Sea & Sea or Aquatica housing for Fuji S2 Pro?

Hi, first post here. James W. referred me to this site and from what I've read so far it looks like this is the place to ask.

I'm in the final stages of choosing a housing for my Fuji S2 Pro and have narrowed it down to the Sea & Sea or the Aquatica.

I know that SS has crappy service, supply and support, but I like the clear housing to check for o-ring status and leaks. I also seem to get excellent customer service from Yuzo in Japan at uwdigitalcamera.com for other stuff I've bought from him. But again, only a 1 year warranty good in Japan. Glass optic dome ports, which I would like to have, are also available through a company called Athena in Japan. But the SS housing looks like it'll scratch pretty easily.

The Aquatica is rugged, but heavier underwater than the SS. No glass dome ports to my knowledge, but I would get a U.S. warranty. I live in Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth a long boat ride away from mainland service, but service nontheless. Button placement on the Aquatica seem to be less ideal than with the SS (aperture button on the back, requiring removal of right hand from handle).

Prices between the two are about the same, so that's not an issue.

Any help/comments appreciated. Thanks.

Mar

I've had great results with the Sea & Sea D60 housing. No real complaints, except that it was molded to resemble a big rounded box. It worked, was almost neutral with Ike strobes (it is REALLY, REALLY bouyant with most S&S strobes), and had huge, visible o-rings.

In the States, we're going to have to see if TUSA can pick up and improve on Sea & Sea's support issues. But since you're in Saipan, that's a moot point.

A non-sequitur: Do you happen to know Sarah Pont or Brad Layborne? They are ex-pats over in Saipan, and are good friends of mine. Brad referred me to a guy named Joe Paran about doing some diving out there (I had planned on visiting them, but it never happened), and I corresponded with him over e-mail briefly.

Eric,

Thanks for the reply.

Of course I know Sarah, Brad and Joe. I dive with Joe almost every weekend and meet Sarah and Brad for dinner/drinks every now and then. How do you know them? Small world (island), eh? I'll tell them you said hi next time I see them.

The Aquatica apparently needs some bouyancy added to it, whether through the ULCS arms, PVC, or non-compressible floats. I didn't realize that the S&S housing was so bouyant with the S&S strobes.

Sarah and I are good friends from college. Both self-proclaimed "music nerds." We toured through China and Italy in the "Dorkestra."

I'm playing in her wedding in February. We've already started rehearsing the piece our mutual friend wrote for it.

Here's a picture of her gettin' fresh.

OK. back to aquatica vs. s&s.

I have homes both on Guam and in Japan. I have used both Sea and Sea and Aquatica housings. I prefer Aquatica!

Tim Rock is the Aquatica Dealer on Guam and has very close contact with Blake (at Aquatica).

For more info please send me a private message

Chris

Hello Mar,

I also strongly recommend Aquatica. I have used their housings for many years. The housings are functional, durable and reliable. And, the owners, Blake and Norma, are some of the best people I know.

If you have any questions, as Chris suggested, you can email me privately.

Scott

The Aquatica is rugged, but heavier underwater than the SS.  No glass dome ports to my knowledge, but I would get a U.S. warranty.  I live in Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth a long boat ride away from mainland service, but service nontheless.  Button placement on the Aquatica seem to be less ideal than with the SS (aperture button on the back, requiring removal of right hand from handle).

Mar

Apperture button is on the right next to the shutter. Shutter speed button is on the back. And you can switch them in camera if you like.

For reference, the Aqautica is much smaller than the Sea&Sea in size (the S&S is a big old box and they are going the Ikelite way of one big housing will fit many cameras), and my setup is slightly negative underwater (TLC arms, dual Ike SS200 strobes) but not enough where I felt it necessary to add addiitonal buoyancy.

S&S also had a lot of QC issues with this housing initially, though I haven't heard much lately so maybe it is resolved. Having the US distributor close its doors is a bit of a worry, but someone will (or I think already has) step in and fill a gap. Also I felt that if they are going to go the way of Ike and make big plastic boxes, then their price point should drop accordingly - and it hasn't.

Glass never really has done it for me - travelling with glass ports is a PITA, and I always liked the fact I could buy two or more acrylic ports for the cost of one glass.

I much prefer the Aquatica housing, and unless you already have an investment in S&S ports, I would be leaning that way.

M

S&S also had a lot of QC issues with this housing initially, though I haven't heard much lately so maybe it is resolved.

OR, maybe they didn't sell many past the first one's as too many people had problems. After all, S&S USA supposedly closed because it wasn't a viable business on it's own (i.e. they couldn't sell enough to justify the operation).

I guess I should speak up at this point. I have a S&S housing for the S2, with dual bulkheads. The original one was wired incorrectly and wouldn't fire the strobes in TTL mode. After a bit of a hassle and delay, I got a new housing and it is working fine.

I use it with dual Inon strobes and it is a little negative, but definitely not as bad as the RS I used before! I have no complaints with the layout of the buttons and dials, and it appears very sturdy. I have had Ikelite housings in the past and this appears much more solid, even tho as others have said the back is the clear plastic, similar to Ikelite housings. I have been using it for local diving for a couple of months with no special handling, and there are really no scratches, except for a couple of marks on the tray.

If you already have any ports, that would definitely be a determining factor. I had none when I started and so went for S&S, though if I'd known they were closing the US office it might have affected my decision.

So bottom line, once the problem with the strobe bulkheads got resolved I have had no complaints with the housing.

Feel free to contact me off-line if you would like any additional information.

Hi, Thanks for all the HELPFUL comments.

My internet service was down for 1 1/2 days (one of the misfortunes of living on a tropical island) so I will begin PM-ing some questions to y'all soon.

Mar