Newbie Must Read: What new system did you just buy?

I am quite possibly the world's most careless camera owner.  My camera history includes 17 (yes, 17) SeaLifes,  Olympus EpM-1 (4 of them), and now a Nikon Z7.

I decided to try the Nikon 60mm macro lens mounted with a Nauticam housing and MWL wet lens.  I love the fact I have a choice of macro and fisheye on the same dive, but it a heavy, bulky system.

The learning curve of each camera gets larger!  The first Nikon pics looked as bad as my first Sea life DC 100.  But when I rarely get a good shot, the resolution, color and depth is awesome (to me).

Just got the Olympus TG-5 (Tough) but have decided to return it as it seems too fragile.  I guess it's a point & shoot with very modest underwater capability?  For one, the battery cover is just a thin plastic flap with 2 little very thin plastic hinges.    I think a better route would be to get a good case for my Sony NEX-6 (mirrorless DSLR) for which I've two lenses.  I'd also like to get a wide angle lens for underwater shots.

I've heard that the Nautica cases were discontinued.  Is that true.

I have the following set-up: 

What is the life expectancy of the ikelite housings in your opinion? I had one a long time ago for my Sony compact (it got destroyed by being dropped, but am more interested on normal use)

I was looking for a housing for my Sony NEX-6 but these are tough to find.  They also had an issue price of nearly $2,000. 

I've decided to buy a Sony RX100 V or VA (used: they're pretty common) which is the last RX100 using the F1.8 lens.  Then I'll buy a Salted Line case for it which should be a pretty good starter system.  I've seen these $49 or $129 cases by these Chinese companies but I'm skeptical they're any good.

On 12/14/2020 at 8:35 PM, Tony Dee said:

What is the life expectancy of the ikelite housings in your opinion? I had one a long time ago for my Sony compact (it got destroyed by being dropped, but am more interested on normal use)

I'm a Nauticam owner so can't say or me - however i have a friend who has owned an Ikelite for 3 years and it is without any major scratch (he's a dive instructor and uses it almost everyday).

That said if you drop it (as you did), it's over.. Aluminium housing seems to be more resistant but not invincible.

2 hours ago, waterpixel said:

I'm a Nauticam owner so can't say or me - however i have a friend who has owned an Ikelite for 3 years and it is without any major scratch (he's a dive instructor and uses it almost everyday).

That said if you drop it (as you did), it's over.. Aluminium housing seems to be more resistant but not invincible.

It's a really tough question to answer as it depends on how you use it and how you maintain it.

Arguably, as waterpixel suggests, they are not as robust as aluminium ones. That said, I know lots of people who have had them for years and are perfectly happy. But, yeah, don't drop it ( not that I would want to drop my aluminium Subal housing either!) and they do seem more prone to camera alignment problems than aluminium ones. They are much bulkier too than aluminium.

Ikelite have an excellent customer services reputation and certainly if you are in North America, easy access to servicing.

New to the forum but have a Fantasea housing for my Canon G9X mark ii. Bought the G9X mark ii second hand to suit the economical housing. Looking into second hand sea and sea ys-D02 strobes,a tray and a wide wet lens. Any recommendations or advice?

11 hours ago, IrishMike said:

 Looking into second hand sea and sea ys-D02 strobes,a tray and a wide wet lens. Any recommendations or advice?

Hi IrishMike

Welcome aboard! 

It might be worth a search on WP on the YS strobes. I think you'll find some mixed views.

I'd suggest strobes, and their associated arms, are one of the few bits of an underwater system which can grow and stay with you if you switch systems. Housings, camera bodies are at the opposite end! So it's worth putting a bit of time, thought and planning into strobes purchases.

You'll see on WP posts that lots of users have Inons (especially the Z240) which have proved very popular and reliable and appear as secondhands in the Classifieds from time to time. The new Retras (Prime and Pro) are also becoming popular items - but are more expensive and hard to find secondhand.

Thanks for the great advice Tim, much appreciated.

Looks like there has indeed been some issues with the Sea & Sea stuff in the past and looks like inon may well be a better option so thanks for that. Good point about your trays and strobes lasting through multiple camera iterations perhaps also, will research and ensure I get quality. Might start with one strobe and progress to a second after time?

10 minutes ago, IrishMike said:

Thanks for the great advice Tim, much appreciated.

Looks like there has indeed been some issues with the Sea & Sea stuff in the past and looks like inon may well be a better option so thanks for that. Good point about your trays and strobes lasting through multiple camera iterations perhaps also, will research and ensure I get quality. Might start with one strobe and progress to a second after time?

 

 

Most welcome, Mike

Inons are a very good option. I used them for around 15 years (until switching to the superb Retras) and never had an issue. 

For sure start with one strobe, see how you get on and move to second when you are ready. Ideally though you want the second strobe to be the same make/model as the first so if you are gong second hand, bear in mind time frames for availability. Say for example you went for a second hand Z240, that model is now discontinued and it's hard to say for how long you'd be able to pick up another one. Although they have been very popular.

