Seacam

Our first meeting of the day was with Harald Hordosch, Stephen Frink and team on the Seacam stand.

Seacam are now shipping their 6D strobe. This is powered by 4 AA batteries and offer an output of 60W/s with a color temperature of 4400°K with a beam angle of 130°.

It will provide 200 flashes at full power per set of batteries.

The diffuser and macro protection rings attach with a bayonet and Seacam has designed a snoot for the strobe.

Next, we looked at the Seacam housing for the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. Uniquely, this is designed to be used with a viewfinder on the camera’s EVF rather the LCD screen.

It features spring loaded controls to facilitate easier camera loading.

Memory cards can be removed with the camera is place.

The camera attached with a knurled nut that is recessed into the housing, allowing the camera to be mounted further forward.

The on/off and mode daily are accessed via gears:

It has 5 ports for accessories or flash triggering.

Seacam will be shipping their housing for the Nikon D850 within a month.

Lastly, we looked at Seacam’s new buoyancy floats. These offer 210g of positive buoyancy per float and are constructed of pressure resistant foam.

Subal

We met up with Vladimir Mladenovic to go over the Subal housings.

He showed us the housing for the D850 (which can be pre-ordered for shipping in mid November) which is based on the d500 design.

Subal’s engineers have removed a lot of excess metal and this makes the housing significantly lighter.

All the buttons have channels running between them, which allows salt water to drain out.

There are markings on the rear of the housing to assist with making half and half shots.

The vacuum sensor with LED is included as standard. Shortly, all Subal housing will ship with a vacuum system.

The housing features 4 M14 ports and the standard fitted port system is their type 4 (110mm)

The housing ships with 2 Nikonos bulkheads and Subal have their opt electrical TTL system 2 as an option.

This housing is lighter than 90% of all Subal housings.

The next housing that Vladimir showed us was for the Panasonic GH5.

This housing is very ergonomic and biased towards video shooters with all buttons easy to reach from the thumb.

There is one additional bulkhead for a possible external monitor.

A unique product is Subal’s new housing for the Leica Q.

The housing is very small and compact.

There are 2 bulkheads with one fitted with a Nikonos 5-pin socket, while the the housing does not ship with a second bulkhead fitted.

There is a leak alarm

The V2 with the flat port retails at $2790 while the V3 with the dome retails at $3490.

Vladimir told us that Subal will support the Leica M10 next year

Lastly, we looked at the Subal housing for the the GX85/GX80/GXMKII Panasonic

This retails for 1490 Euro.

It has a new locking system and type 3 lens ports as well as interchangeable lenses.

The TTL works with a pop-up lens as well as all manual functions. There are also bulkheads for whatever the underwater photographer needs.

Subal offers special paint options, including the Navy Range, primarily aimed at military users.

Subal will offer a housing for the Canon C200 and XF-400/405 video cameras next year.

Isotta

The Isotta GoPro housing is compatible with the Backscatter flip and is rated to 200m.

It has a removable sun shade and a trigger extension.

This can be further extended with an accessory if required.

Then we went over the company’s plans for the D850. This housing is shipping in the 1st week in December. It has been designed to be lighter (which means it is more buoyant).

All housings come standard with an audio and visual moisture alarm.

The dSLRs come with sync cord sockets include.

We looked at Isotta’s housing for the Nikon D500

There are double o-rings standard on all ports (even the GoPro). To close this system there is a 3-prong locking system as well as a turn to lock mechanism.

The door lock is released, the door does not swing open, allowing it to be done for a vertical position or even while standing up.

The 9” port is made of glass and is coated. It also has a removable hood. All parts are sourced and made in Italy.

Their housing for the E-M5 retails for $1300 US without handles. It is $210 for a set of standard handles and $360 for a set of dSLR handles.

The E-M1 retails for $1550 including handles (and T-blocks). The viewfinders are interchangeable (for example, with the Inon 45 or 90 viewfinder).

The top bracket can be installed for ease of handling and getting the housing in and out of the water.

Isotta’s new port system is 102mm diameter for mirrorless or 120mm diameter for SLR.

