Nauticam announces the new 7D housing

[Scuba_SI 39]

ooh, cool! I cant wait to get hold of the viewfinder.

 

*Nikon boy leaves Canon thread*

[sharkman 0]

Has anyone had their hands on one of these and used it? How are the ergonomics? Thanks.

[Ryan 48]

We received our first preproduction sample yesterday, and it is stunning. This housing has the best ergonomics of any housing for Canon that I've ever held. The piano keys are an outstanding implementation, providing easy access to the set button from the handle. The video controls make using the video functionality of the camera more ergonomic than they are on the camera.

 

I was hoping to use this lens as a substitute for both my Canon 60mm Macro and my Canon 18-55, but I do own and want to use a Subsee 10X with the sigma, so a dome port is not going to work.

 

The minimum focus distance of the 17-70 at 70mm is so so short that I'm not sure using it with a Subsee makes any sense, and by extension, I'm not sure that purchasing a flat port just to use it is a good plan. I like the lens behind a dome as a change of pace from my closeup lenses, and for shooting skittish sharks. This lens would work well in the Nauticam 6" dome, which isn't too big for travel, and probably weighs less than one of the wide flat ports (but I'd have to check that).

[saudio 6]

We received our first preproduction sample yesterday, and it is stunning. This housing has the best ergonomics of any housing for Canon that I've ever held. The piano keys are an outstanding implementation, providing easy access to the set button from the handle. The video controls make using the video functionality of the camera more ergonomic than they are on the camera.

 

 

 

The minimum focus distance of the 17-70 at 70mm is so so short that I'm not sure using it with a Subsee makes any sense, and by extension, I'm not sure that purchasing a flat port just to use it is a good plan. I like the lens behind a dome as a change of pace from my closeup lenses, and for shooting skittish sharks. This lens would work well in the Nauticam 6" dome, which isn't too big for travel, and probably weighs less than one of the wide flat ports (but I'd have to check that).

 

The minimum focusing distance on the 17-70 lens is 8 inches. On my kit lens the I'm guessing it's about 10 inches. With my kit lens the Subsee seems to make a huge difference.

 

Would that same dome port be a good choice for the Tok 10-17? I don't think that's the one I have ordered from you.

[Steve Williams 0]

Our friends at Nauticam USA have posted a short review of the 7D housing in the water. Check it out here; http://nauticamusa.com/

 

The control funtionality is interesting.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[Mike L 0]

I just returned from a short trip out to Florida where I spent some time with the Nauticam 7d prototype thanks to Chris and Ryan. Weather did not cooperate with my trip AT ALL...but I was able to get a dive in at BLue Heron, a day in Crystal River, and another day on the reefs off West Palm. The housing is truly an amazing piece of machinery, the most ergonomic housing ive laid my hands on in 10 years of shooting, and the Nauticam 180 viewfinder was simply out standing.

 

I have a full "first look" report, some images I took with the camera, and some images of the housing close up that I will be posting tonight in my report.

[Mike L 0]

Here is a picture of me diving the Nauticam 7D prototype in Crystal River last week (taken by Jacalyn Pelloni). Sample pics from the camera are almost ready. I had to upgrade to CS4!

Edited February 18, 2010 by Mike L

[Drew 0]

Our friends at Nauticam USA have posted a short review of the 7D housing in the water. Check it out here; http://nauticamusa.com/

 

While members are most welcome to post links to the manufacturer reviews, I feel it important to emphasize this particular blog entry is from the rep and not an independent source. I sincerely hope Chris does not find this offensive, but as the US rep for Nauticam, the blog seems to be more overview with garnishing rather than a review.

Is it fair we discount the opinion of someone, solely because they represent the brand they are "reviewing?" No, but unfortunately, their links to the brand may afford the hint of hesitation of belief in total objectiveness. As Dr Mustard has noted, objective and independent viewpoints are better considered as reviews. But even those tend to show personal preferences (and thus a different kind of bias) for certain brands since it's usually their own housings they are reviewing, so they are most comfortable with idiosyncrasies that could be of issue for other users. Still, at least the notion of brand bias is much less because they are not tied to the brand as a representative.

[Dixter 0]

If you need a RAW converter for testing out the Canon 7D one great way is to download Phaseone Capture One software... its on version 5 now and does

a great job converting the 7D RAW files.. the tryout is for 30days..

 

I also tried out DXO and it was fun watching that program correct the 15mm fisheye....

 

Also, if you can find where Phaseone is touring the USA right now, they are giving each attendee a free license for just letting them show you the software...

thats a great deal...

[Steve Williams 0]

but as the US rep for Nauticam, the blog seems to be more overview with garnishing rather than a review.

 

 

Good point Drew, That's why I noted that Nauticam had posted it. Maybe not obvious enough. "Overview with garnishing"? How about we just call it marketing. Actually while I normally run screaming from the room when the marketeers show up, in this case I'm finding what Nauticam is doing is kind of refreshing. I sure wouldn't have bet a year ago that there was room for a new housing manufacturer but they are doing all the right things, at least so far. My sense is that they have figured out that many of us spend a bunch of time dreaming and planning our next system. On the other side of the coin we have our friends from Sea & Sea. They make great gear but where is the Sea & Sea 7D housing? I haven't seen one picture or snippet of info and this from a company that should be out in front like Aquatica's great choice for the 7D. If they aren't careful they are going to miss the boat. S&S has made a dumb choice on their 7D price point IMHO. It's going to be right there with Subal and I'll bet you a beer who wins that race unless S&S has some magic up their sleeve. But if they do they better be telling us.

