Seacam launches prelude housings

by adamhanlon Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

Seacam has announced the launch of a new range of housings: Prelude. Designed to provide full functionality and build quality, but at a lower price, the initial housings are for the Canon EOS60D and Nikon D7000 cameras. The prelude housings are manufactured from CNC machined aluminum and have the ubiquitous Seacam silver external coating. Ports, viewfinders, strobes and connections are interchangeable with the Seacam Silver housings.

Seacam Prelude Canon E0S60D.

Controls that can be accessed by turning knobs and control levers are: Main switch, shutter release, front/rear dial, manual focus or zoom, mode, lens release, AF-ON. Controls that are accessed by push buttons include: Play, live view, Q-button, multi-controller.

Seacam Prelude Nikon D7000.

Controls that can be accessed via turning knobs and control levers are: Main switch, LCD light, shutter release, front/rear dial, manual focus or zoom, lens release, AF-M focus select, mode, AE-L / AF-L. Controls accessed by push buttons include: Play, live view start, info, multi-controller.

Specifications common to both housings:

The housings are milled out of a saltwater-proof hardened and anodized light metal alloy.
Double sealing with seamless, O-rings protects all shafts and press buttons. The main O-ring is of a particularly strong dimension.
PRO G viewfinder.
2 flash sockets N5 or S6, 2 flash arm tees 25mm, tripod thread 3/8”, M8 thread on the housing roof, 2 removable handles and optic-acoustical water alarm.
Spare O-ring set, lubricant, hex-wrench set and locking strap in neoprene bag; protection caps and instruction manual.
Dimensions (W x H x D): 250 x 170 x 130 mm excluding port, viewfinder and handles.
Weight: 2300g excluding port and viewfinder, neutral under water depending on port and viewfinder.
Operation depth: - 80m.

Both housings are expected to be priced at around $3,350, including Pro Viewfinder and will be available by the end of February 2011.

