Housings for the D2x

That post was made before Aquatica made is decision on the D2X fabrication. Both Blake and Norma from Aquatica have confirmed that the D2X will be a machined Aluminum housing. A first for Aquatica, but it will allow them to get their D2X housing to market sooner.

Thanks! Do you think it will be a box-like housing or something like the A5? I ordered my D2x (I will get it in a month or two if I'm lucky), so I am just trying to decide if I wait for Aquatica or go for Subal.

I have not discussed the shape of the D2X housing with Aquatica. The Subal housing is of course avaialble now but the Aquatica housing should be priced about $1,900 less.

Aquatica's housing for the Coolpix5000 was machined from solid, so this will be their second CNC machined housing :-)

Cheers

James

Thanks James! As I was typing in "a first for Aquatica" I had the eerie feeling that I was forgetting one previous machined housing.

Dave Marsh is right, this housing will be machined. Since Aquatica just started this project, it is the only way for them to get a housing on the market within a reasonable timeframe. Other manufacturers have a big head start on them by working with the D2h or via their close relationships with Nikon.

Aquatica can make a machined housing as simple or as complex as they want, but as you increase complexity, you increase the time the housing has to spend on the CNC mill, and the amount of passes the mill has to make, increasing cost. At $3k or less this won't have many of the aesthetic touches added to cast housings. The A5 required Nikon's DA-30 Actionfinder, which isn't available for this camera, and will eliminate much of the bulge at the top of the housing pictured. Aquatica's housing should resemble Subal's in form...

This is all very exciting. Its great to be hear so quickly about the world of UW photography!

Alex

I had better enjoy posing with the D2X in Cayman - as it seems they are gonna be everywher soon!

Alex, you were still the first and no one can take that away!

Maybe. But I still haven't taken any great shots with the camera yet! Maybe at the weekend. Alex

Alex, you mentioned that you were going to get the GS Viewfinder but decided that you like the viewfinder that came on the housing better. Could you elaborate a bit more on the reason. I played with the D2X briefly but won't get my camera for another 2 weeks. I realize that the viewfinder is quite a bit bigger than the D70 so do you think that the GS Viewfinder is not neccessary/helpful or do you have any specific problem with the GS viewfinder? I decided on Subal mainly because of the availability of GS viewfinder and ideally I would like to be able to see the entire viewfinder sometimes even when the housing is not press up against my mask. I did play a little bit with Subal D70 housing with GS Viewfinder and find it very useful. The local dealer here won't be able to retrofit GS Viewfinder at a later date and I would have to send the housing back to Europe if I want to add GS Viewfinder so it would be easier to just get it now with the housing rather than doing it later. My dealer talked to Subal earlier this week and I was told that the next batch of Subal housing should be available toward the end of April but did not mention anything about GS Viewfinder shortage or whether it is still unavailable.

Thanks for your help.

Hi,

About the viewfinder, I don't have a D2x (yet), but Alex mentioned in another post that the viewfinder on the D2x is of a similar size of the F100 (which I have). Sometimes I can compose fish pictures with my F100 housing holding it more than a foot in front of me, and my Sea&Sea housing has the same viewfinder as yours, very little magnification. Bottom line, if the D2x has a viewfinder as big as the F100 I don't think you will need a GS viewfinder (and you can save 900 bucks by not adding one!).

I hope this helps, but let's see what Alex has to say about it.

I have now received my Subal Housing for the D2X (without the GS180) Subal could not supply the viewfinder in time for my trip.

Fortunately the Subal Dealer in Australia is able to retrofit the GS180 when available.

I shall use the next 2 weeks to do some testing and plan on using all my lens and strobes and will post some samples when I return.

Lens:

10.5, 12-24, 60, 105, 70-180

Strobes:

SB800 in a Subal Housing

2 x Inon 220Z

regards

ron

Alex, you mentioned that you were going to get the GS Viewfinder but decided that you like the viewfinder that came on the housing better. Could you elaborate a bit more on the reason.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The D2X viewfinder is much bigger and brighter than the D70. It is more similar to the F100, though slightly smaller but brighter.

Having used Subal D70s with and without GS finders I intended to get the ND2 with the GS. It makes a massive difference on the D70. But I wanted my ND2 early - and that meant I couldn't have the GS.

Anyway after my first tests in Egypt I felt that I don't really need the GS - of course the camera works without it! Yes it is definitely better - but as Luiz points out it costs a lot too. Maybe I'll buy one at some point in the future when my finances have recovered from buying the D2X! If money was no object I'd get one now. Maybe that money would be better spent on a 12-24mm?

Viewfinder preferences are very personal things. And I don't think I can tell anyone what is best for them. If you have used the GS before - I think that you will find it hard to give up.

Alex

Alex, thanks for the comment. I do like the GS viewfinder on D70 a lot and if the D2X did not come out, I would certainly consider switching from Sea and Sea to Subal housing for my D70 just for that (surprisingly Subal housing without GS viewfinder was not that much more expensive than Sea and Sea over here).

I guess if the GS viewfinder is available when Subal delivers the next batch of housings next month, I would probably get it too but I certainly don't want to wait for the GS viewfinder to become available before getting the housing. Oh well, who needs to eat anyway when you can get D2X/housing/view finder instead :-)

Price for Nexus will be US$ 3,785 (THB 147,250) @ ADEX. I believe this price will not be available after the show.

There are 7 units pre-ordered for Thailand.

Are there any pictures of the Nexus housing (other than those ugly ones of the prototype)?

Aquatech, who make surf photography housings have released their D2 housing:

http://www.aquatech.com.au/products/D2-Pro/d2_pro.htm

Alex

Are there any news on the Nexus and Aquatica D2 housings? I mean, any additional photos? Expected shipping dates? Is Subal still the only one currently shipping?

Luiz

After writing the message above I saw that Nexus updated their website with new photos of the housing, here is one:

And here is the link for the housing page:

Nexus D2x

Looks very nice. Weight w/o camera = 6 pounds.

Cool, thanks for posting!

Cheers

James

Nexus started shipping their housings already. My divebuddy ordered an unpainted one and the housing arrived last week. Another dive buddy ordered a regular one and is expecting delivery sometimes in the next week or so. Aparently my subal housing took a little side trip to Hong Hong according to my dealer but it is now at the airport in Bangkok waiting to be cleared by the custom so hopefully I will have it soon!