Best Housing for the Nikon D100 ?!

I just bought a nikon D100 and would love some counselling on choosing the housing system. Subal ,Aquatica , Light & Motion or other! Any comment is welcome!

I have a Subal and think it is the best! That is why I bought it. The controls are well thought and laid out, and reliable. It is small (compared with Sea and Sea) and seems from what I have seen of other housings to be more durable that the Sea and Sea and possibly the Aquatica. These are my opinions.

The L & M looks great. ROC seems a great idea (especially if you only own TTL only strobes). But I would rather trust a mechanical controls than electronic ones in something that works around seawater.

I have never seen an Ikelite D100 housing. So I can't comment.

Seacam housings are very well made, but I find them ergonomically not as good as Subals (but that is probably because I am more used to the Subal). The D100 Seacam is flawed because the excellent 45 degree finder available on the Seacam (which is definitely one of the best features of the Seacam range) covers half the LCD screen. Of course you can get the housing without the viewfinder, but this seems to defeat the object of getting a Seacam (think Ferrari without the engine). In fact the 1 seacam d100 I have seen UW had the 45 degree finder on it.

I think that the nexus is a neat, small housing. That would have been my second choice. But I don't like the shadeless dome ports I have seen on Nexus housings.

Please don't act on my opinions - canvass a few alternative points of view first.

Alex

I went through this same decision analysis last December. It's was scary, because none of the local dive shops stock any of the higher end housings. As a result, there was no way to do any touchy/feely evaluation of the various models available.

Anyway, I chose the L&M Titan housing. I bought it "sight unseen" based on L&M's reputation and reviews I found online. I've just returned from spending five months diving in the northeastern Caribbean from the Bahamas to St Barts. I made more than a hundred dives with this rig and have been very happy with it.

My choice was based largely on the ROC. As I'm sure you know, Nikon's iTTL limits the use of u/w flash to essentially manual exposure. The ROC system provides 12-step control of the flash at the push of a button. This sounded really useful. However, in reality, I haven't found it necessary to change the flash exposure that much. (The independent control of dual flashes is nice, though.) What I have found to be very useful is the thumb control of the shutter speed and fstop. The focus lock button is also useful.

I still don't have any hands-on experience with any of the other D100 housings, so I can't offer you a feature-for-feature comparrison. But, for me, I have been very pleased with every aspect of the L&M housing. I would buy another one.

Good luck,

John

i currently have the Nexus housing for the d100. i was originally looking at an aquatica housing but that fell through cause they wouldn't have had any ready until 2 months after i needed it. so in my travels around the internet i came to the conclusion that i wanted a subal housing. but after looking at the prices i realized that it was a little out of my college student budget.

so i looked around some more and came across nexus. their price was right an i really liked the look of the housing (plus it wasn't in the ugly gold color i see the aquaticas in ) so i called up nexus america and talked to Woody who was extremely helpful and set me up with everything that i needed.

the housing is really awesome. being that i have no other housing to judge it against i am very impressed. everything is ergonomically layed out and easy to access without taking your eyes out of the viewfinder, mostly apeture and shutter speed controls. the build quality is top notch and i am very satisfied with my purchase and highly recommend this housing.

Price, availability, and local dealer support are all factors worth considering. With the US dollar being weak this year it is not a good time for Americans to buy European housings. Alex

You asked for the best? Subal.

I have owned 5 Subals, as well as having used or owned Amphibico, Aquatica and Ikelite.

Glass ports also have to be better than acrylic.

I've never actually held a Seacam housing in my hands, but they look pretty nice too.

You didn't give us much about yourself to go on. There are a lot of factors to consider before you decide which housing is right for YOU. They are all good, it just depends on how you make the trades.

Something to consider.

What is your budget? How long do you expect to keep your camera? How often do you dive? Do you travel to your dive destination by air?

