A question about housing shutter release buttons

Every housing I have used in the past has had the shutter release operate as push-down lever, traveling vertically. For those who have used both that type of housing and housings such as the Nauticam housing for the E-M1, with a horizontal shutter release (a trigger style, if you will), I wonder if you could tell me about your preferences and opinions concerning the two different releases?

Thanks for any input.

My own experience has been with vertical shutter releases on housings with handles and horizontal releases on ones without handles. Both seemed to work well in their respective configuration. I could see a horizontal release with handles or a vertical release without handles being less ergonomic though.

Perhaps I was too obtuse. I will be selecting a new housing this year and have a couple of options. One has the paddle or trigger shutter release and one has the vertical "button." I typically use a tray with two handles but because of shutter release location typically use the right-side handle only for strobe mounting. I was just wondering, ergonomically whether most folks prefer to use a right side handle and shutter trigger (for lack of a better term) or the vertical traveling shutter release on the top front of a the housing.

Drag,

You are not really comparing apples to apples. Housings like the Nauticam NEX, new A type, E-M5 and PEN housings are made to be used with a wrist strap where you are holding the housing with the right hand and not holding the right grip. As a result it is more ergonomic for the trigger to be horizontal and to push down from the top of the trigger.

The Nauticam E-M1 housing comes with the grips and is intended to be used while holding the right grip. In this case it is more ergonomic for the shutter trigger and the AFL (rear) trigger to be vertical and to be pushed backwards or in the case of the AFL forwards. I use both triggers on the Nauticam E-M1 housing and it is by far the better system over the other systems which I have used extensively in the past. The aquatica and the Subal housings for the E-M1 appear to have the same trigger arrangements as the Nauticam housing.

IMHO the current solutions for housings with a horizontal shutter release are completely unsatisfactory. A while ago I sent a mail to Edward Lai from Nauticam about what could be done better. Got a positive response, but up to now no "upgrade" is available. Here is an excerpt from my mail:

"... the ergonomics of your handle solution does not quite keep up with your great housing (I have the easy tray with adjustable right handle and also the hand strap.)

With the "big" SLR housings the shutter release trigger is at the side of the the housing, so that you can grab the handle and operate it with your index or middle finger, which - although I never tried - seems to be a logical solution. With the NA-EM5 you need to put your finger on top of the housing to shoot a photo; if you grab the handle the hand is too far away from the shutter release to operate it (and also the other buttons) comfortably, even when it is in the most inward position. So I ended up holding the housing itself and having the handle at the back of my right hand. Seems that it is not only me who does so; I talked to Marcel from Maluku Divers (Sony NEX5 housing) and to another guy who used the NA-EM5 - they both do the same and feel not too happy with the right handle. And if I remember correctly in a wetpixel discussion Alex Mustard also mentioned something that he preferred to hold the housing directly instead of using the handle. I have tried to use the housing with your hand strap, but 1) for me it feels a bit "flabby" and 2) I have to mount the strobe onto the housing and it becomes difficult to mount a focus light.

In my analog days I used a Nikonos RS, which is very heavy underwater (at least 2kg negative). It was a pest to hold it until I found the "ULCS Wrist Support". It is made of aluminium with a neopren tube around it, and with this device my hand and wrist never got tired again. The whole rig just lies perfectly on the back of my hand, and there is no need to "grab" or "hold" the camera actively, it just safely "hangs". I have been diving with it for years, and I feel that this device would be exactly what I had needed for the NA-EM5 to make it more comfortable.

And besides, it weighs only 90gr incl. the neoprene tube (on land)!

... I found that Inon has a similar device in their program (http://www.inon.jp/products/armsystem/base.html#systembase2) From what I see I fear that theirs is not ideal, because it does not have the right curvature! The long part seems to go up in a 90° angle, whereas the ULCS part is slightly bent outward - and this is important to give your upper fingers more space and freedom. "

After the annual neoprene shrinking at end of December I had to buy a new drysuit, which I tested yesterday and today in the Netherlands - with my camera, of course. With thick neoprene gloves I do miss the wrist support even more...

Sorry if this post was a bit long, but as long as there is no "comfort-handle" available I would prefer the vertical shutter release if I had to buy a housing again.

Jock

Here is a Photoshop solution:

I also have the Ultralight flip tray left over from my Nikonos RS days and I tried the wrist support but still prefer the Nauticam wrist strap. The ULCS wrist support is hard on the backside of the hand to me. Both ways the system is much easier to use if you have some flotation to off set the weight of the system. To each his own.

When I was at the NEC Dive Show last year, Nauticam had a trigger mechanism setup on one of their demo EM5's which turned the horizontal trigger into a more SLR style trigger. It looked like a definate bonus, however despite numerous prompts to Alex Tattersall, the item has never resurfaced (apart from being installed from stock on the Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera housing), so I fear that the version I saw was a prototype which has been mothballed. Shame as it looked a perfect addition to the mirroless setups

Dave