Join us on Vimeo and Flickr and show off your images and video taken with your Nauticam housing. We want to see your work! We want to see a photo of you with your rig too! For you Zen Underwater dome users, we’ve also made a special group for sharing Zen images. So start sharing!
Legal Mumbo Jumbo:
Flickr is a registered trademark of Yahoo!, Inc.
Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.
Vimeo is a registered trademark of Vimeo, LLC.
We’ve just received some renderings of the 550D that show some details that people have been asking about (click for larger images in a new window):
Fingertip ISO paddle lever
The larger ISO paddle lever extends the ISO control outward so that it is reachable from the handles. The ISO control is especially important for T2i video shooters as it will be the primary control for adjusting video exposure.
Detail of the locking latches.
The locking latches feature both a push button locking release and a mechanical catch that must be overcome, making it virtually impossible to open inadvertently.
The newest member of the Canon DSLR lineup boasts an impressive number of advanced features at a price that is more in line with an entry level camera. Depending on where you are located, this camera is known as the Canon Digital Rebel T2i (North America), Kiss X4 Digital (Japan) or the Canon EOS 550D (worldwide). With its 18 megapixel sensor and 1080p HD video with manual control, some pundits have called it a baby 7D.
Nauticam 550D Housing
Call it what you will, this camera is now ready to go exploring the underwater world! We are proud to announce the imminent arrival of the NA-550D housing for Canon 550D/T2i. The NA-550D housing inherits the renowned piano keys from NA-7D housing, patented Nauticam port locking system, comfortable rubberized handles, and innovative ergonomic access to key camera controls. New features include locking housing latches, lens release lever, a fingertip ISO paddle, and access to the camera’s playback button from the left handle.
Nauticam NA-550D, front view
In keeping with the Nauticam philosophy, the NA-550D housing continues to innovate while building on previous success. Notable examples are the AV+/- switch, new fingertip paddle on the top of the housing to allow easy access to ISO control, a unique rocker lever for easy access to the star (*) and focus point selector buttons, and a piano key for accessing the quick control button.
The playback button is moved out to a lever on the left side of the housing accessed from the handle by the user’s thumb. All of these controls are designed to allow the underwater photographer complete access to the camera’s important functions without removing their hands from the handles. AV +/- is a pushbutton on the back of the camera body that must be held down while rotating a command wheel to change F-Stop in Manual Exposure Mode. The Nauticam AV +/- switch brings this control to the right side of the housing, easily accessed from the handle. This two position switch has a position for adjusting f-stop, and a position for adjusting shutter speed, eliminating the press and hold or long reaches required by other housings. The fingertip ISO paddle is designed with video shooters in mind, allowing quick exposure changes from the handle.
Nauticam 550D housing, rear view
Another innovative ergonomic advancement is Nauticam’s new two stage shutter release lever. This mechanical lever greatly enhances tactile feel of the half press and full press positions of the shutter release button, allowing precise focus control, and less accidental shutter actuation.
New, easy to use locking latches eliminate the stainless steel latches used previously. This new closure method reduces overall size and is easier to operate. These locking latches are easy to close with minimal hand strength required, and protected from accidental opening by a locking detent. A lens release button is offered as standard equipment, allowing lens changes while a zoom gear is attached without opening the housing back.
NA-550D next to NA-7D
NA-550D housing is the smallest housing in the Nauticam lineup, which should appeal to anyone concerned with the large size of some DSLR housings. This housing can still accommodate the same accessories as all other Nauticam housings, allowing use of an extensive line of lenses, ports, port adapters, lens gears, and viewfinders.
Nauticam 550D, open
In short, we think the new Canon T2i and the NA-550D make for a compelling combo. Available soon from any of our dealers.
The Zen Underwater Fisheye-Macro 100mm Dome Port is one of my new most favorite toys. It’s tiny, great for travel, and most importantly works really well with the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye lens. The one knock that is sometimes mentioned on a small dome like this is corner sharpness. While it’s not really in my nature to do a lot of test shots, I wanted to see how just how much of an issue it really is with the Zen 100. So, I tossed a snorkel and swim goggles in the water for a subject, jumped in and took a series of shots at 10mm, decreasing in aperture by 1/3 stop from f/3.5 to f/22. Ok, maybe I skipped a stop here or there but, hey, I had to hold my breath.