Hi again Steve, I have done some shooting with two different i-TTL systems. Hartenberger 250ws strobes in combination with the Heinrichs Weikamp TTL converter and Ikelite 161 strobes with Ikelites own i-TTL converter. Of the two, I feel the Ikelite system is slightly more consistent AND much easier to use as their converter is powered by the strobe NiMH power packs, not a separate battery system which the HW converter requires. The Ikelite 161's are also lighter and smaller that the Hartenbergers. I have not tried using strobes, such as the Inon's, that can be slaved off of the D700's pop-up flash. The Seacam D700 housing does not provide enough space for the pop-up flash to pop up for use. The P&S;concept would be really great for things like shark dives where the sharks may come at you from different directions which means different sunlight angles and different "water color" settings on the camera to get a bood "blue" background. I you use shutter priority exposure in such situations and a wide area metering pattern vs spot metering, you should be able to get a "ballpark" consistency to the ambient light exposure. My theory goes like this. First set the overall compensation to give you a picture with a pleasing blue water color. With my D700 and water alone as the "background", this compensation setting is approximtely -1.0. This should result in the fish being a bit dark because the fish usually has less brightness than the water. And thus the need for fill flash. Then I would use the separate flash compensation on the D700 to "feather" down the flash a bit more (flash comp combines with the "global" comp.). My flash comp setting might be about -1.0, resulting in a -2.0 flash output). And then the TTL flash varies the actual flash output depending on the distance and reflectivity of the subject. Digital TTL doesn't seem to be quite as consistent as was film TTL. But there is more "post-shot correction" possible with digital than film. I haven't had the chance to shoot many big subjects like sharks yet, especially fast-moving big subjects. I did do a basic trial of the idea following a foot-long filefish for 10-15 minutes, shooting him at a variety of different angles and somewhat different distances. And all the shots after the first two "set-up" trial shots came out very consistent. And by consistent, I mean that the jpeg's, which are "processed images" all looked very good at the same screen brightness on my laptop. I usually shoot the RAW + Jpeg option. I'm hoping to be back in Australia for a couple months during the first half of 2011 and should have the chance to do more extensive shooting of bigger subjects like gray nurse sharks, horn sharks, and rays. Fred
Posted by divegypsy on 2010-12-31 14:28:56 Hi Fred - That certainly makes sense. For me, I just leave it in the matrix metered mode, assuming with wide angle, when I really need the meter, that's what will work best. And with fish and macro it is more about strobe power, strobe to subject distance, and subject reflectance so I am not as concerned with spot metering. If not happy with background I'll change the shutter speed. That's what tends to work for me anyway. Of course, with my Canon camera in SEACAM housing I could change those metering parameters if I wished, just never get around to it very often. Your P&S;-DSLR concept is certainly valid though. BTW ... what are you using to get reliable I-TTL flash with your D700/SEACAM system? Happy New Year!
Posted by StephenFrink on 2010-12-31 07:56:59 Hello again Steve, Most of the time, when things aren't changing a lot, I shoot in the manual exposure mode and use spot metering. But if things are changing, either the light levels or the angle of the sunlight, I feel that auto-exposure can be an advantage. And for auto-exposure, I think that the matrix metering will usually give the best results for the ambient light component of the exposure. And that combined with i-TTL flash can work really well. I have lots more testing to do, but the idea is to end up with a point & shoot DSLR when I need it, so that more of my attention can be focused on getting the subject properly framed and in focus, not on technical aspects like exposure. I really like to have the full capabilities of the camera available to me. Fred
Posted by divegypsy on 2010-12-31 07:13:50 Hi Fred - I can't speak for every SEACAM dealer worldwide, but SCM control has been at no charge on all Nikon housings with us (SEACAMUSA) for a while now. I doubt we ever sold a Nikon housing without one, actually. They are now standard on all Nikon housings, including Prelude, but with D7000 I understand it to be AF/MF only (in single servo) with continuous AF accessed through menu? That's what I deduce from reviews. You are correct that I don't have the intuitive sense of the Nikon system like I do for the Canons I shoot, but fortunately on the photo tours I lead and classes I teach we usually have 8 to 10 SEACAM for Nikon in the mix. I try to learn what I can from them by osmosis. Personally, I don't change the meter pattern on my Canons UW, so wouldn't miss such a control on a Nikon. But, I realize from reading your previous posts that it is important to you.
Posted by StephenFrink on 2010-12-29 09:23:56 Steve, The last time I really looked at Seacam housings the SCM control was an $ extra on all but the most expensive housings, like the D3/D3X/D3S. On more normal housings such as my D700 housing it cost $everal hundred euro$ extra. Is the SCM control standard on the D300 or D300S housings which hold more affordable nikon camera bodies? I might add that these more affordable camera bodies are much more suitable for use with i-TTL strobes, including Seacams own strobes, than are Nikon's "pro" bodies. Yet the housings for these more versatile bodies not only don't include the SCM control as part of the standard controls, the D700 housing, and possibly the D300 and D300S housing has no control what-so-ever for the ambient light metering pattern which is all the more valuable when combined with i-TTL strobes. I realize that you shoot Canon and may not be really familiar with the Nikon system housings that you sell. Fred
Posted by divegypsy on 2010-12-28 22:10:00 Fred - The SCM controls on various SEACAM housings are now included in the price, although you are right in that they used to be optional. The AF-M control is standard on the Nikon D7000 Prelude housing. Happy New Year.
Posted by StephenFrink on 2010-12-28 09:32:29 It will be interesting to see which camera controls will be omitted from these new "budget" Seacams. The Seacam D700 housing does not have an ambient light metering pattern control, which means you need to decide on whether you want spot, center weight or matrix metering prior to the dive, rather than make the choice under water in response to the subject. The SCM control cost several hundred Euros extra. My D700 housings cost a bit more than double the price of the D700 camera body in them. At $3500 for these new housings, the ratio climbs to almost 3:1.
Posted by divegypsy on 2010-12-25 08:09:47 Hi guys, We plan to review the D7000 version in our review early next year. Adam
Posted by adamhanlon on 2010-12-24 12:45:06 Nice move!
Posted by Andrej Belic on 2010-12-23 20:15:34 I talked to Harald Hordosch of Seacam at great length about this at DEMA and I think it is a great concept. The website speaks of it being a "novice" housing but I don't think so, necessarily. Either the D7000 or D60 are serious cameras, capable of serious files, and because the housing is smaller and easier to travel with is definitely not a bad thing. I'm a Canon shooter so I'd go with the D60 myself, but with Seacam ports and viewfinders, just like any other Seacam housing, I see this as a very significant product introduction. You'd expect me to say that because I'm the North and South American distributor for Seacam, but that's not really why. I have a lot of close friends who are still shooting Seacam D2X, for example, and I've never suggested they should upgrade. But for a housing at this price point and a camera of the quality of either the D7000 or D60 at such a modest cost of acquisition, this is pretty enticing.
Posted by StephenFrink on 2010-12-23 19:43:00 Very nice!!!! I really want to see a review of these housings. GHN
Posted by ghnouer on 2010-12-23 19:18:11 Unlike other SEACAM Silver products, the Prelude housings also include the Pro Viewfinder, which is currently priced at $443 on http://www.seacamusa.com. I don't know if other housings have viewfinders as standard, but other SEACAMs do not. Just as background for pricing comparisons.
Posted by StephenFrink on 2010-12-23 18:02:08