138 replies to this topic

[wendigo]

And all I can say is that it will be worth the wait.

But not when you are few days before a famous diving-trip and Nauticam has promised you to get the housing in time....

[Drew]

And all I can say is that it will be worth the wait.

Whether it's worth the wait is for the customers to judge, and I think Nauticam already has one annoyed customer, who is tired of waiting. Would it not be wiser not to say anything to further antagonize a customer (and mods by pushing the commercialism rule)?

But not when you are few days before a famous diving-trip and Nauticam has promised you to get the housing in time....

Wendigo, I'm sorry you will not have the housing in time. Delays (and crap) happens all the time and unfortunately you made a gamble and it failed. I make it a habit of not depending on any promises by manufacturers/dealers on a new product that is just in production. Doing so sets up disappointment. A better attitude is to hope it turns up on time and be pleasantly surprised.

[Alex_Tattersall]

I was trying to console rather than antagonise anyone or push any commercialism rules. Goodness, what a day for being misunderstood.

[wendigo]

I was trying to console rather than antagonise anyone or push any commercialism rules. Goodness, what a day for being misunderstood.

Hey guys - the problem is the Nauticam-company! I only wanted to have a feedback from the forum.
I already had planned a buffer of 3 weeks between the promise and the deadline - but it seems that there must be a lot of things out of control...
With such an attitude, my company would have gone bankrupt already a long time ago. But I learned that divers business is a very special business.

[Deep6]

Well, Wendigo (the mythical Native American creature?), seems the housings are shipping and you are in the line. I don't think any other manufacturer is going to be any different.

Cannibal!

[Cp]

Hi All,

We are definitely working hard to get more housings shipped. Demand for this housing has been great, and I am very excited/happy about that. Believe me when I say that I wish we were already caught up with the demand. Housings are shipping as fast as we can make them, and we are right in the middle of ramping up from our initial production run to much larger production. We definitely try to help people make trip dates when we can, and I apologize if we missed it for this poster and for anyone else who's missed a trip date or has been otherwise inconvenienced.

Cheers,
Chris

[Alex_Tattersall]

I thought Wetpixelians would be interested to see the final production models of the Nauticam NA-D7000 which is now shipping. Key changes from the prototype include the the inclusion of the flash lowering lever, the finished shutter speed control and the button cluster mechanism. Final touches have also been made to ergonomic solutions. Many thanks to Tristan Jones Photography (TJ Snapper on Wetpixel) for the photos.



Full frontal


Rear showing the new shutter speed control


Top view


Focus mode selector detail


Interior


Interior detail (2 stage super sensitive shutter release mechanism)


Interior detail


We would be pleased to answer any questions about the housing if you have any.

Alex

[MarkD]

Well, the day has arrived when I could pick up my new NA-D7000 housing from the delivery depot. It’s a great feeling to be an early adopter for once. Thanks Alsky72 (Alex Tattersall) for all the advice and for speeding the housing to me in the nick of time. I’ve been playing for 3 or 4 hours and I’m a happy bunny. This is my 4th housing – 2 previous compacts and one dSLR, all Ikelites, so this is my first experience of an aluminium housing.

Here are a few first impressions from the comfort of my study. Firstly size: it fits the camera like a glove – a whole lot more manageable than a polycarbonate box and certainly more aesthetically pleasing. Then a peep inside – what a lot of fun it must be to engineer all those levers and gears to bring out the controls in an ergonomic and tactile way. The thought that there’s an awful lot to go wrong mechanically in there crossed my mind, but twiddling knobs and pressing buttons and levers revealed silky movements and virtually no play. Everything seems to have been assembled to fine tolerances and the controls have a reassuring feel. The camera slides in on a tray again with no play and locates securely and precisely. Very easy to take in and out for card or battery changes (although the tray has to come off to get at the battery).

Then putting the two halves together. The back seats nicely with just a little jiggle to register onto the front. The o-ring sits in a nice groove and would be difficult to misplace or displace. Then a piece de resistance – the two housing locks. Just swinging in two levers secures everything almost with the pressure of a single finger. No more nightmares of engaging hooks and turnbuckles and trapping fingers. No more springing back open if you don’t quite push the catch home.

The ports just push in with no drama and then another lever secures everything with reassuring rigidity and you’re set to go.

All the controls seem to fall naturally to hand – just a bit of re-learning where the different functions now appear. After a few minutes it feels very natural and you almost wonder if Nikon got the controls in the right places on the body itself. In particular the shutter release feels excellent. I always had difficulty with my D80/Ikelite rig in finding the half-way focus point without firing off a premature shot. Having been through 3 different Nikon bodies, I have got rather used to using the top LCD window to adjust the settings – but there’s no window onto the top LCD in this housing so I’ll just have to get used to using the “info” button and large LCD screen which is much more readable anyway. Confusingly the instructions tell you how to set up the backlight on the top LCD to make it more readable – but it’s not visible in the housing. I haven’t figured that one out.

