shark cruising by" problem by also carrying a Sanyo HD-2000 video/still rig.