mjluwphoto 1 Posted March 8, 2005 I own a Nikon D70 and I will be purchasing a housing for it soon. I would like to get some feed back from those who own an Aquatica housing for that camera. I would like to hear both the good and bad about the housing and the ports. Any help would be appreciated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manatee19 5 Posted March 8, 2005 I have not worked with the D70 housing but I've owned many of their products, including the A90, the housing upon which the D70 is based. This is a proven design and our A90 gave us years of worry-free service. Aquatica's 8-inch dome is excellent. I work with it on my A100 and images are really sharp, either from the 10.5mm or the 12-24 zoom. They are reasonably priced too. Macro ports are excellent too... just like anybody else since they are all flat plain acrylic or glass... yes some are multicoated but most people can live with plain stuff. I would have to check but I'm pretty sure that the D70 allows for switching manual to autofocus underwater on macro lenses like the 60 or the 105. Price-wise they are in the middle of the game. My complaint is that there is no "grand viewfinder" yet like the ones available for Seacam, Sealux or Subal. Rumor has it though that they are working on this. Actual owners will have specific comments on the "in situ" behavior of the housing but based on my experience this should be a good buy if you are in the market for an aluminum housing. Michel Gilbert Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stucotts 0 Posted March 9, 2005 I've only had my housing in the water once, but am getting wet this weekend with it. In short I love it, the only shortcoming I see is it is difficult to turn the camera on/off. I may be missing something though. Well built, nice set of controls. I got mine from Tom Stack and he was great, also when I wanted a few more parts Aquatica was very quick to get them to me. Stuart Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michel Braunstein 1 Posted March 9, 2005 I've got an Aquatica A70. I'm quite happy with it. It's really great quality housing. The ports and extent ions are wonderful and very easy to mount and dismount. I have yet a couple of remarks concerning the housing. On the upper left side of the housing, there is a control that allows changing the camera mode from manual to automatic or any other mode. It's really not easy to see thru the window in which mode you are. That's a minor problem for me, since I stay only in Manual mode. If ever I'd like to change U/W, I would learn how many clicks I should make with the control in order to get to the right position. The ports are really good, but they are acrylic and not glass, so beware of scratches inside the ports when you clean them. Something disturbing is that you can't turn the camera on/off while the housing is closed. If you want to prepare your camera and close the housing the day before the dive, the camera will remain ON until you go to dive. Even though the camera doesn't consume too much energy, I'm not sure it's a good idea to leave the camera ON such a long time. The second problem is when you go out of your dive, while cleaning your housing under the water; you have to be careful to press all the buttons in a certain order so that you don't erase your last pictures! The last thing that is most disturbing, I don't know why Aquatica doesn't make a magnifier for the viewfinder like Subal, Seacam or Sealux. D70's viewfinder is quite small; it's possible to manage with it, but not always easy, especially with tired eyes like mines. Despite these problems, I'm happy with the housing. It's very compact and easy to use. Its price is attractive for aluminum housing. If you live in Europe, you might also consider Sealux; it's not much more expensive than Aquatica and has ON/OFF, glass ports and grand viewfinder. Hope it helped you, Michel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UWPhotoTech 0 Posted March 9, 2005 A couple of comments: You can reach the on/off swith by reaching in through the port opening. While not a good idea in the water at least you don't have to remove the camera from the housing when you forget to turn it on. There is no problem with leaving the camera in the on position for an indefinite amount of time. The camera goes into a "sleep" or "stand-by" mode within a few seconds (as set in the CSM menu). The difference in battery consumption is only a few micro-amps in stand-by mode as compared to the off position. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kasey 0 Posted March 9, 2005 Dave - I'm sure many other wetpixelians would agree that it is wonderful to have you actively participating on the site. Your extensive practical and technical exerience is invaluable. Thank You! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ikelite 0 Posted March 10, 2005 Seems just as simple to use the on/off control that is supplied on the housing of "lesser" manufacturers like Ikelite............ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rocha 0 Posted March 10, 2005 I don't think Ikelite makes "lesser" housings, especially in this digital age of fast turnaround. I owned one for the F100, it was good quality, never flooded or cracked, even during my 200ft dives, but the placement of the sync cord on the bottom of the housing and very large size and weight killed it. The only reason I don't plan on purchasing an Ikelite for the D70, 20D, D200 or D2x (haven't made my mind yet) is the thought of having the sync cord stiking out in my face and poking the regulator, if the connector was on the top I would certainly buy one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kdietz 0 Posted March 10, 2005 FWIW.....my sync cord has never been a problem with my regulator or mask....looks like it could, but it doesn't for me Karl Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