The aluminum housings are great, durable and sometimes compact. But the housings you mention are all $2k+ with ports. In the digital age you should expect upgrading your camera at some point at which time you will need a new housing. What is the threshold for you to replace the D100? You will have to amortize the cost of the housing over the number of dives you do per year times the number of years you expect to keep the D100. The resale on digital anything is not very good.

Also should consider maintainability. I really liked the clear housing. Not only will I have some "hope" of spotting and mitigating a leak, but even getting the housing set up was easier because I could see the mechanical controlls. If something wasn't working I could see why right away. On a dive you also have some hope of figuring out how to fix the control if you can see it.

Small housings have a disadvantage in leak prevention (god forbid). There is at least a small chance that the water will not be up against the camera if there is more volume in there.

Also should consider ports. Glass is better/more expensive. Some have 6" domes and others 8". I have heard that its easier to get split level shots with an 8" than a 6". Need to try this myself.

What strobes do you have? Not all housings are compatable with all strobes/trays/arms. Make sure you choose one with the right interfaces. Do you want to shoot TTL or manual? Some housings are easier to use in manual and others are holding out the hope of TTL in the future.

Also consider support. European housings will be harder to get support from than domestic (if you live in the USA). Ikelite provides excellent support for their products as anyone here can attest.

I looked at this trade and went with an Ikelite for a D70 (basically the same as the d100 housing). I only dive two weeks a year and will probably upgrade the system in 5-7 years especially if full-frame digital comes at a reasonable price. I liked being able to see inside the housing, was ok with the ports, and loved Ike's customer service. I owned Ikelite strobes and have "faith" that TTL is comming as an upgrade. If not the manual controllers are convienient (second best to ROC). The system is fairly compact and I can get the whole system in a carry-on.

If I lived by the ocean and dove every weekend, was not a technofile engineer, had tons of photography experience, got paid for my split-level shots, lived in Europe and had INON strobes my decision might have been different.

... but even getting the housing set up was easier because I could see the mechanical controlls. If something wasn't working I could see why right away. On a dive you also have some hope of figuring out how to fix the control if you can see it.  

I've used Aluminum Housings (Subals) for 6 years, the controls have ALWAYS lined up, I've got other friends with aluminum housings (Subal, S&S & Nexus) who've never had issues with controls lining up. The problem with some acrylic housings is that they flex at depth and therefore the looser tolerance causes the controls to lose alignment, I've personally seen this happen with both Sea & Sea and Ikelite (sorry Ike).

As far as leakage goes, a dip in the rinse tank prior to the dive will uncover most leak minor leaks....I've known 2 users of plastic housings who've gone on a dive but becuase the water and the housing have the same refractive index, didn't detect small leaks that sprung in the housings, and I guess this is where the bulky plastic ones come into play, due to the size of the housing, the leak was small enough that not enough water came in to touch the camera...then again, I'm not one who's inclined to try to fight a current pushing nearly a cubic foot of underwater housing in front of me =)

As for ports, I can't comment as Subals have glass ports throughout, I have flat port and 1 dome port, and with the proper extensions have used the following lenses:

Canon & Sigma 15mm FE's

Canon EF 16-35 & 17-35Ls

Canon EF 28-105

Canon EF 50mm f2.5 Macro

Tamron 90mm Macro (2 friends with identical housings use the Canon 100 Macro)

Sigma 28-70 macro zoom.

Having shot over 3000 images through my Subal C10, I can honestly say I don't miss TTL, yes, it would be nice for grab shots, but that's rare...maybe for 10 pics out of the 3000 that I'd say were grab shots.

There is excellent support for most Aluminum housings in North America, in fact my friends and I replace the control o-rings ourselves and a friendly diveshop let's us use a pressure pot to check for leaks.

If cost were an object, then maybe I'd look at the plastics, however, from my experience and those of my shooting buddies, the best housing would be the Subal, then Nexus.

Stu

The problem with some acrylic housings is that they flex at depth and therefore the looser tolerance causes the controls to lose alignment, I've personally seen this happen with both Sea & Sea and Ikelite (sorry Ike).

