PSteggle

Hi Scott, The prices seem very keen. I think it comes down to wether thay can actually deliver or not. Try 17photo.com. The service has always been good. Which housing are you getting/got? I tried an Aquatica but nothing seemed to line up. I was told it was because of manufacturing tolerances with the camera. I've ended up with a SeaCam. Strange that everything lines up now........ As for software, all we get over here is the basic stuff, with the RAW converter as an extra. But if you have photoshop CS you can download a plug-in for free.

James, If there was only one or two problems with the housing it could be sorted. There were not, there were several, some of which were design problems from Aquatica, and nothing to do with the shape of the camera. The alignment of the brass gears that drive the front command dial for example. In addition to what I feel are design problems, the inability of me or my dealer to sort out the problems was a major concern. Then the factory failed to respond within time limits that they had set. The first response time set by the factory was 30 mins. That turned into 24 hours, but only after I e-mailed them. The second response from the factory was set for monday. We got the call on friday. Then they asked me to send the camera 3000 miles to someone that wouldn't give a return phone number. I'm sure that returning the housing and sending them the camera would get things to work, but on what time scale? If they cannot return a phone call on time...........

Trouble on Aquatica:- It takes a Looong time to get the camera into the housing. I took three pictures getting it screwed onto the baseplate. Alignment of On/Off is out by 1/8". And that means that the shutter release is also out of alignment. The bevel grears that pass the drive to the front command dial are out of alignment. They work in one direction, but not the other. These shafts are 2-3 mm out of alignment, stopping the gears from meshing properly. This drive does not contact / operate the command dial with the housing open. To get it to work, I have to push quite hard on the back of the camera. Hard enough in fact, to get the camera to move about 1/8". The drive for the rear command dial does not even touch the command dial!! The SCM drive does work, but only when the rear half of the housing is not fitted. When I close up the housing, the controls are so tight that the gear on the shaft slips round, but the SCM does not rotate. I think the drive spindle is jamming in its support bush. What bush? It's just a steel shaft running in a hole in aluminium, no wonder it binds. The castings do not align with each other. The hole for the ports is machined off centre to the boss on the casting. I tried to assemble the POS on thursday night to go diving on friday. Gave up, left a message at Aquatica with them saying "we'll call you back in half an hour...." On friday morning I took the nikon (F90) for 2 days diving in its Sea & Sea housing...... On the friday evening my wife takes a call from a woman (Norma) at Aquatica asking if we could fed-ex the housing AND my S2 over to them in order to correct for what she called "variations in Fuji manufacturing tolerances". And no, she couldn't give us a contact phone number for her..... She did go on to say that not much could happen till tuesday as it was Easter holiday over there. My wife replied that it was easter holiday over here as well..... To sum up? Please send your camera and housing, worth over £2400 to someone in a foreign country who will not give a contact phone number, or return your phone calls when THEY say they will. Hmmmm, I think not. I wonder if they'd like my bank details as well..... And Norma from Aquatica does not listen to what you say. she just repeats the same thing again and again. Example:- Can you send the camera and housing to us? No. So can you send them over? I've just said no. I'm getting my money back. You're not listening to me are you? But if you send them over....... When the dealer I bought the housing off heard this (I was in the dealers when Norma called me) he ran my credit card through the machine and gave me my money back. Phrases like "Not fit for purpose" and "Not of merchantable quality" (both legalese phrases used in UK consumer laws) sprung to mind frequently while this housing was in my posession. This housing may be capable of 100m, but there won't be a useable camera in the housing at the time. Pete S.