I have finally decided to upgrade from my old but loyal Nikon D50 to the D7000. All my equipment is Sea & Sea so I was naturally thinking about getting the MDX-d7000 so I could continue using my ports. However, the reviews for the Sea & Sea housing have been quite a mixed bag. This may be a silly question but are any of the Sea & Sea ports compatible with other housings like subal or nauticam. Second question. What housings would people suggest if any over the Sea & Sea? I have been very happy with my old Sea & Sea set up but its definitely time to move on.
Thanks in advance
Hi Camilla,
One of the reasons I looked at Nauticam for my new housing last year was the ability to use my old Sea & sea ports. Its an easy adapter change.(16 screws) I still carry my old housing setup as a spare so I can swap back and forth if needed. I know Aquatica has adapters available too. I haven't looked at the S&S for the D7000 though. I can't comment on the ergonomics of the housings. Recommend you try and get your hands on your choices before making a decision.
Have fun looking and good luck.
Steve
Aquatica has S&S port adapters as well. Have a customer who went to the AD7000 from S&S and simply got the port adapter.
S.
I know what I'd do.
I know what I'd do.
Y'ld get a Nexus, right?
Y'ld get a Nexus, right?
Teehee
Nexus is great but getting very hard to find in US.
I went through same process already having a S&S DX200. Earlier in the year the first release S&S housing's were quite a bit cheaper than the Nauticam but lacked many features. Now they are near in price range but the Nauticam is superior due to their additional features and better ergonomics. As to the port adapters, changing the S&S over to Nauticam is simple and you get one of them attached to the main port cover that is already included with housing, if you want to save a few bucks. One thing that I discovered and was quite frustrating is that the S&S to Nauticam "gear adapter" does NOT work with the D7000. It is to fat and causes the teeth to bind between port and flash head of camera. For awhile they thought I was crazy at Reef photo but finally saw that I was correct and milled the gear adapter down 1 mm so that it will work. Tony Land and the Reef crew are great to work with and took care of me with loaned gears for a recent trip to Fiji as well as fixing the problem. I suspect Nauticam will address the issue in the future.
The Nauticam housing is really sweet and I give it a thumbs up over the S&S for the D7000.
BTW, Alex at Nauticam UK is top notch on treating the customer right and a bit closer to you.
Cheers, Steve
Thanks to every one for your advice and comments. I am now looking at the Nauticam as a possibility and hopefully Dr Tattersall will be able to organise me a great deal
Cheers
Camilla
Thanks to every one for your advice and comments. I am now looking at the Nauticam as a possibility and hopefully Dr Tattersall will be able to organise me a great deal
Cheers
Camilla
HI Camilla,
What did you hear about the Sea & Sea D7000? Just curious what info you saw on it....
Post edited: Admin
Hi Jason
I read the D7000 housing review on wetpixel by Adam Hanlon D7000 housing review. It mentions that there are no controls on the housing to lower or raise the internal flash during a dive. At the moment I have sync chords so that isn't an issue, but i find it odd that the housing only has one sync chord connector. Maybe I am missing something but if something goes wrong with your dual sync chord, then you loose both strobes? Which then made me think, ok maybe fiber optics are the way to go. But the issue of the non-existent flash button on the housing then comes into question. I like sea & sea and because of my ports etc it makes financial sense for me to go that way. Its a good sign that you have had no complaints about the MDX-D7000.
Cheers
Camilla
I don't see a problem with no flash release control on housing. 95% of the time I use the flash to fire my 2 strobes via fiber optics. If for some reason I just want ambient light, then turn strobes off. Just have to remember to pop up flash before closing housing. Fiber is very reliable - no electronics to fail, & low maintenance. The only thing I can't do with fiber is fire strobes in continuous shooting mode (3-6 fps).
If you somehow forget to pop the flash before closing housing, it's very easy to do by switching to auto then pressing the shutter button, whilst covering lens from light
Cheers,
Jim.
If you somehow forget to pop the flash before closing housing, it's very easy to do by switching to auto then pressing the shutter button, whilst covering lens from light
Cheers,
Jim.
Yeap, that's the way it works for my D80 though the flash does "clunk" on the housing roof.
Bob
I don't see a problem with no flash release control on housing. 95% of the time I use the flash to fire my 2 strobes via fiber optics. If for some reason I just want ambient light, then turn strobes off. Just have to remember to pop up flash before closing housing. Fiber is very reliable - no electronics to fail, & low maintenance. The only thing I can't do with fiber is fire strobes in continuous shooting mode (3-6 fps).
The main benefit of being able to disable the internal flash via a push down lever is to allow shutter speeds faster than max sync for silhouette shots.
All good reasons, but pop-up control wouldn't make my top 10 list for reasons to buy a particular make housing. A lot more important issues to consider like engineering, quality, ergonomics, ports & adapters from other brands, etc. On a few occasions I've forgotten to raise the flash before closing the housing. Since I always test fire a shot with each strobe before going near the water, its easy enough to fix. I guess it just depends on what type of photography you do.
I was almost for ordering the Sealux housing for my D7000 when i realized that they offer only electrical connections and no optical port to connect slave strobes.
This was the out for this housing and i got a Hugyfot for my D7000.
but are any of the Sea & Sea ports compatible with other housings like subal or nauticam. Second question. What housings would people suggest if any over the Sea & Sea? I have been very happy with my old Sea & Sea set up but its definitely time to move on. 
