I just made my first dive with my new D7000 w/60mm lens in a Sea & Sea housing from the folks at Bluewater. I've upgraded from an Olympus E-520 in an Olympus housing. Probably the nicest feature I've found is that the aperture and shutter speed controls are easily accessible from the handle. This is something I could not do with my old housing. Still have lots to learn about the settings on the camera and need to get the metering accurate with the 110a strobes. I think this is a good housing option that is competitive both in options and price with the others. A couple of my first photos from La Jolla, CA.
Brian
San Diego, CA
Brian
Did you get a pre-production model or the MDX7000 final production version? I have been trying to figure out which (all brands being considered) housing to purchase. I am upgrading from a D200 in a Sea&Sea and have lots of gears, ports etc. so money wise it would be smart to stay with S&S. However it seems the MDX 7000 lacks some features. Still waiting for someone to review it. Any comments you make on functionality would be appreciated.
Steve
Brian
Did you get a pre-production model or the MDX7000 final production version? I have been trying to figure out which (all brands being considered) housing to purchase. I am upgrading from a D200 in a Sea&Sea and have lots of gears, ports etc. so money wise it would be smart to stay with S&S. However it seems the MDX 7000 lacks some features. Still waiting for someone to review it. Any comments you make on functionality would be appreciated.
Steve
I believe it is the pre-production version but I'm not sure what the difference is with the production version. The pictures on the Sea & Sea website appear identical. The only functions you can't access are the flash compensation button, programable function button on the front, and the shutter mode dial. I don't know if the other housings have access to those features or not but I didn't feel I would ever need to have access to those either. I see no need for the shutter mode dial as the only time that shooting in continuos mode would be in ambient light conditions. The flash compensation is not really needed either as your strobes duplicate this functionality. Other than that all the controls look well thought out and are easily accessible. The ISO button is a flip lever on the side accessible from the left handle. Both the command dials are accessible from the right handle. The record function for video is accessed from the right handle via a flip lever. I think the ergonomics are very good and for the money a very good value. Since you already have the ports looks like an easy decision.
Brian
Can you please, post picture of your housing ?
Sam
Backscatter is offering both models. I think their input added features to original MDX7000 housing release. New release still doesn't offer flash release and closure that other manufactures have although the ergonomics and internal mechanics are appealing. I haven't seen one in person but am looking to purchase a housing for the D7000 so I am doing homework and looking for input.
A couple snaps of the housing.
After looking at both models, we decided to stock up on the "pre-production" model - it is an awesome value at $2,300. IMHO the extra controls were not needed and not worth the extra $. Please let me know if you have any questions about this housing. I have over 500 dives on my Sea & Sea D300 housing and it is still working perfectly - the build quality on this housing appears to be just as good.
Scott
After a couple more dives on the housing I am very happy with my decision to get the pre-production version. I really see very little downside as the 'missing' controls are not needed at least for the photography that I do. A few more shots with the 60mm and 1.4x teleconverter.
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