New Set Up

Hi ,

I'm quite new to underwater photography (preference being Macro) . I already have a Canon R6 which i love . I'm thinking of buying the Nauticam NA-R6 Housing. along with : 

Nauticam Vacuum leak Check Valve
Nauticam flash trigger (26301)
Nauticam Macro Port 94 N120

I already have one Inon S2000 strobe .

Does anyone know if i'll need anything else for a basic macro setup (apart from another strobe )  Do all universal trays fit nauticam housings ? Does anyone know the rough weight of this kind of set up so i can gauge flight baggage allowance .

Many thanks,

Claire

Your setup sounds good.  My temptation would be to get the Vivid Vacuum Leak Detector, as it it simple, easy to maintain and works reliably (1).  Miso Milivojevic sells them directly (2).

Also, one might consider an Isotta housing for Eu 2,930, it is a nicely engineered, tough and reliable housing, I use one for my Nikon D500.  

 The housing-strobe-camera, etc, weight is that of the ensemble of strobes, batteries, strobe arms, housing and ports, etc. and my rough guess is about 6 to 7 kg.
   
Good luck! and do tell us what you decide

1. https://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?/topic/66474-vivid-vacuum-leak-detector-some-comments/&tab=comments#comment-420518

2. https://www.vividhousings.com/leak-sentinel.php

3.https://www.isotecnic.it/en/products/mirrorless-housings/canon-eng/eos-r5-eng/eos-r6-eng 
 

HI Claire, for macro you have much of what you will need, you won't need a tray as this is built in with the Nauticam housing, you will need strobe arms and clamps and quite possibly will want some float arms to get the rig closer to neutral.  You may also need a focus light.

Nauticam notes the housing itself weighs 3.3 kg, you can likely find the weights of most of your gear online.  The housing itself is quite substantial and way bigger than you would expect from the size of the camera body, unless you've seen it in person. 

If you are truly going to stick with macro, then the setup will be relatively compact for travel, I would suggest though to consider if you are considering a wide angle lens in the future as the domes can take up quite a bit of luggage space and domes for full frame cameras tend to be larger.  There is quite some variation in the size and weight of housings for full frame Canon mirrorless cameras and it may be worthwhile looking into alternatives if you are travelling by air with the equipment.

It may be helpful to visit a store to see the housings in person to judge how much room you'll need to pack them for travel.

I assume you are aware that the Nauticam trigger is manual flash only, there are other options for this including the UW Technics trigger which will do TTL as well for not much more than the Nauticam manual trigger.   On the flash, the S2000 is a fine little flash which should be OK for macro but is probably a little underpowered for full frame wide angle shots.

As for the vacuum valve if you buy the Nauticam housing the Nauticam valve is a no-brainer, the electronics are already inside the housing.  The Vivid is a good self contained solution if your housing doesn't include electronics.

I believe "universal trays" are made for point and shoot housings. You should not need one for your housing - it should have both handles (grips) and holes for flash arm base bolts (at the top of the grips). Check the Nauticam web page for these details!

36 minutes ago, Kraken de Mabini said:

My temptation would be to get the Vivid Vacuum Leak Detector, as it it simple, easy to maintain and works reliably (1).  Miso Milivojevic sells them directly (2).

I agree with Elias. A no-brainer to fit a vacuum valve.

As Chris says, you have pretty much all you need. Add clamps and arms. I'd suggest for macro (and copes pretty well with WA too) 2x 8" and 2x 5" arms and (gulp) 6x clamps. I'd highly recommend going with ULCS arms/clamps etc. I've had mine almost 20 years and they're still going strong. A definite case of Buy Well, Buy Once.

Again, as Chris says, the S2000 isn't very powerful but ok for macro. If you plan to buy a second strobe I'd suggest going with something more powerful  (say, Inon Z330 or Retra) and then eventually selling on the S2000 for a second whatever you buy for the second strobe.

As the guys say, you don't need a tray - the arms/clamps will do that for you.

Stix floats for buoyancy? Easy to fit, can be swapped between arms as/when necessary. Cheapish (all things being relative!).

Travel weight? Camera, housing, one strobe, arms/clamps, lens - I'd guesstimate at 6-8kgs. Plus whatever bag you use. As Chris says, if you dig around online you can find the weight of most items. Travelling with around 15-20kgs of gear, I'd suggest isn't unusual! 

Thanks all for your knowledgeable comments !. Lots to think about so I'm glad I didn't steam in & buy straight away .

Will keep you updated.

Claire

There is a new housing, the Marelux, sold by BlueWater, you might consider, together with a excellent metal housings such as Isotta, Subal, Sea&Sea.  Nauticam is a fine housing, but is expensive to repair and technically demanding to maintain, as it requires a specially trained person to do the annual or two years checkups and maintenance.  In contrast, Isotta, Subal and Sea&Sea are easy to maintain and change O rings.

Marelux looks kinda a rebrand of Nauticam or are they founded by Ex-Nauticam members? 

But I would also suggest to take a look at the other brands like Isotta or Sea&Sea. Most time the prices and options differes a lot. Nauticam seems to be on the more expansive end but also got a quite good port option documented for example 

13 hours ago, Kraken de Mabini said:

Nauticam is a fine housing, but is expensive to repair

... and from what it looks like also became _very_ expensive just to buy it in the span of 1 year. I bought a new NA-D500 housing last year for just a bit over 3200€, and now I see it listed for 4861€ on Nauticam's website Damn, that's a 50% increase in price. I believe this is already in Subal's and Seacams price range

On 1/27/2022 at 3:09 PM, Andrej Oblak said:

I bought a new NA-D500 housing last year for just a bit over 3200€, and now I see it listed for 4861€ on Nauticam's website

Yeah that is crazy! That's why I am considering Isotta for my next housing as I am not invested in ports. They are all sold with my D7100 Aquatica housing which to me was a bit too bulky. 

To me, an Isotta housing is a great choice, a nice balance of quality, good engineering and user accessibility for a reasonable price.  I have the Isotta D500 housing with a Subal port adapter so I can use all my old Subal ports and extensions.  All the buttons and O rings are easily accessible to clean or replace them.  I buy O ring replacements over the mail from 'The O Ring Store' for reasonable prices.
Nauticam is a great housing, but expensive and not easy to repair, a routine 2 year cleaning is about $400 $500. With the Isotta (or Subal) I can do my own maintenance for next to nothing.