5 replies to this topic

[robmcmahon]

Hi All,

I have upgraded my Olympus 2040 (well it vanished into the abyss but thats another story) and purchased a Fuji S2 and have been eagerly awaiting the aquatica housing which I believe is in the pre-production phase at the moment. My girlfriend 'Karen' has just recently bought a secondhand Nikon N90x with a 35-80mm nikkor lens.

The idea is that we will get similiar housing so that we can share ports, gears + lenses and save ourselves a small fortune. So a couple of questions

Does anyone have any experience with the Aquatica housing for the N90 or anyN90x housings?
Am I right to assume that ports from a single manufacturer are inter-changable ?
Is there an alternative to Aquatica that I have missed ?

I know that there are a number of lense threads in the forum at the moment but if anyone has the patience to recommend the 2nd lense they would buy that would be appreciated (I already have a 60mm nikkor and a 24-200 tokina which as far as I can tell will be staying top-side)

Or is this a hair brain idea and we should just get a complete set each ?


Many thanks.

[james]

I think it's a great idea.

The Aquatica S2 housing uses bayonet ports - I'm pretty sure the 90 housing does too.

You will be able to share, but it means that you won't both be able to shoot macro or WA on the same dive. You will shoot macro while she shoots WA and vice versa.

Eventually you will just give up and buy two sets of ports...:-)

James

[scorpio_fish]

Does anyone have any experience with the Aquatica housing for the N90 or anyN90x housings?
Am I right to assume that ports from a single manufacturer are inter-changable ?
Is there an alternative to Aquatica that I have missed ?

I can probably help you.

I have a Aquatica A90 housing for the N90s (which is for sale BTW with ports). I have the Aquatica AD100 for the Nikon D100. The S2 is coming out shortly. They both use the same ports.

Alternatives to Aquatica for both the N90s and S2 right now consists of just Ikelite, cheaper but with some drawbacks. I have shot the N90s in an Ikelite housing, also. Seacam may be another alternative in the slightly distant future, but with a much heftier price tag than Aquatica.

As for another lens, I would pick the 18-36mm. One of you shoots the 60mm and the other the wide angle lens. Each lens can be used on the other camera.

Hair brain idea? Maybe, but pretty low on the hair brain scale compared to other ideas I've seen and had.

[robmcmahon]

I have a Aquatica A90 housing for the N90s (which is for sale BTW with ports). I have the Aquatica AD100 for the Nikon D100. The S2 is coming out shortly. They both use the same ports.

Thanks for all your info. Could you email me with details of the A90? It seems that there two Aquatica housing that will hold the N90s, are you aware of any differences ?

You will be able to share, but it means that you won't both be able to shoot macro or WA on the same dive. You will shoot macro while she shoots WA and vice versa.

Eventually you will just give up and buy two sets of ports...:-)

I was kind of hoping to catch a photo of the whale shark that sneaks past while she is busy with the nudibranch !! But should it happen the other way round I will be getting ports and lenses flown out to the dive site !!

[Chris Bangs]

regarding the different n90 housings by Aquatica, the only difference is what type of back you want on the housing. the different backs allow access the controls on the N90 multicontrol back (if your camera has one). If not no worries, a camera with a regular back will fit in any Aquatica N90 housing regardless of what back it has. Note, the "computer" back is a bit bulky and adds about an inch to the housing (Front to back) this results in the viewfinder being flush with the back of the housing. this makes it a little difficult to use the viewfinder.

[scorpio_fish]

Actually there are two models that can hold an N90s, 1) Sport II which has limited controls and 2) A90 designed specifically for the N90s.

The A90 has a basic model and a mechanical model. The mechanical model allows use of the MB-26 Multi Control Back.

this results in the viewfinder being flush with the back of the housing. this makes it a little difficult to use the viewfinder

I'm not clear on this statement. The eyepiece is removed from the camera and the camera viewfinder is flush to the housing viewfinder. This is much better than having a space gap between camera viewfinder and the the housing viewfinder.