Diving with a Nikon

[Rachpreach]

So I own a Nikon D3300 that I use for fun to do photography. Is there any kind of housing for this camera at an AFFORDABLE price? I dont understand why these housing are priced at $1500+. If any one can shed any light on this subjust I would really appreciate it!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Housings are very limited in their usage. Most only work for one model of camera, and that camera is usually obsolete in a couple of years. The diving population is small as it is, even smaller for underwater photographers. Then you have Sony, Canon, Nikon and many other camera models favored by those divers. Even the most popular camera has a tiny segment of the housing market. Housing manufacturers cannot mass produce a housing that will only fit a small amount of cameras. Nearly every housing is a special order. Setup costs and constant change keeps the prices up.

Here is one for $695, but you will still need ports, lenses, strobes and strobe arms plus a focus light. U/W photography is a constant drain on the wallet.

Nimar Base Water Sports Housing with Pistol Grip NID3300WB B&H

 

[northernone]

Used market has been kind to me. Especially on lower end dslr housings there are good prices when people upgrade.

 

[Diver Dave1]

Its worse than you think. For most decent pictures, you need at least one strobe for lighting your subject. Then you need arms and connections for holding the strobe to the housing.
The housing does not normally come with a dome or port for a DSLR so there is a few to several hundred more.
The DSLR camera and lens are often the lowest cost part of the setup.

All this combined is why the lower cost option is a point/shoot style camera with a simple housing - even if you have a DSLR already. Those setups can cost less than $1500.

 

[Barmaglot]

Here is one for $695, but you will still need ports, lenses, strobes and strobe arms plus a focus light. U/W photography is a constant drain on the wallet.

Nimar Base Water Sports Housing with Pistol Grip NID3300WB B&H

This one is... interesting. It's actually a surf housing rather than a dive housing, but it's rated to 60 meters, and Nimar also makes a diving housing for D3300/3400, rated to the same 60 meters, but for 350 euro more, and without the pistol grip. What does their diving housing have that the surf one doesn't to justify the 50% higher cost?

 

[JackConnick]

Ikelite makes a good quality housing for your camera. However the 3300 suffers from the lack of an internal motor for lens AF. It must rely on motorized lenses. That means that some of the more popular lenses like the Tokina 10-17 won't work.

We usually recommend housing the higher end bodies (like a D7200, D500) as the camera becomes he cheapest part of the equation.

You might want to read through our FREE Handbook: Choosing an UW Camera and Housing

 

[Rachpreach]

This is just mind boggling to me but I guess it makes sense. I guess I'll be sticking to my gopro as I don't do this as a professional or anything. Thanks for the input yall.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

You can often find deals on Ebay for complete systems used. My current setup was 20% of full retail.

 

[jmartel]

This is just mind boggling to me but I guess it makes sense. I guess I'll be sticking to my gopro as I don't do this as a professional or anything. Thanks for the input yall.

Why not buy something like a TG-4 or TG-5? Even with a housing you're looking at $600-700ish. Add a strobe for $300-400 and you will get way better photos than what your GoPro will do.