This might be a problem too, but not one that I have yet experienced. What I was referring to was problems setting up your camera in the housing. Ikelite vs aluminum housings may be very different here, but if the tripod mount isn't attached firmly or lined up on the back or the controlls in the right orientation when the camera is inserted the buttons might not line up or actuators might get stuck. My D70 housing has l shaped actuators that when rotated push certain buttons like the lens release, on/of switch etc. If they are not in the right positions when the camera is inserted it can be hard to figure out why they are not pushing the buttons. Because the housing is clear it is easy to either manipulate the arm into position or figure out what it is stuck on. An opaque housing of the same design would present a problem.

Perhaps all controls on an aluminum housing are push button type? Perhaps all aluminum housings line up perfectly every time and you ALWAYS remember to connect everything?

"Perhaps all controls on an aluminum housing are push button type?"

Nope, my Subal has rotary controls for the rear control dial, a lever for the shutter and lens release, another rotary lever for the "On/Off" switch.

"Perhaps all aluminum housings line up perfectly every time and you ALWAYS remember to connect everything?""

So far, mine have ... that's over 6 years and hundreds of dives with Aluminum housings....besides, what's to forget? There's only the hot shoe connector.

s.

Since you are an expereiced LM user with D100 - you know you can only turn the camera on - I have not yet been able to determine if the camera goes to sleep and for how long etc - can you enlighten me. Plus - do you use wtlink for strobes - if so do you ever experience a bad connection due to tarnish (I have been trying to manage this on my E20N/Titan rig)

new D100/titan user

thanks

meit on

I went through this same decision analysis last December.  It's was scary, because none of the local dive shops stock any of the higher end housings.  As a result, there was no way to do any touchy/feely evaluation of the various models available.      

 

Anyway, I chose the L&M Titan housing.  I bought it "sight unseen" based on L&M's reputation and reviews I found online.  I've just returned from spending five months diving in the northeastern Caribbean from the Bahamas to St Barts.  I made more than a hundred dives with this rig and have been very happy with it.  

 

My choice was based largely on the ROC.  As I'm sure you know, Nikon's iTTL limits the use of u/w flash to essentially manual exposure.  The ROC system provides 12-step control of the flash at the push of a button.  This sounded really useful.  However, in reality, I haven't found it necessary to change the flash exposure that much.   (The independent control of dual flashes is nice, though.) What I have found to be very useful is the thumb control of the shutter speed and fstop.  The focus lock button is also useful.    

 

I still don't have any hands-on experience with any of the other D100 housings, so I can't offer you a feature-for-feature comparrison.  But, for me, I have been very pleased with every aspect of the L&M housing.  I would buy another one.    

 

Good luck,

John

You're right, the L&M housing doesn't allow you to turn off the camera without opening the housing. This is annoying, but doesn't seem to be a problem. The camera will go into a sleep mode after a user-selected period of non-use. The battery lasts quite a while, and I have never had any problem with it not lasting for a full two-tank dive with long surface interval and plenty of pictures shot underwater.

My flashes are Ikelite D50 and DS125. I chose the Nikonos style bulkheads instead of the wetlink. They work fine. I have only experienced leakage one time at the housing end of the connector. Since then, I liberally coat the pins with silicone grease. I don't think any more moisture has gotten into the connection, but hopefully, if it should, the grease would shield the pins from corrosion.

John

Since you are an expereiced LM user with D100 - you know you can only turn the camera on - I have not yet been able to determine if the camera goes to sleep and for how long etc - can you enlighten me.  Plus - do you use wtlink for strobes - if so do you ever experience a bad connection due to tarnish (I have been trying to manage this on my E20N/Titan rig)

 

new D100/titan user

I just returned from a galapagos trip, and did 4 dives a day with my D100 on. The batteries last a long time. I would leave the camera on in my Titan housing all day, and only turn it off at night when I opened the housing to get the memory card out. I changed camera batteries out every other day (so my battery was easily lasting all day for 2 days), and never had any indication that the camera battery was getting low at all.