 

The Nauticam marketing guys are out in force. It's kind of fun to watch. They have left an impression that they actually care about what we photo types want. I have counted at least three nice websites with pictures just in the US with distributers popping up all over the world. Of course, as you say, it remains to be seen if the product will meet up with the marketing. For me personally I've scheduled a trip to Monterey in a couple of weeks to go fondle the gear for myself. If they don't deliver the goods the choice for me gets easy.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[RedSeaDiver 0]

On the other side of the coin we have our friends from Sea & Sea. They make great gear but where is the Sea & Sea 7D housing? I haven't seen one picture or snippet of info and this from a company that should be out in front like Aquatica's great choice for the 7D.

Nexus also seem to be missing in action - my Japanese isn't very good but I couldn't see anything about a 7D housing on their website.

[Alex_Tattersall 90]

"I have counted at least three nice websites with pictures just in the US with distributers popping up all over the world."

 

 

Speaking of which, UnderWaterVisions' (official distributor of Nauticam in the UK) website is up and running now at www.uwvisions.com

 

I'll just sit here quietly and let the products speak for themselves.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Alsky72

[Drew 0]

They make great gear but where is the Sea & Sea 7D housing?

 

Sea & Sea have usually chosen to produce their housings for certain camera lines and not all, probably based on potential sales. Take the MDX Pro housing for the D700. It was a limited run production. Perhaps they don't see the 7D as a potential hit for underwater market and will concentrate on the T2i/550D market? Judging from the past, the marketing department of Sea & Sea has always been less savvy than many others. It could be corporate culture as well.

[Steve Williams 0]

Perhaps they don't see the 7D as a potential hit for underwater market and will concentrate on the T2i/550D market? Judging from the past, the marketing department of Sea & Sea has always been less savvy than many others. It could be corporate culture as well.

 

Our friends at Backscatter are showing a Sea & Sea housing for the 7D is due in Feb. Retail price of $3,799.95 US

 

Cheers,

Steve

Edited February 18, 2010 by Steve Williams

[Steve Williams 0]

Speaking of which, UnderWaterVisions' (official distributor of Nauticam in the UK) website is up and running now at www.uwvisions.com

 

Nicely done sir. That's the first time I have seen a Canon port chart for the Nauticam.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[Mike L 0]

The first batch of Sea & Sea MDX-7D housings has been pushed back to the beginning of April now.

[Mike L 0]

Here are a few shots I took last week while diving the Nauticam 7D prototype. Weather did not cooperate at all. I scheduled to be in the water 4 days, and I was luck enough to get a day and a half.

[Drew 0]

Mike, is the water banding from the compression to jpg or the camera's results? It's pretty frightening.

[pmooney 6]

Nicely done sir. That's the first time I have seen a Canon port chart for the Nauticam.

 

Cheers,

Steve

 

Hey Steve ,

Check this out.

Nauticam System Builder

[Steve Williams 0]

Hey Steve ,

Check this out.

Nauticam System Builder

 

Thanks, that's a nice implementation. I'm curious about a couple of the recommendations. It shows the same port for the 60mm and the 100mm if I'm readying it right. The port chart linked to the Nauticam USA site shows a longer Compact port 50 for the 100mm. Probably should expect a few typos until it gets in the hands of you guys and you get some experience with the gear. Another great reason for guys like me to spend time with our shops. The macro port that accepts the Inon looks like fun.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[Steve Williams 0]

Mike, is the water banding from the compression to jpg or the camera's results? It's pretty frightening.

 

I'm wondering how you processed these Mike. Also wondering how you thought the housing handled. I'm curious about the new buttons on the back for the multicontroller, etc.

 

The manatee portraits are nice,

Cheers,

Steve

[bursprak 0]

Mike, is the water banding from the compression to jpg or the camera's results? It's pretty frightening.

 

I'm interested in this as well, hopefully it's the processing/compression. The pics from the 7D I saw on the backscatter website look really good though!

[Mike L 0]

Hi guys,

 

Sorry about that. The images showed larger on here than I planned. I had compressed to be a low quality for quick loading on our Nauticam site (images wouldnt be this big). Ill upload higher res images today.

 

Thank you

[Drew 0]

Thanks Mike. I was just concerned that the 7D didn't have an issue... since DXO marked it so low ;D

[Mike L 0]

Yeah, no issues the full res images look great. I had one of my editors prep the images for me cuz i wanted to get them on here. I sent a request, will have it this weekend sometime, hopefully today.

 

I have some close up photos of the different controls on the NA-7D will will be posted as well. They did some nice layout and engineering...however my original thoughts still stand. None of these housings are designed for video shooters. They are still housings with video access! Being primarily a video shooter, I still cannot see myself ever taking a 7D or 5d2 housing out with the intention of shooting video, we just are not there yet. More on this in my report.