Well finally after a bit of a wait my Nauticam D300s housing turned up yesterday.

Unwrapped it and after slipping the Nikon D300s into the housing and plugging in a couple of Inon Z-240 strobes I instantly fell in love.

The quality of the Nauticam housing and controls is just outstanding, everything is in easy reach and so smooth too operate, the nifty port locking system is so easy to use, no longer need 4 hands to get ports off like the Sea&sea.

I can't wait to get it in the water over the weekend.

cangrat......i'm in waiting for my Nauticam D90 Housing also and dream ever night with the housing....hahahahaha

It's good looking rig! Glad your happy with it. Can't wait to see the images you can make.

Have fun,
Steve

Looks good Chriso, hope your getting some decent dives in today! I didn't realise you changed over to Inons. What happened to your S&S strobes?

Thanks Ryan
The Sea&Sea YS-120 strobes stayed with the D80 and Sea&Sea housing my partner is now using.

Hoping for some flat water and viz in the morning...

Looks good!!!

Wow, what a sweet rig! You may want to put the red filters over the modeling lights on your Inons.
Bob

Well must say a big Thank you to Peter @ scubapix - my Aquatica for the D300s arrived today - wow - I opted for a remote trigger to be installed and F/O plus the aqua view finder purchased as well the 8in dome and extensions for the 105mm and 10-17mm - now just to get it ready for the Sundive shoot-out happening soon - again thank you to Peter for all the effort , changes and honest help in helping me select this housing

It does look really good, please post your impressions when you take it for a dive!

Hi Chriso,
the Nauticam housing looks great. I had a close look at Alex Mustards D700 Nauticam housing the other day and they look very well
put together indeed. Did you get the Nauticam enhanced viewfinder for it as well? I really like the look of it and am considering getting one of
those rather than the Inon 45 degree viewfinder, even despite the price difference.

Looking forward to seeing some of your shots from it.


Cheers,
Jim.

G'day Jim
I have the Nauticam viewfinder on it's way, hopefully be here for this weekend, looking forward ot trying it out, I have only heard good things.

Had the rig out for a quick splash the other day with the 60mm on, would liked to have got more shots but found a nest of Crayfish that wanted to come home with me.
Pics are here
http://uwphotog.com/p949462569

First Impressions.... LOVE IT so very pleased I chose the Nauticam over the Sea&Sea or Aquatica.

Mmmm - "Crayfish" , my favourite .....................

Yer - I hate it when that happens....

Paul C

I looked Chriso but I couldn't find any Cray fish photos

Seriously though I'll be very interested in your thoughts on the Nauticam viewfinder. Have Fun!


Cheers,
Jim.

PS- are you using any ports from your previous housing or did you start fresh?

Jim, the viewfinder is on the housing, first impression... It is a MUST have, opens up the viewfinder and allows you too see the whole frame and the display settings without any effort. Will not be taking it off and well worth the cost


I started from scratch, left the Sea&Sea rig fully intact for Emma to use.
Picked up the 60mm and 105mm Nauticam ports, love them, screw on filter front will be a bonus as well as the mount for the focusing light is way cool.

I was going to use my Sea&Sea 6" glass dome on the Nauticam, but it does not fit due to not being able too remove the bayonet mount from particular port and no one making a extension ring slim enough to prevent vignetting with the 10.5mm fisheye, as a replacement I am looking at picking up the 8" glass Zen port for the wide angle stuff and again leaving the 6" dome on the Sea&Sea.

Cheers
Chriso

Just to clarify, since I think this point can be a little confusing... we have two different flat port systems, the "compact" and the "macro". Only the macro ports have the 67mm threads on the front. Both the macro and compact ports have the focus light mount point.

Chriso points out the one Sea&Sea lens/port combo we don't currently support - the Nikon 10.5 with the S&S Optical dome.

Chriso, you sure changed your tune re: viewfinder! Glad to hear you're liking it tho. I've been shooting with a nauticam viewfinder on my aquatica the last few weeks as well. Had one day where I took it off and went back to the standard one, and couldn't belive the difference! I didn't last more than a day without it anyway.

Look forward to seeing some more shots mate.

Ryan.

Well, Chriso, given your previous comments to me regarding the extra expense for the viewfinder I consider this statement to be a big recommendation.
Hope to catch up with you soon.

Eleanor

Chriso;

I shoot a Tokina 10-17 with an S&S Optical Dome with an SX extension that has been adapted with a Nauticam mount. It's about the same as the 10.5 Nikon FE. You might try this combo, it's worked very well for me.

Jack

Hi Jack
Yea I tried it with the Sea&Sea SX Extension Ring (50261) as above post, it does not work with the 10.5 fisheye.

Cheers
Chriso

You might not want to hear this suggestion but...sell the Nikon and by the Tokina. Very little if no difference and then you have more range. I can definitely say it works well with the SX extension and Optical Dome port. It's going to be cheaper to do that than to buy another dome, probably almost a wash.

Jack

Thanks Jack
Your right there is no way I am going to sell a Nikon lens and replace it with a Tokina
Looking at putting an order in for an 8" Zen for the 10.5mm

The Sea&Sea 6" will work nicely with an extension ring for the Nikon 10-24mm. Can also still use it on the Sea&Sea D80 rig.

The Tokina is *the* standard wide-angle lens for underwater photographers these days (for crop sensor). It would be the lens I would own if I could only choose one.

Thanks Eric
have a Nikon 10-24 on order so not really in the market for a Tokina.

Anyway the whole point of this thread is I love the housing, it is a stunning but of kit.
It's in no way Nauticams fault that this port does not fit, it is the only Sea&Sea port that does not allow you to swap out the mounting bracket to attach directly to the housing.

Cheers
Chriso

Chris, sell it all and buy Canon!

Ryan, your a goose !!

I was just responding to "Your right there is no way I am going to sell a Nikon lens and replace it with a Tokina," which I would normally support, except in this case where the Tokina is probably a better choice!

You are right, though -- this is rather off topic, and we can get back to discussing the housing.

Translated in to Australian

Ryan ,
Don't be so silly

Hang on Pete if it's a translation in to Australian wouldn't it be "Ryan yer a Flamin' Galah!"


Cheers,
Jim.

Actually, I'd say Chris was censoring himself for wetpixel. I have a fairly good idea what he really meant

If my housing isn't ready for pickup when I arrive in Cairns on the 30th then I will be saying a lot worse things