Zen 100mm on Nauticam NA-7D
Here are the shots… first, the full size image, and then a crop of the lower right hand corner (close corners are the problem ones). The end of the snorkel isn’t all the way in the corner, but, fortunately this pool is finished with an exposed aggregate so you can see the focus all the way to the corner.
As you would expect, the corner is soft wide open, i.e. f/3.5, but not as bad as I would have guessed. To my eyes, by F/11 it is sharp, but even by f/7.1 it is pretty good. Overall, I am impressed and pleasantly surprised about this. Given the small size and how close I can get to subjects with it, you can bet you’ll see this port on my housing more than any other.
Underwater photographer Lazaro Ruda recently took a Nauticam NA-7D housing out to a local (West Palm Beach, Florida) reef he had seen many times before. What he hadn’t seen before was an alligator out at the reef. Yes, an alligator. American alligators are known to visit saltwater, but unlike crocodiles, they don’t tend to stay in saltwater for long. No one told that to this particular gator who was a couple of miles offshore.
Apparently unfazed, Laz was able to fire off some stills with the 7D, and then deftly switch to video mode and take a nice little video of the gator. While the gator didn’t seem to mind the stills, it apparently decided it was not ready for it’s video debut and swam off into the blue.
Laz had this to say of the housing: “BTW Chris… These photos and videos were taken with a 7D in a Nauticam housing. It’s amazing how stable this housing is considering how much my hands were shaking.”
A West Palm Beach TV station picked up the story aired it. The local anchors did a pretty good job of making fools of themselves. (”Why everybody stood around and took pictures I’m not sure”) Ok, so maybe those news anchors don’t appreciate what an amazing encounter this was, but we do. Thanks very much to Laz for letting us post this.
Ross Gudgeon (aka “Gudge”) recently posted his thoughts about the Nauticam NA-7D housing on Wetpixel. We asked Ross if we could post a link to it, and he graciously agreed.
Ross and his wife live in Exmouth, Western Australia and regularly dive Ningaloo Reef. Ross is also a regular on Wetpixel and a Team Wetpixel member. More importantly, Gudge is now a Nauticam owner.
In perusing some of the online forums recently, we ran across a couple of folks who recently made the jump from point and shoot underwater camera setups to Nauticam NA-D90’s. Besides showing very good taste in choosing an underwater camera housing, these guys both are doing fantastic work with their new setups. We asked them if we could share some of their results here on our blog, and they both kindly obliged.
So, in their own words and pictures, here is what Chris Fieldhouse (”bkkchriss4″ on Wetpixel) and Terence Zahner (”zahner” on Scubaboard) have to say about their new NA-D90 housings:
Chris Fieldhouse:
A few weeks ago had a chance to put the Nauticam D90 through a proper test out in the Similan Islands for 4 days. This was my first proper trip after having jumped into the DSLR UWP world.
Shooting all in manual with some macro in STTL to try it out. Wide are all Tokina 10-17 with Zen 200mm dome, Macro are all Nikon 105VR.
Anyways, overall the housing was amazing. Prior to this trip I had only had two dives in So Cal on it just to get a bit used to it underwater. Very easy to access all the controls, ergonomics are great. It is very stable underwater. With the heavy 105 and ports, with 2×8″ ULCS float arms and 2×5″ ULCS arms with Stix floats it was certainly rather negative, not sink like a rock, but if you let go, you were gonna chase it down for sure! I had the 105 in AF most of the time, and other than the typical focus searching that is common with this lens it worked quite well. I also had the focus ring installed and found it very useful, I need some more time with the lens UW to see what becomes my preferred method
This was the first time shooting wide angle, but overall found it really really fun! My results were not perfect and of course when the mantas showed up I was having strobe issues, and enjoying myself with the amazing animals too much to bother spending enough time to fix everything! I found I ended up getting nice exposures for the bg but was underlighting my fg often. It was also a bit of a shock just how wide the 10-17 is and how close you need and can get to subjects!
I played around with video very briefly, and the housing is a pro at handling the pretty limited video on the D90, I am sure the Nauticam 7D would be pretty killer though. Overall a fun first jump into the DSLR world, the Nauticam is great and I am really looking forward to more and more and more practice with the setup!
Terence Zahner:
Why did I choose the Nauticam NA-D90 housing to extend the use of my Nikon D90 to underwater shooting? After working underwater with various compact camera systems for several years, I decided to take the plunge with a housed SLR in late 2009. I chose the Nikon D90 primarily for its ergonomics and intuitively placed controls. I wanted an underwater housing to retain these characteristics. The option to optically or electrically trigger strobes was also important to save me from an expensive upgrade but allow flexibility for the future.
