Subal ND7100, is buoyancy needed?

Dear Fellow Wetpixel Members,

I am considering getting a Subal ND7100 housing and a Nikon D7200 body.

Those of you who are using the Subal ND7100 with two Inon Z240's and a 60 mm macro port, how much added buoyancy is needed to make this rig neutral buoyant?

Thanks,

Elmer

Hi Elmer,

Yes you will definitely need some buoyancy, how much will depend on the combined elements of your rig and how close to neutral you want the system in water. It is always interesting to see other photographers solutions. I use home made cork collars around the port and a couple of fishing net floats at the back of the housing over the viewfinder. Whether you home engineer a solution or use commercially available floats/arms you will need to experiment with quantity to find the best lift combination for your needs.

Mark

Hi Elmer

I'm sure you have sorted this by now......

On my Subal housing (D800) with two Inons, I use Stix on the four ULC arms: 2x 8" and 2x 5". Although this still leaves my setup negatively buoyant with a Nikkor 105mm and Subal M/AF port, I've never found this a big problem. Yeah, if I let go it'd head downwards pretty sharpish - so I have lanyard attached to it and my BCD. But for handling the camera it's not an issue and the Stix on the arms don't get in the way or add too much bulk.

With a 230mm Subal port, EXR and a Nikkor 16-35 it's only slightly negatively buoyant. Downward drift is slight. Damn heavy though topside!

With a 180 viewfinder, FP 90 port, two Z240's I have found that two Nauticam 90 mm x 150 mm carbon float arms with two 8' ULCS arms with one jumbo Stix each works.

It is just negative. Attaching the buoyancy arm next to the housing helps with the tendency of the housing wanting to turn port up.

Will need to try attaching some floats to the 180 viewfinder to further balance the rig.

PS: this is my wife's rig, so it is imperative I keep her happy

Elmer