I am buying my first mirroless setup later on today. I have the a6000 and the Sony 10-18 at the moment. I am leaning towards buying the ikelite housing over the nauticam at the moment but I understand the build quality is far superior on the latter. I was wondering if there are any benefits other than the alarm and the build quality that I should take into account. I phoned camerasunderwater.co.uk and the guy told me that the price of ikelite stuff will be reduced by 10% for the black Friday deals whereas nauticam wont which adds to the price advantage it has. However I don't want to buy this expensive piece of kit and then find out about some big advantage that the nauticam version has...
Any help in this decision would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Kieran
I have been using a Nauticam with my a6000 for 2 years and over 600 dives without problem. The system I chose has a vacuum system fitted that I now wouldn't be without.
The maintenance service from Nauticam has been 1st class.
I looked at both and went with nauticam and vacuum valve to pressure test on the work top.
I wouldn't think twice, Nauticam every time... Try http://www.nauticam.co.ukAs Alex is the main dealer he may be able to give you the best price.
I had 3 Ikelite housings (2 compacts and a DSLR) before moving to Nauticam with both DSLRs and Sony mirrorless including the NA-A6000. The main difference is the ergonomics and handling which is streets ahead for Nauticam. Both systems can take the same quality of image but you are likely to enjoy the Nauticam more and are more likely to catch that critical moment rather than struggling with controls. The 10-18 is a nice lens.
Hey Kieran
If at all possible, I'd suggest you go and handle them. I wouldn't disagree with any of the comments above - but actually feeling and playing with the housing, even above water, will give you a good idea if you are going to like using the housing - or not.....