I used wetlink bulkheads for my strobes on my old Tetra Housing for several years, and use them on the Titan as well with my Nikonos strobes. I've never had any trouble with bad connections, but do put a light coat of silicone grease on them occasionally, and do not disconnect them underwater.

Boydski

I've been using the Aquatica housing almost every week for the past year now, and I've been about 95% happy. Also had multiple opportunities to see and play with most of the others. Here's my 2 cents:

Aquatica: The up side: Quality is standing up well (no leaks, no major damage to the housing). Great price-point. Arms by TLC rock. Back window is nice & small to shade out ambient light. Relatively large housing gives room to trap water in case of a flood. Great customer service. No language barriers/major shipping problems like when shipping to/from Europe.

The down side: Repetitve issue with the sieze-up of the Ex-Comp / Flash Mode knob (its actually in for repair again for that right now) (why is that knob even there?!?!). Powder coating paint has chipped in a few spots, leading to minor corrosion. They say they are fixing that too while its with them right now- I'll know next week.

Now on the others, well, I'm not going to bash anyone, but let's just say, I've been very happy with my purchase decision. I haven't see a crappy housing out there, so honestly, you'll probably be happy with whatever you choose, but without brand bashing, here's the issues/concerns I've seen with the other name brands:

1) Electronics failures in the handles (who's housing is that?)

2) Non-ergonomic handle grips and shutter-releases for those of us with big hands

3) When it breaks/floods/whatever, I want someone who speaks Eng in my Country (or continent) who is in/near my time zone. You can email them from the boat/destination and get near-instant help.

4) I dislike smaller housings without room for a little trickle of water

5) While most manufacturers want to (and often should) do all the repair work themselves, let face it, if you're on the first day of a trip and it poops out, having the ability to fix it on the fly with a little inginuity it paramount. Aquatica is all simple mechanics - some of the others are impossible to work on in the field because of crazy angles, un-genious mechanisims, and electronics panels.

6) Blah blah blah - its my first post, so is anyone listening anyway?

But areas where the others have toasted my Auqatica are: having the product in stock, quality of paint, and quality of port-covers.

As for the "buttons lining up" issue - I've only heard/seen 2 issue with an aluminum housing not lining up in buttons, rotators or anything. The 2 being the power switch on the Hugyfot N90s, and the shutter release plunger/knob on the Aquatica CoolPix housings - both of which I've seen on multiple housings of those makes, but nevre anywhere else. On acrylics - I help my customers jury-rig their acrylic housing knobs/buttons/switches all the time (almost on a weekly basis) - acrylic definitly has about 100 times more issues with not lining up (but at least you can see where the error is!

i have had ikelite housings for two previous camersa and liked em just fine but when i got my D100 i called and talked with Tom & Lee at Marine camera and they convinced me to go with a nexus and i have loved it.

I went to DEMA last year and looked at housings and the nexus seems like the most compact too

also 4" dome glass port for the sigma 15mm lens is great cause it is easy to pack and works well.

i tlaked to one guy that had the L&M and he had gone through 5 of the ROC control cards!!

a buddy of mine has the ikelite case for his digital rebel and it is way bigger than my nexus

id buy a nexus again i just wish they had more zoom lens porst ie for the new nikon 17mm-80mm lens that auto focuses so fasr

I like to express my gratitude to all of you for the valuable info I got in this forum. I wonder if there is anybody out there that has used a Seacam (D100) and could give some feedback on ergonomics and other. Also the 45 viewfinder blocking the LCD screen, how bad that affects the performance. I also would love to know about the new housing from Seacam for the D70, if they will fix the problem with the viewfinder covering the screen or any other news on that development. I can still replace my order of the D100 for the D70. Is this a good idea when we think of underwater?

I heard that Seacam were planning to solve the problem with the 45 viewfinder for the D100 and D70, but since it only affects these cameras I am not sure it will ever happen. I will believe it when I see it!

Alex