If your budget allowed, you could always buy a new Z330 (the successor to the Z240 and relatively new) and then wait to get a second. 

Check out UCLS for arms etc. Unbeatable quality and longevity. Mine are over 20 years old and good as new. Combined with "Stix" floats, I think they are a great combination. UCLS arms and components often appear in the Classifieds.

Fantastic Tim, thanks very much for the advice.

On 11/20/2020 at 8:07 PM, tomunderwater said:

I have the following set-up: 

-Sony a6400

-Sony 10-18mm lens f/4 OSS (15-27 full frame equivalent) for wide angle shots 

-Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS (75mm full frame equivalent) for fish portraits and (quasi) macro shots   

-Tokina 10 - 17mm f/3.5 -- f/4.5 fisheye lens (no supporting zoom gear with my housing so I set it to 10mm) 

-Two INON z-330 strobes 

-Nauticam tray/ball and clamp arms 

-Sea frogs salted line housing with a standard (glass) flat port and 6 inch (acrylic) dome port 

 

So far I'm pleased with this rig.  Happy to answer any questions re: this equipment! 

Tom 

Ah brilliant, I've been trawling all over here and scubaboard to try and find somebody with this rig! I've an a6000 and I've just picked up the tokina 10-17mm because I really wanted to try my hand with the fisheye. I'm looking at the salted line housing with the "6 dome. Would you be able to help me with any of the following Tom?

1) Are you using the sigma mc-11 or metabones adapter? Any issues with hunting autofocus underwater with natural light?

2) How do you rate the salted line housing, have you dived it much and have you had any problems with leaks from that bottom pistol grip bulkhead?

3) Would you be willing to share some pictures taken with the tokina in the 6" dome?

Grateful for any input, as I'd really like to know if this combination is viable before dipping in.

Thanks, Jon

I'm a Canon guy. I use the 5D lll in a Nauticam housing. Since I do mostly large animal pictures I use the Canon 24-70mm image stabilizer with Retra strobes. Very happy with it. I also use a Canon 60mm macro.

I am the new owner of the NARX100vii Pro Package from Sony and Nauticam.

I am not on the lookout for lenses and strob(es) along with other things.  It looks like a great little compact, and a reasonable forwrard leap from my previous G16 in a Fantasea housing, which is now gathering dust, as the G16 has sadly broken!

Just started taking dive photos and have built up a Tg6 system with Olympus housing, cheap AliExpress tray, a single inonD2000 strobe but recently  picked up a pair symbiosis ss2(2nd hand) which I am desperate to try 

Here are some of my first ever underwater shots 

On 12/16/2020 at 11:43 AM, TimG said:

It's a really tough question to answer as it depends on how you use it and how you maintain it.

Arguably, as waterpixel suggests, they are not as robust as aluminium ones. That said, I know lots of people who have had them for years and are perfectly happy. But, yeah, don't drop it ( not that I would want to drop my aluminium Subal housing either!) and they do seem more prone to camera alignment problems than aluminium ones. They are much bulkier too than aluminium.

Ikelite have an excellent customer services reputation and certainly if you are in North America, easy access to servicing.

I had an Ikelite housing for my D800 , after 3 floods I gave up and bought an Aquatica housing which is great.

Hi all,

Recently purchased an old Subal ND20 with Nikon D200. Currently using a 60(?)mm macro port with a Nikon Nikkor 60mm AF lens, and waiting on a 50/3 extension ring so I can use my Subal FE Domeport with a Tokina 12-24 lens. Also using two Sea and Sea YS-30 strobes. While it may not be as good or easy to use as a lot newer setups, the system has worked great, especially for Macro. For those looking for a step up from a gopro without spending an outrageous amount of money on gear (I got everything besides the Tokina lens and extension ring for $250 usd) i'd recommend it.

I might as well reply.  I just bought a Z9 and Nauticam housing to hold it, plus the 14-30 and the 105 macro.   Moved parts from a D850 housing.  I used the D850 in June in Bonaire, and started using the Z9 in August/September in Roatan.    Because I somehow flooded my Kraken focus light on my last dive in Bonaire, I bought a Backscatter focus/video light to replace it.   I also bought a Backscatter Miniflash with snoot, and I enjoy playing with that.    YS-D1 strobes and arms dating back to 2015 when I bought them for a Sony RX100 rig.   Except that I replaced the strobes with a pair of used ones after one failed in 2019.   New, shorter macro port and a shorter extension for the 230mm port I had.  I kept using the 180 degree viewfinder I started with in 2016, for wide angle. I added a 45 degree viewfinder for macro this year.

In Roatan I did 37 dives with the camera, though it failed on one dive so I just carried it around on that dive.  (14-30 lens contacts were dirty, and it couldn't read aperture.  I cleaned contacts after that dive, and it's been fine since.)  I had other new gear while diving with the Z9 also, so it was a bit of a slow learning curve.  I didn't do as much video as I liked, but it was obviously better at focusing than the D850.

Hi all! Been shooting underwater for some time but never very consistently. Recently got the TG5 and absolutely love it - super easy to bring along with me when I have other tasks to do on a dive and works great for macro.