Ikelite D7000 housing, ports and lenses.

Hi there,

I have been reading and reading, and I think it's time for me to move away from my Canon G9 in Ikelite housing, with 2DS strobes to a DSLR.
On land, we have a D7000 for family shots and I'm thinking of buying a second one for UW.
Unfortunately, I'm on a tight budget, so it will have to be the Ikelite housing.

Lens wise, from the research/reading I have done, I will start of with

• a Tokina 10-17 and
• a Nikon 60 AF-D for now (is that the correct one?)
• and hopefully a 105mm later

Now, I was wondering what ports I should get.

• For the 60mm, should I get the Ikelite standard flat port (with plastic lens) or the modular port (with glass lens, so better quality?) That way I can use it later with the 105? Although the modular port also has more potential of water entry as you screw several parts together Ultimately, it would be great if there was a 67mm thread so I can add a Subsee 10+ diopter too (with the 105)
• For the Tokina, should I go with a dome? The Ikelite one (if so, which one)? or the one from UWcamerastuff?

Another (silly) question, do the ports come with the zoom gear? Or do I have to order them separately?

Thanks a lot for all your support,

Cheers,

bgfspeedy

hi bgfspeedy - I would use the standard port for the 60mm, the quality is the same as the glass port. Glass is harder to scratch, but it is very rare to scratch a flat port.

The ikelite 8-inch port will be better for over-unders, but some, people seem to prefer using the Precision 5-inch dome that we carry. It is very small, very light and the photos are very sharp. The zen 4-inch glass port for Ikelite is probably the best option, but it is pricey. Hope this helps - Scott

Hey Scott,

Thanks a lot for your reply. Guess it will be the 60mm and precision dome.
However, what are your thought on the OM-D EM-5 compared to the nikon D7000?
Would you recommend using macro wet lenses with the 60mm lens?
Cheers,

Ben

I have the D7000 with a Nauticam housing.

As to ports, the 60 mm macro lens does fine with a flat port.

I use a 4" Zen port for the Tokina 10-17. It works just fine. The 10-17 does not require a large dome because it focuses very close. If your lens is a wide angle and does not focus that close, you need a larger dome and usually a filter with a diopter correction. If the 10-17 can use a 4" dome, it can use just about anything that is larger, or so I would think. I would say that Bluewater Photo would know better than I would.