The standard viewfinder doesn’t look too bad, but I already know that the Nauticam 180 Viewfinder is wonderful, especially for eyes that have passed their youth. I estimate it took me 30 seconds to swap between the viewfinders. The large accessory viewfinder does make it just a bit more difficult to see the back LCD but I imagine I’ll get used to that quickly.

So that’s it. All packed up now ready for saltwater exposure in the Red Sea on Saturday. Only one problem. I don’t think I’ll be able to blame my limited underwater photographic skills on my equipment.

Mark

[Steve Williams]

I don't think I'll be able to blame my limited underwater photographic skills on my equipment.

Nice review Mark, congrats on the new rig! Which strobes are you going to use? I'm hoping you had a chance to get everything put together and try it out before you get to the ocean.

Have a blast,
Steve

[MarkD]

Nice review Mark, congrats on the new rig! Which strobes are you going to use? I'm hoping you had a chance to get everything put together and try it out before you get to the ocean.

Have a blast,
Steve

Hi Steve, Thanks. I've gone with a pair of new Inon Z240's with optical sync and TTL. More compact than my old Ike DS125's. So the only things I've rescued from the old rig are the Ultralight arms.

Everything tried out and functioning in the dry. Unfortunately I'm not going to have time to fit a pool session in before flying out. I'll do a little trial submersion in the tub - and keep fingers crossed. If I end up inadvertently testing the leak detector you'll hear about it here!

Mark

[lundysd]

After what seemed like an eternity waiting, I finally received my Nauticam D7000 housing this week. Initial impressions on the Nauticam are overwhelmingly positive. Build quality is impeccable as expected, the ergonomics are fantastic even with dry gloves on, and the unit is very compact and nicely balanced. While the unit has already been extensively reviewed by far more gifted photographers, I thought some folks on here might still appreciate some photos from the cold dark waters of Puget Sound.

Special thanks to Ryan at Reef Photo for helping make this happen.

Disclaimer: These were taken on a night dive at a local muck diving spot in about 5 feet of viz with a brand new rig, so don’t expect too much

[Steve Williams]

Thanks Scott,
Looking great! What is that last little guy? Did you really take your new rig on a night dive for it's christening? Hope you remembered the rum to appease Neptune.

Cheers,
Steve

[loftus]

Very nice Scott.
Hey Steve, looking forward to appeasing Neptune a lot with you next month.

Edited by loftus, 28 January 2011 - 11:29 AM.

[lundysd]

Thanks for the kind words

Steve -- I believe he was a pygmy poacher (Odontopyxis trispinosa), though I'm not 100% sure. And yes, my first dive with her was a night dive in low viz -- I've been without a camera underwater for nearly 6 months waiting for this rig, and I couldn't wait any longer

[PeteAtkinson]

Just received mine yesterday - will have to wait a bit for the dome port. It's not as small as I had imagined, not much different in size to the Seacam D200 I was using. The engineering is a delight, with many elegant solutions for problems. I bought it on the strength of two things. Peter Mooney showed me the Nauticam/Ikelite port adapter which is a split threaded ring, solving a problem which looks unsolvable. It's delightful. And Alex Mustard's use of the word "deeply", as in "deeply impressive engineering". And the agent in Thailand is a friend of my wife's brother...

My inclination with anything new is to take it to bits. So I removed the handles and reinstalled them with Durolac (an anti-corrosive compound) on the machine screw threads. They were lightly greased already. My philosophy is this; any gap where seawater can lodge, needs to be filled with grease, or at least coated, before it gets near seawater. I removed the anodes and put Durolac on the threads. There's many tiny allen-head screws which will be a problem if they corrode in position, so I'll remove them and make sure they are well greased. Nauticam may well have greased the threads, but I like all the interstices filled. The strobe mounting shoe plate I removed and put Durolac on the thread too.

I'm not suggesting everyone do this; I'm just saying what I do.

I find the handles a bit far from the housing, my wife even more so. If handles 10mm closer to the housing were available, I would buy them.

The manual doesn't say you should remove the LCD cover before installing, although the picture shows it removed. You should remove it, although as far as I can tell, leaving the rubber eye cup on the finder is OK.

The Nauticam/Inon optical cables fit the housing beautifully. However, the threads are uncomfortably tight on the Inon Z240, and feel like you have cross threaded them. Once you have got the cable connected to the strobe, I'd leave it connected at that end.

The lens gears are an unusual design, with two parts which necessitate removing the rubber band from the lens for installation. They are fiddly to install. However once installed they seem part of the lens and the action is superb. But they do seem over-engineered.

I won't be able to test it underwater until the dome arrives in a few weeks, but first impressions are favourable. Considering the engineering that has gone into the housing, I don't feel it's expensive.

The 180 viewfinder seems great, and for couples who want to share a housing and who have wildly different eyesight, the dioptre adjustment knob is very useful. I don't want to share it that much, but I think I'll have no choice...

Edited by PeteAtkinson, 28 January 2011 - 11:47 PM.

[John Bantin]

I am now going to post something as dangerous as my 'Nancy Pelosi' post and I know I will get shouted at.

