15 replies to this topic

[Harald]

Hi buddy's,

I have been to the 'BOOT' fair today in Germany, and talked to some UW housing manufacturers about the S2.
Here are some quote's :


Sealux : 'sorry, we feel that there is not enough demand for such a house'

Bruder : 'We dont have that kind of house, but we can modify a D100 house'

UK-Germany : 'We dont have a house for the S2, but we will make you one and charge you the D100 house price for it'
(it used to be the D100 house price plus 500 Euro !)

Subal : 'Sorry, due to lack of demand we will not produce this house'

Ikelite : (please tell me you could not find them either, or I will kick myself)

Aquatica : (please tell me you could not find them either, or I will kick myself)

Hugyot : (please tell me you could not find them either, or I will kick myself)

And for the good news :

Seacam : 'Yes sir, we expect to have the house ready in April !'

Seacam showed me there F100 house and assured me the S2 house would be similar.
Let me tell you this house looks absolutly magnificent.
Go have a look at www.seacam.com
Ofcourse the S2 house is not on there, nor is the D100 but others are and they all look similar, just great.
I will give you a list of controls that will NOT be available from the outside

1. The lens release button
2. The metering select ring. (spot, matrix, centerweighted)
3. DOF check button

ALL OTHER BUTTONS ARE BEING TRANSFERD TO THE OUTSIDE !
(yes the AE-LOCK to)

Price for the house 2090,- Euro including local tax, excluding PORT.
Typical port price : Dome 300 Euro, Flat 200 Euro.

You will also need/want to buy some gears, because ZOOM AND FOCUS control is available.

Nice option to this house is a 45 degree angled viewfinder that gives you a 1:1 view of the image in your camera viewfinder.
It has a Prisma and lots of glass lenses inside to make this happen.
Unfortunatly no price available.

So next to Ikelite there might be a second house available in April.
Its about 40% more expensive, but at least it look like its worth every penny, and you get virtualy full control over your camera.

My mind is made up, cant wait for spring.

Harald van Buel
(Does anyone have Seacam experience ?)

[scottyb]

That's very interesting news. It looks like a beautiful housing. Do you know of any US dealers for Seacam?

Although, having never owned a SLR housing before my S2, I have no complaints with my Ikelite other than the lack of control of a few functions. I do like the ability to see what's going on inside.

[Harald]

Found on there site :

STEVEN FRINK PHOTOGRAPHIC
P.O.Box 2720
Key Largo, Florida 33037
Tel. 305-451-3737
Fax. 305-451-5147
frinkphoto@aol.com
www.seacamusa.com

At your service !

Harald van Buel

[Harald]

My last post has a good URL in it !

www.seacamusa.com

Has some nice pictures of the house and a good story on Seacam.

Harald van Buel

[Simon K.]

You are right about:

Ikelite : (please tell me you could not find them either, or I will kick myself)

Aquatica : (please tell me you could not find them either, or I will kick myself)

Hugyot : (please tell me you could not find them either, or I will kick myself)

They wasn't there (and I wanted to buy 2 DS125).

Simon

[marriard]

All USA Seacam housings go through Frinks in Key Largo. High quality housing - I' love one if they were reasonably priced.

Unfortunelty they are:

1. Expensive - I don't mind paying for quality, but SeaCam is a wildly out of line. Even Subal looks cheap when you compare it to a SeaCam
2. Slow in delivery. Painful in fact. Frink's wont take your money until the housing actually arrives because they know how long it could take.

M

[craig]

I have serious eyepiece envy, though.

It's tough to consider paying that kind of money to house a $2000 body, and using the D1x instead puts you in a totally different league. I agree. Wildly out of line.

[james]

Yeah, but if it's $2,000 Euro that' cheaper than the Subal, and the Nexus buy a goodly amount. Think it's true? :-)

Cheers
James

[craig]

Such a price would represent a serious change for them. Their eyepieces alone are over $1000.

If true, it could be very interesting.

[marriard]

Such a  price would represent a serious change for them.  Their eyepieces alone are over $1000.

If true, it could be very interesting.

Ah yes, the 'sportsfinder' is $1,500. Allows you to view at a 45 degree angle is great for under/overs. When that is worth more than $250 to me I'll let you know. Even their 'base' Pro Finder is $300+

The cheapest (and I use the word loosely) D1X housing is $4,255 and that is just for the base housing. Housing an F5 is $3000+.

And then the ports (which are all high quality glass) can be $250 and up for flat ports, $450 and up for domes, and $1200 and up for a fisheye port. Eeek. Even the neoprene cover for a port is $39 and up - I pay less for some wetsuits!

No doubt these are the best housings on the market, but OUCH!

M

[craig]

Gotta have the 180 degree finder, too. $1500 times two!

[james]

I know they are expensive, and they are WAY out of my price range, but man o man, are they sweet! Jackie Reid (awesome pro shooter) brought his N90 Seacam housing to our last meeting and it was like holding a mini Porsche. The image in the sportsfinder is literally full frame 36mm across and very bright. The housing is TINY and fits the camera like a glove. All the controls can be reached with your fingertips without taking your hands off the housing or your face away from the finder.

If I won the lottery, I'd buy one.


Cheers
James

[marriard]

I know they are expensive, and they are WAY out of my price range, but man o man, are they sweet!  Jackie Reid (awesome pro shooter) brought his N90 Seacam housing to our last meeting and it was like holding a mini Porsche.  The image in the sportsfinder is literally full frame 36mm across and very bright.  The housing is TINY and fits the camera like a glove.  All the controls can be reached with your fingertips without taking your hands off the housing or your face away from the finder.  

If I won the lottery, I'd buy one.

I tried to buy one for my Nikon N90s way back when. After three months waiting, Seacam admitted they werent going to deliver for another three months at least because they were busy making D1 housings and werent interested in making mine.

I cancelled my order and bought a Nexus.

M

[Harald]

Just to be clear :

The S2 house was offerd to me by a Seacam representative for 2000,- EURO.
This offer does NOT include a viewfinder.
This offer does NOT include a front port.

I have send an e-mail to seacam to give me a quote on a compleet system.
(house, viewfinder, port, etc)

Cant wait to get a reply.

Harald van Buel

[Harald]

My attempt to be clear failed

The price contains a type, its not 2000,- Euro. ITS 2090,- Euro.
So 90 Euro's more.
(damn small keys on my notebook)

Harald van Buel

[james]

Gasp, that does it! 90 Euros more! :-)

Just kidding Harald. If most ppl can afford 2,000 Euros for the Housing, the 90 is what we in the states call "gravy."

Cheers
James