Lastly, Isotta offers a custom etching service. Melodie picked up her new housing at the show!

Easydive and Carbonarm

Next we met up with Fabio Benvenuti of Easydive and Carbonarm.

He walked us through his universal housings as well as his housings for the iPhone and smartphones.

First we looked at the Leo3 and Leo 3wi, which are universal housings that are compatible with many camera models.

It is rated to a depth of 150m, vacuum port ready and has a lifetime warranty.

Controls are accessed via USB, allowing the housing to be used with multiple camera models via an firmware upgrade process.

It is supplied with an additional internal battery pack.

Next we looked at the leo3 smart, which is a universal housing for all smart phones.

It weighs 1.2 kg and has a lifetime warranty. It is supplied with an additional internal battery pack.

It retails at $600 Euros. Available at the end of January.

Easydive were exhibiting their Carbonarm DiveShot housing. This universal housing allows for control of smartphones via Bluetooth and the Easydive app.

It has optical sensors allowing for touch screen like control.

It retails at $1000 Euros and is patent pending.

The GoPro housing is compatible with GoPro 5 and 6 and 2 O-rings on each side. It is rated to 250m

Lastly we looked at Carbonarm’s video lights. The two models have 5000 lumens and 15000 lumens output at 3500°K. They have a 50 minute at full power and have a special lens to maximise the output. They retail for 850 Euros and 1300 Euros, respectively.

Aquatica

Next we met with Blake Stoughton of Aquatica on their big booth. First he showed us their much anticipated housing for the Nikon D850.

This will ship in mid December, priced at $2895.

The housing is very similar to the design of the D500, with extending control arms that give access to the ISO control with the right thumb.

Aquatica has bought its own 5 axis CNC milling machine that allows then to remove more extraneous metal fro the housing. Hence, it 12-15% lighter.

There are also (x3) three controls that are self-aligning (including the on/off button).

There are 5 bulkheads (with one on the bottom) for strobes, vacuums ports, etc.

Aquatica offers electrical triggering via Nikonos or Ikelite bulkheads and the option of an integrated option electrical TTL converter.

The moisture alarm comes standard in all housings and the circuitry has vacuum function by default.

A new accessory for Aquatica is two lanyards and brackets. The lanyards come in two different lengths – 20” and 10”.

The brackets mount on the housing handles and can have ball mounts attached to them too.

The set of one lanyard and two brackets retails for around $80.

Aquatica’s housing for the GH5 is shipping now and retails for $1799.

The design is video centric with lever control for ISO and While Balance on the right thumb.

There are self aligning controls (like the on/off button) and the saddle that slides in and out via a nifty magnetic control.

There is an adaptor plate for fiber optic controls. 2 bulkheads are located on on top as well as one on the bottom.

Next we looked at the AE—M1II for the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mafrk II. It is the 4/3 micro series.

There is a new trigger lever, and magnets to align the plate.

Then we checked out the monitor housing, the Aquilex, which was a prototype. Designed for use with mirrorless or SLR cameras, it is neutrally buoyant and is powered via two Sony camcorder batteries. Input is via HDMI and it is expected to ship in early 2018.

Lastly, we checked out Aquatica’s new glass 8” dome. This has an internal anti reflective and anti scratch coating

Sea&Sea

Out last meeting of the day was with Andy Sallmon of Sea & Sea.

We spoke a lot about the YS-D2J, and how the new version sources all its parts from Japan.

We also took a look at the MDX-d850. This housing will be available at the beginning of December.

It has all the standard Sea&Sea features of dSLR housings including: optical port converter compatible, sync cord compatibility and is made with a corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy. Depth rating is 330 feet.

We also looked at the MDX-80D housing for the Canon EOS 80D

Page 1: Ultralight, Nauticam, XIT404, Gates, Keldan, Acquapazza.
Page 2: Seacam, Subal, Isotta, Easydive, Aquatica, Sea&Sea.
Page 3: Wetpixel/DPG Underwater Imaging Party.
Page 4: iDive, VRTUL, Pelagic Fleet, Cinebags, SAGA.
Page 5: Backscatter, XIT404, Fisheye, Ikelite, Fantasea, Inon.