L&M Titan D100 feedback wanted

Hi all,

I am looking for people/users/owners of the Titan D100 as I am thinking of buying one for my D100. However, I have heard some mixed reviews and wondered if anyone out there has had extensive experience with it since they have been released. I was told that there have been serious electronic comebacks, has anyone else experienced this? All feedback, both positive and negative, will be appreciated before I make a decision.

Funny you should ask:

L&M Titan D100 Review thread

I've been using the Titan D100 for several months and am very happy with it. Since I still carry my Sea&Sea NX90 as back-up, I chose to use the Sea&Sea ports rather than carrying two sets of ports, so I went with the port adapter ring option. This does allow me to use every possible combination of ports and lenses that I have with my film housing, but I wouldn't recommend this option unless it was absolutely necessary. The port adapter ring is very tight and difficult to remove from the housing once its on, but it does do what I bought it to do.

The camera fits snuggly into the housing and all the things that are supposed to line up and connect do... perfectly. Its also very easy to feel and see exactly how the camera is set. This has not been the case with other housings I've used in past years. The o-rings on the back and the ports are no different than any other housing I've used, so I'm not sure why other people have flooded them. I like the back latches too.

The housing is ergonomically very comfortable for me. Its slightly negative underwater when shooting macro and very slightly buoyant with the wide dome port. Topside its not so heavy that I need to hire help to carry it to the boat, which was the case with my last D100 housing.

I love the ROC system for both wide angle and macro shooting. The ability to quickly change the aperture, shutter speed, strobe settings, and focus lock at the touch of a finger, without having to move my hands off the handle is simply brilliant. The signals from the handle are sent to the circuit board through a fiber optic cable. I accidentally pulled the wire out and thought for sure I'd have to send it in for repair, but I stuck it right back in and it again worked flawlessly.

I haven't had any problems with the electronics. So far they've performed flawlessly. I think I would consider bringing a backup if I were making a long distance trip since a failure would make the housing inoperable.

The handles can be removed quite easily for compact storage and transport.

One must-have accessory for this housing is the Mod Light. At this point, what's another $400? I use it with my film housing too and am considering buying another as a backup (batteries don't last more than a couple of dives before needing a recharge). After using one its hard to go back to using a flashlight of any size. I don't use it as a primary source of light, only as a focus light, but when composing through the viewfinder it really helps you see what's happening on the other side of the lens when in low light conditions and takes away any auto focus issues the D100 might have underwater.

I wish I could turn off the camera once its inside the housing, but that's not that big a deal.

For topside shooting I would never consider keeping the mounting plate on the camera. Its not that hard to remove and I would be concerned it could be damaged from getting knocked around.

The worst part of investing in this housing or any digital housing is exactly that...the investment! If I had to do it all over again, I certainly would choose this housing.

Good luck in your buying decision. Hope this helps.

Bonnie