Bought Nikon D90, I have some questions.

[moray71]

I just got into the DSLR world and am wondering about housings. What housings do you use and how do you like them? What are some of the good and bad points with them. I have been able to find Nauticam, Aquatica, Equinox, Ikelite, and BS Kinetics. Any input on those? I looked into Sea&Sea but didn't find a housing for the D90.
Also, I have been reading about the Tokina 10mm-17mm fisheye lens and the 60mm lens as starter lenses. Any input?
Any advice is appreciated, thank you in advance.

 

[Viz'art]

You can't go wrong with these two lenses as building block, a sizable chunk of image made today are with these two lenses.

Sea & Sea did do make a housing for the Nikon D90, you might be able to find used housing for the D90, and I would suggest this approach, since the camera is a discontinued model, I would keep the investment to a minimum, but still would base my final choice on system continuity for the future.

 

[VicScubaVentures]

I just got into the DSLR world and am wondering about housings. What housings do you use and how do you like them? What are some of the good and bad points with them. I have been able to find Nauticam, Aquatica, Equinox, Ikelite, and BS Kinetics. Any input on those? I looked into Sea&Sea but didn't find a housing for the D90.
Also, I have been reading about the Tokina 10mm-17mm fisheye lens and the 60mm lens as starter lenses. Any input?
Any advice is appreciated, thank you in advance.

I've had my D90 in an Ikelite housing for about 2 years now, without complaint. I have the 8" dome with port for use with the 16-85mm VR lens, and the one-piece macro port for use with my 60mm macro lens. The whole kit also includes twin DS51 strobes with the Ikelite dual strobe cable. The TTL controller on Ike housings for D90 provides some useful adjustment to strobe intensity, and it is a nice touch. I like being able to see inside the housing at all times, and have been able to do some in-water trouble shooting in circumstances where I'd bumped a control knob in such a way that the camera shutter wasn't being triggered (my bad). No leaks. No regrets.

All the controls are accessible with the housing, the whole rig is slightly negatively buoyant in salt water. There is a learning curve with DSLR photography, but the Ike setup has not been a hindrance to the learning. I've hauled it from Victoria, BC to Roatan and Cozumel in a large Pelican case without incident.

As for lenses, I really like the 16-85mm VR lens. It is flexible enough to capture reef wide angle, and macro close ups. Being able to zoom in to get super close ups has sometimes been a better option than getting closer to skittish marine critters. You can not go wrong with the Nikon 60mm lens for macro work. I have the older version, and other than being slightly slower to focus than the new one, I love it for its sharpness.

Hope this helps.
C.

 

[mwall04]

I just got into the DSLR world and am wondering about housings. What housings do you use and how do you like them? What are some of the good and bad points with them. I have been able to find Nauticam, Aquatica, Equinox, Ikelite, and BS Kinetics. Any input on those? I looked into Sea&Sea but didn't find a housing for the D90.
Also, I have been reading about the Tokina 10mm-17mm fisheye lens and the 60mm lens as starter lenses. Any input?
Any advice is appreciated, thank you in advance.

I've been using the D90 with a Aquatica housing and Tokina 10-17 FE lens for about 4 years. I primarily use it for shots of large sharks (i.e. great whites, whale sharks, blues, and mako's). I love the setup and have never missed a dive from issues with the camera or housing. For wide-angle, over 90% of the Nikon photographers on trips I've recently been on use the Tokina lens.

Although I'm always itching to get a newer camera, my skill level and requirements don't really justify it. A friend of mine also uses the D90/Aquatica combination and has taken some of what I consider the best shark photos ever, so having the newest camera models is definitely not a requirement for getting good photos.

I'd look for a good used housing for your D90. I frequently see them for sell in the classified section of this board and wetpixel.com.

 

[PatW]

The D90 is still a viable DSLR for underwater photography. I know that Ike still makes housings for it. You might be able o pick up another housing used. Wet Pixel has a classified section with used equipment.

The Tokina lens is great but you have to get pretty close with it. The lens works best for landscapes, diver shots and large subjects. The 60 macro is a great lens. It is good for smallish fish and close ups. For true macro, you have to get awfully close. Unless you have a pretty oblivious subject, it won't happen. This lens works well with the subsea 5 diopter.


You can do pretty well with the 60 and one strobe. The Tokina really requires 2 strobes. By the way, the Tokina is a good lens for funky looking after dive shots of your buddies.

 

[WetLens]

Bought an Ike D90 housing in mid-2009 and have made ~ 350 dives with it. Shot the 10-17 Tokina and 16-85 VR with the 8" dome; 60 and 105 macro in the modular port (both older versions of the lens). Had the housing updated with the 4 port clamps and recently had the TTL replaced due to a couple of water intrusion incidents - first time was an absolute failure on my part (back left loose), and second was a fubar at the dip tank where a camera schlepper rotated the superwide dome. Other than those incidents and corresponding downtime, the housing and camera combination has been fantastic. I really like the 16-85 and the 105/SubSee +10 diopter combination. Never been really satisfied with results from the 10-17 - likely something in the way I use it, but just did not get what I was looking for with it. The 60 is great in limited vis water, but much prefer the 105 when water clarity will support it.

I have since switched to a D600 in an Ike housing, dumped the 10-17 and changed to the 105 VR. What a difference in wide angle. My 16 behind the 8" dome is wonderful, but have had even better experience with the 20mm. Macro is a different story. I really preferred shooting the D90 with either of the two macro lenses. The crop sensor allows filling the frame with the subject at respectable distances from the subject. Find that I am doing a lot more cropping with FF. Happy with results, but liked shooting macro with the D90 far better. Need more dives with the D600 to work things out - thrilled with WA, but the jury is still out on macro.

D90 remains an excellent choice. Photos at: wetlens.smugmug.com/underwater (http://wetlens.smugmug.com/Underwater) (updated link until profile updates correct link in signature) 2009-2012 = D90; 2013 = D600

I've held onto the D90 housing while I come to grips with the change to FF - might consider parting with it if interested.

 

[BluewaterPhoto]

hi Moray - both the Aquatica and Nauticam housings would be great choices for that camera. You can probably get a good deal on a used housing. Yes, the Tokina 10-17mm and the 60mm macro are the way to go. Let us know what you end up getting! - Scott

 

[moray71]

Thanks, I ended up getting the Ikelite housing with the DS161 strobe. So far it has worked great. I am using the standard 18-55mm lens right now but will be upgrading to the 60 or 105mm when I get the money. Where I live we generally just don't have the visibility for wide angle shots but do have alot for macro.