The Nauticam NA-D90 makes shooting underwater a dream. The exposure controls are well placed, allowing me to focus on getting the shot and make adjustments without thinking. With a single lever for video operation it is actually easier to access video underwater than on land.
The housing also handles beautifully in the water. When set up for macro, with two strobes, a compact foam float on each strobe arm is all that is needed make the entire system neutrally buoyant. Even after five hour-long dives in a day, I don’t feel any fatigue from the camera rig. It is easy to shoot with only one hand if the other is needed to brace against current or surge.
It is clear that a lot of careful thought went into the design of this solidly built housing, from the secure port locking system down to the integrated carrying strap for easy handling whether diving from a boat or shore. I am eager to continue building out a versatile underwater camera system around the NA-D90 and feel confident that it will support my underwater photography needs for many years to come.
Thanks Chris and Terence. Great job on the photos, keep up the good work and we look forward to seeing the pics from your next trip.
Nauticam supports a wide range of lenses for Nikon and Canon cameras, from Nikon, Canon, Tokina, Sigma and more. We already support the vast majority of the most popular underwater lenses, and are adding other lenses regularly.
Click on a link below to open our latest port charts as PDF files in a new browser window:
The Nauticam NA-7D, underwater camera housing for the Canon 7D, is here. Is it an engineering marvel or a work of art? A masterpiece of design or a very functional piece of purposeful gear? One very well respected person in the industry has called it the best designed underwater housing he’s ever seen, and he has seen hundreds of housing designs. I myself have added to the din by noting how anxiously I’ve awaited it’s arrival. Ok, ok, that was a lot of hyperbole, so does it really measure up?
NA-7D Front
Well, I was able to do a couple of dives with a pre-production unit, and wanted to share my experience with you. I’d like to get more dives in with it before telling the story, but based on the level of interest, I’m feeling like I need to get this out now before I get any more emails telling me I need to get moving.
NA-7D set up for macro
For the first dive I did, I used the Canon 7D with a Canon 100mm macro lens, in the NA-7D housing with compact port and the Nauticam 180º Viewfinder, plus dual Inon Z-240 strobes fired optically. For the second dive, I switched to a Tokina 12-24 F4 DX II lens with a Zen 200mm dome port. I also added two Fisheye FIX 1000 LED lights for video, which I mounted on seperate strobe arms, and switched from the 180º Viewfinder to the standard .66x Viewfinder.
NA-7D set up for wide angle
The Canon 7D itself is an awesome camera. There are plenty of 7D reviews on the internet, so I won’t really review the camera here other than to say that I am very pleased with it so far. Some of my images are ever so slightly noisier than similar shots I got with my buttery smooth 5D, but other than that and having to re-think my lens selection for the cropped sensor, it is great. This camera just feels better in the hand than the somewhat clunky 5D, and of course, the 7D does video, which I will talk about below.
Shot with 7D and Tokina 12-24
While the 7D is a great camera, sliding it into the Nauticam NA-7D is truly a remarkable thing (there I go with that hyperbole again). One of the first things you notice is that you don’t have to pre-set any of the controls to get into into the housing correctly. Everything just lines up and works. Even if a control is initially misaligned, one turn and it lines itself up. For example, if you have the camera set to off, but the on-off switch on the housing is set to on when you insert the camera,no worries – just flip the switch to back to off to align it and then when you are ready to turn the camera on, flip it to on. If, like me, you’ve ever started a dive with a misaligned control, you know how nice this feature is.
NA-7D right rear - note piano keys
This housing features a new and innovative style of button called “Piano Keys”. Edward Lai, lead designer for Nauticam, seems to have a habit of coming up with innovative new features for his housings. What’s more, these new features are not in any way gimmicky, but instead very useful and makes one wonder “why didn’t I think of that?”. The piano keys are no exception – they make access to the +, – and set button easier than they are on the camera itself – a remarkable achievement. These keys have just the right amount of tactile design to them and are very easy to reach. It really makes chimping (looking through and editing your pictures while still underwater) remarkably easy.
Similarly to the NA-D90 housing which I wrote about a few days ago, the ergonomics on this housing are awesome. The three key controls for me are the shutter, the AF-ON button and the front command wheel. All three of those are perfectly placed, and like the buttons I mentioned above, are actually easier to use on the housing than they are on the camera itself. There is also easy access to the rear command dial, and like the NA-D90, easy access to the live-view and record buttons. All of these controls are available without removing your hands from the handles.
