I’ve decided to upgrade from a compact digicam to DSLR.  I haven’t chosen a camera or housing yet, so my options are wide open.  There are many great DSLR cameras on the market, and I have my eye on a few, but I don’t know how to choose a housing.  I have experience with Ikelite, but none of the other manufacturers.

I would appreciate advice from owners of housings from various manufacturers on what to look for in a housing.  Money is only partially a consideration, because sometimes more expensive doesn’t always mean better quality.  I’m willing to pay for quality.  Since the camera and lenses have not been chosen yet, it leaves the options wide open for opinions on a wide range of categories.  If you could include “why” you recommend a certain item, it would also greatly assist me.  I think these are the main areas where I need advice:

- housing material
- O-ring quality, ability to confirm the O-ring has sealed properly
- viewfinder design
- shutter release and button layout
- port design, and how it mounts to the housing
- accessibility of buttons / controls on the lens
- ease of viewing the LCD displays
- buoyancy
- ease of use, comfort of use underwater
- durability
- ....?

Perhaps there’s a place where someone has already offered advice on this question?  If so, I’d appreciate a pointer on where to find it.
Thank you for your time and assistance.

Hi Matt,

first of all: congratulations to you decision to switch to DSLR! You won’t regret.

To start with: The main decision will be the camera manufacturer. The mainstream and most comfortable decision will be to go with the two main manufacturers Nikon and Canon. Not only because of re-selling value, but also for lenses and housing support. The most housings are build for these two brands. And if you go to the top housing brands ... actually it is only canon and nikon. So i highly recommend one of the two >> so that would be a canon 450d or a nikon d80 on the entry level or a canon 40D or 5D or a Nikon 300D on the higher level. There is also pro level cameras ... but ... i think the ones i mentioned are more than sufficient to keep you busy for many years

For the housing: They all do the same job, and none of them can change the capability of the camera. in the end it comes down to a few things:

- ergonomics: you just should try some ... there is no magic housing for all hands.
- port system: how many lenses are supportet. and how? do i need a port for each lens, or can i work with one flatport, one domeport and extensions. glass or acrylic ports?
- manufacturing quality and material: there is aluminium and acrylic housings. i recommend aluminium. but also there you will see differences in the details (ease of moving dials and buttons)
- support for further models ... make sure you choose a housing that will also be available for the next generations of cameras ... so you can keep your ports and viewfinder and just change housing (and maybe even get a good price for the old one if it is a famous brand)

to answer your questions:

- housing material >> aluminium is better
- O-ring quality, ability to confirm the O-ring has sealed properly >> if you spend money in a upper housing brand, you can be quit sure that the orings seal. if you flood it, then it is most of the time not the fault of the housing. it is either stupidness or lack of maintainence.
- viewfinder design >> angled or 45degree finders are pretty nice to use and quite popular at the moment. i can recommend them. the inon finder can be adapted to many housings now (nexus, sea&sea;, hugy, seatool ...) and subal and seacam have own luxury 45degree viewfinders
- shutter release and button layout >> here you just have to try for yourself. it is important that you can reach the shutter and the aperture, shutter dials comfortably.
- port design, and how it mounts to the housing >> bayonet or thread ... it is a long discussion which is better. i think the flexibility and optical quality of the port system is more important.
- accessibility of buttons / controls on the lens >> choose a portsystem which lets you control these
- ease of viewing the LCD displays
- buoyancy >> depends a lot on strobes and arms as well ... but many of the upper brand manufactures bring housings that only are slightly negative (i which i would have chosen one of those ...)
- ease of use, comfort of use underwater >> again you have to take some housings in your hands
- durability >> higher level aluminium housings can hold for a lifetime.

hope that helps, serge

ah matt,

i see you are in canada ... why are you not checking out the aquatica housings. would be convenient because it would be easy to service. also they have a pretty good portsystem and support almost every lens available.

you should definately have a look at aquatica.

Hi matt,

you just mentioned “technical” factors for the housing. Since I had (and still have for over 1 year now) some very bad experience with service/support etc. I will never make the mistake again and not choose a well known, long time in the business, top notch provider just to save a few bucks. So maybe you should keep this in mind also, as it is plain torture to buy a camera and having it, but not being able to use it under water for such a long time.

Also, you should consider possible additional costs which might come with the flash you choose. E.g. if you want to use an Ikelite flash, the Ikelite housing supports the sync with the camera through a built-in adapter which is included in the price, while you might have to buy this extra for some other housings (which can easily be additional costs of 200-300 bucks). So before you buy anything, just check your total configuration for these hidden costs.

Good luck.
Regards, Marc

Serge, Marc, thank you both for your valuable advice.

Marc, I agree, going with a reputable manufacturer is definitely worth paying a little more money.

Serge,
Your advice and input is exactly what I was hoping that someone would post.  I have a much better idea of some of the features that I should look for in a housing.  I’ll try to see if I can take a holistic approach to choosing the camera, lenses and associated ports… and then see what’s available for manufacturers who can accommodate these criteria.  I’m not likely to change camera bodies nearly as often as the manufacturers update their lineups, so I need to buy the right one (and a good one) the first time.

Kind regards,

nice we could help you matt. let us now what you decide on .... and later on also if you are happy with it!

greets, serge

For what it is worth, I’d go with the D300. Live view has some big advantages when trying to shoot Macro and allows you to get you camera into areas you might not fit into if your face was glued to the viewfinder. I own the D200 with aquatica housing (which I love) with dual DS125s. I’ll be checking out if the housing can be “backhalfed” to fit the D300. So many lenses to choose from with Nikon. Don’t let the “full size” sensor be the selling factor. You can get as wide as you need with the 12-24 lense. And the image quality can’t be beat! As for strobes, that is always a debate. I like the Ikelite for two reasons. recycle time and customer service! Battery packs can be exspensive, but last over a hundred shots if you use TTL (unless you use the built in focus lights)
What ever you choose, you can’t go wrong because at least you will be DIVING!!