I too looked at these Nauticam housings and was impressed by the internal workings just as I am impressed by the contents under the hood of my latest car - it's a technological marvel.

However, I travel a lot to remote places. I made 14 trips in 2010. I am required to come back with pictures. Airline restrictions mean I take no back-up housing.

The spectre (specter) of some of those little screws and nuts coming loose during a journey looms for me. I don't want to arrive somewhere to find I've got a lot of bits rattling around inside a housing. Just as I would not take my car to Indonesia, (I'd prefer something more simple to repair) I would be concerned that my own poor mechanical abilities and worsening eyesight might be a bad combination with something so complex. I like to keep it simple.

So beautiful as these housings are, I'm going to wait to see how many problems they produce in the field. KISS.


As far as picture quality goes, I defy anyone who goes to the UK dive shows to look at the A1-size posters (23x33 inches) displayed and determine which were taken with a Fuji S2 Pro, a D200 or a D700.

Edited by John Bantin, 29 January 2011 - 01:41 AM.

[Alex_Tattersall]

For information, all screws are now secured with locktite as can be seen in the images above.

[loftus]

I am now going to post something as dangerous as my 'Nancy Pelosi' post and I know I will get shouted at.

John... please come home, all is forgiven (BTW, I wasn't shouting, just laughing hysterically at the thought of her as president)
On the KISS thing, you have a point, keeps bringing me back to my Subal, clean, functional, yet simple...
On the other hand it seems I have observed problems with the 'finnicky bits' on many brands. Had a few plastic button parts and things break on my Subal, so I always carry spares. I have seen actual aluminum metal breakage on Aquatica by the handle. It would actually be a good thing I think if folks listed the kind of issues they had with various housings....kind of a Wikileaks (fortuitous pun) thing.

Edited by loftus, 29 January 2011 - 05:42 AM.

[schui4567]

First post from a newbie and im looking for advice, which is kind of what brought me here in the first place afgter doing a google on the D7000..
So.. I have a 7000 and am looking to buy a housing for it... i haver a few lenses... Sigma 10-20, 60mm Macro and 18-55 kit lens + 18-200 zoom..
What I have figured out is that i can buy the ikelite housing with one port and a dome and use all those lenses... somethng I see as a benefit when travelling, what with the facists that seem to check in baggage these days, weight is critical.

Has anyone used the Ike housing with D7000? Any comments? I have one for my G9 and love it, never leaked and having the ability to see the O ring and inside is IMHO a good thing. I always do a water check when desending.

Also, can anyone tell me whether a wet diopter is available for said housing...

I have 160 & 161 Ike strobes also.. Any comments about those... ( I use the modelling light on the 160 and video light on the 161)

Any other info would be great, for eg. I use the customised settings on the G9 for a base when starting a dive and adjust from there, never use TTL (It doesnt work in manual on the G9)
Sorry for all the questions ...
I am off to Philippines/Thailand and Burma next week (Taking the G9..:-(... as no housing as yet) ... )
I would be happy to write a short report on those destinations if people are interested.. Let me know so I can take notes..

[alanchungsf]

I got my Nauticam D7000 housing in mid-Dec just in time for my trip to Palau. I loved it and got some great shots on my trip. However I had some problems with a few controls. Fortunately none were critical and it didn't get in my way during the trip. I don't mind a few bugs given I got one of the first housings off the line in time for my trip. It's fair trade to be a beta tester for early access

I sent the housing back to Backscatter after I got home, and they were super helpful. Sean was able to reproduce my problems. It turns out 3 out of 4 of my problems were traced to the screw that mounts the camera on the tray not being turned tight enough. I was only turning the screw to finger tight. Nauticam is saying it should be 1/8 turn past that. I waited until I got official word back before posting here. So for all the new owners of the Nauticam D7000 housing, make sure the tray is on tight and not rotating if you experience any problems with your buttons.

The last problem had to do with the Live View level. I was having problem activating LV reliably. During my trip I "fixed" it by taping a band-aid on the level to help push the lever on the body more. Word is Nauticam is making a new part for that function. Maybe that's the reason some of your orders are delayed. They're probably waiting for that part before shipping more housings.

Overall, I think it is a great housing. I can't wait to get it back next week for some more dives. Hope this info will save some time and headaches on your first trip out with the new housing.

Cheers,
alan

PS. Almost forgot I had 1 more issue early on. I was using my Sig 17-70 with a pretty stiff zoom ring. The main gear for turning the zoom ring was slipping when I was testing it. I looked inside and found 1 of the mounting screw to be a little loose. I tightened it and everything worked fine. Again, mine was one of the first off the line. I'm guessing others won't have this issue. Nauticam does supply a nice hex key set whichcovers all the screws on the housing. It is pretty easy to check nothing has gotten loose before or after a trip.

The inside of this housing is very complex. But it feels very solid. I think it'll stand up to even heavy use very well.

Edited by alanchungsf, 30 January 2011 - 10:48 PM.