7D Right Side
As with the D90, the TTL set up with the Inon Z-240’s worked very well. With the exception of the few times I caused the onboard flash to fully dump, I didn’t notice much lag at all using TTL. I was also able to put the camera in manual at low power and shoot continuously at about 2 fps. So again, you kind of get the best of both worlds, TTL and the ability to shoot manual with a quicker recycle time. Keep in mind too that we offer bulkheads to work with your old-school electrical sync cables for those of you who want to shoot manual or use an external TTL converter.
Shot with 7D and Canon 100mm macro
The 180º Viewfinder works great, see my previous post for my thoughts on it. Switching between the two viewfinders couldn’t be easier – just remove the retaining ring, slide one out, slide the other one it and replace the ring. That takes all of about 10 seconds. Being able to remove the viewfinder so easily will make for easier packing for your trip.
One of the key features of the 7D is of course the ability to shoot video. The Nauticam NA-7D housing makes it remarkably easy to switch from stills to video – as I mentioned above, the controls for live view and record are actually easier to use on the housing than the camera. I didn’t spend much time on video – after all, I’ve only had two dives with this setup so far, but was able to capture enough video to give you a little idea of what it can do. I have a lot of work to do with the 7D to get proficient with it’s video capability, but I’m thinking it will be a lot of fun getting there. One of the challenges of sharing video on the internet is the compromise between download time and quality; nothing worse than spending a lot of time editing video only to have the final compression mess it up with artifacts in your nice blue background. Anyway, I’ve tried to upload something that still gives you a sense of what the camera can do but won’t take all day to download; hopefully Vimeo and YouTube won’t compress the stuffing out of it. Here’s Vimeo’s take on it; click the video below, click HD, then through to the Vimeo site to watch it in HD.
I had a chance to dive a couple of times last week with the Nikon D90 in a Nauticam NA-D90 housing with dual Inon Z-240 strobes fired optically, plus the Nauticam 180º External Viewfinder. I’d like to report my impressions and I’m including some images from those two dives.
First and foremost, I loved shooting the housing. I have to admit that it took me a little while to get into the Nikon groove as I am normally a Canon shooter, but once I had everything figured out it felt great. It didn’t take me long to enjoy the TTL despite the fact i’ve been shooting manual for so long.
The viewfinder is awesome… and I think the external adjustment is simply wonderful. There’s nothing more frustrating than starting a dive with your diopter adjusted a little off. Just a quick turn, and it is in focus. The large, corner to corner viewfinder image makes confirming fine focus easy, and eliminates any question about cutting off important elements of a composition.
The Fiber Optic TTL worked well. Point, pull trigger, and wham, perfectly exposed. The D90 is a little slow to recycle the internal flash sometimes, but having TTL is worth it for me in macro shooting situations. In situations where I needed faster shot to shot times, I tried setting the camera to manual flash out put (C. Fn. e2, choice M) and then to a lower power (1/128th power). This allowed me to fire the strobes on manual, and I could fire away at about 1 frame per second continuously until the buffer filled up. So really, you kind of get the best of both worlds, TTL and the ability to shoot manual with a quicker recycle time.
I loved the ergonomics. The handles are perfectly sized for my hands, and all the important stuff is in reach. The AE-L/AF-L button is awesome. Thumb on it, finger on shutter – perfect. This button can be set up a few different ways in the camera’s custom menu. In its default orientation, the button locks both focus and exposure. It is absolutely critical to be able to reach this button from the handle without removing your finger from the shutter release, as you’ll use it frequently to stop a macro lens from hunting in low light/low contrast situations.
The shutter release lever is very sensitive, making it easy to feel the half press position for focus. Both the front and rear command wheels are within an easy reach from the handle, and I was able to learn their position quickly, allowing me to operate them by feel without removing my eye from the viewfinder.
I’ve been very impressed with the feedback cycle to the designers that we have. When we’ve made suggestions to improve these housings after using the pre-production units, Nauticam engineers have done a great job incorporating them into final production models. I have every reason to think this will continue, and that we will continue to refine the design while standing behind our early adopters.
These shots were taken on a couple of dives at Blue Heron Bridge near West Palm Beach, Florida. This is a great spot to try out a new underwater camera housing – if you want to arrange a a demo dive with a Nauticam, contact me here.
