Need some help

[dr.sasanka]

Hi guys

I'm new to this forum and YES I will have lots of questions .
I'm looking for advice, I'm about to buy new Nikon dslr and UW housing. Please bare in mind my budget is limited. The question is should I go with the cheaper model D90 with Aquatica or Ikelite housing or should I get the more expensive and more advance D300s with Ikelite housing?

Can anyone tell me what do I have to buy for the d90 or d300s UW housing and how much it will cost the whole set up. First I will start with nikkor macro lens and in the future I want to add some wide angle or fish eye lens.

Also where should I shop for those housings? I'm located in Australia. Is it cheaper to purchase them overseas? What would be the advantage and disadvantage to shop overseas and locally. Service? Warranty?

Thanks

Peter

 

[scuba e]

I have the d90 and love it. Great image quality and very budget friendly. It seems that housings follow the price of the camera so the housing looks more cost effective as well. And worse case, if it does flood, what camera would you rather lose?

 

[AussieByron]

Hi Peter,

I would recommend that you look at getting the D90 with a Aquatica or Nauticam housing. They are indeed more expensive than an Ikelite but the build quality is much better. You do get what you pay for.

Honestly I think you have to compare the D90 against the D300s and see if the extras on the D300s is worth the extra money. They are a very similar animals with the D300s in a more professional body.

I recently purchased my Aquatica D90 setup from Scubapixs (Scubapix | Underwater Imaging Solutions) located in Cairns, QLD. Peter the owner is very helpful and know alot about both the Aquatica and Nauticam gear which he sells.

The reason why I didint buy overseas was becuase of the service (needed a part and it was shipped overnight) and at the end of the day if you bringing in expensive gear from overseas you up for the shipping costs and import duty of 10% on items worth over $1000AUD.

It cost of the whole setup depends mainly on what you buy in the end. Its simply not buying the camera and the housing its everything else which adds to the cost. Recommend that you sit down and relly think what you want to do as it will be a big investment.

Regards Mark

 

[The Blue Whale]

Setting the housing discussion aside... the D90 will provide you with the same quality results as the D300. The few additional features will most likely not be missed by any photographer that actually learns all of the functions of their camera. For the underwater photographer, the heavy duty body of the D300 will not be a factor. Other D90 features include:
> "Portrait" and "Landscape" Picture Controls have been added in the Nikon D90. With the D300 these two additions must be downloaded.
> "Extra high" and "Auto" added to Active D-Lighting options on the D90. (D300: these two options are not available).
> "Distortion control", "Straighten", "Fisheye", "Filter effects" ("Cross screen"/"Red intensifier"/"Green intensifier"/"Blue intensifier"), "Small picture", "Quick retouch", "NEF (RAW) processing" available as in camera retouch functions (On the D300 these options not available).
> The Nikon D90 offers 72 thumbnail playback display, calendar display, and histogram for only the portion of the image displayed with playback zoom.
> Advanced Scene Modes are offered on the D90 which are not available on the D300.
> Shutter durability of 100,000 cycles on the Nikon D90 compared to the more durable shutter mechanism incorporated in the D300 which is rated up to 150,000 exposures. You'll need to judge whether or not you'll use those extra 50,000 shots before upgrading to a new camera.
You can get more comparisons on the cameras and even look at how they compare to the Canon cameras at: Compare Nikon D90 to D300

If I planned to use the camera for over 50% above water use, I'd consider the D300. This is due to the camera body construction and the fact that I could more easily use many of my older Nikkor lenses. BUT, I would prefer the D90 for underwater use because the few extra dollars I'd save will be consumed with housing enhancements (dome ports, flood sensor, handles, strobes...) Hope some of this helps... there's a lot more on the decisions of the housing... select your camera first!

 

[dr.sasanka]

Hi Mark
First thank you for you respond.

I read some of yours earlier posts from January where you was saying that you are using the D90 with Ikelite housing, and now I'm wondering what did make you to change from Ike to Aquatica housing. How much is the Aquatica housing better then the Ikelite housing. What is the advantage of the Aquatica compare to the Ike?

_{I would recommend that you look at getting the D90 with a Aquatica or Nauticam housing. They are indeed more expensive than an Ikelite but the build quality is much better. You do get what you pay for.}

What are the main differences between the Aquatica and Nauticam housings and how would you compare Aquatica to the Ikelite housing? What should I look for? What are the important points in DSLR\UW photography? I use P/S Olympus/Sony cameras for my underwater photography and now when I'm trying to enter the DSLR UW photography I don't know what exactly I have to look for. Sooo many different options.

_{Honestly I think you have to compare the D90 against the D300s and see if the extras on the D300s is worth the extra money. They are a very similar animals with the D300s in a more professional body.}

The d90 was my first choice. Its great camera with great features. Im using d40x right now, and that camera is good too. But the thing is that I'm looking for camera set up that I can use for some years before upgrading to new camera as my budget is tight and I don't want to buy camera that I wont be happy with in one year or so. Just wonder how much difference will make the 51 focus point on d300s compare to the 12 on d90. How fast is focusing your camera underwater. What about the white balance? The d300s have 1,005-pixel RGB white balance sensor where the d90 have 420-pixel.


Thanks Peter

 

[TomR1]

I have a D-300 in a Seatool housing. You should check out the total price of that setup versus a d-90 in an Aquatica or Nauticam. The D-300 does not do video but is available at discount. The Seatool housing is excellent.

You should shoot in RAW and for macro you'll use a single spot focus (put the rectangle on the eye of the critter) Most of the advantages of the D-300 don't apply underwater but some say it focuses faster. (Above ground it may be worth it as someone has said.)

You should start with a 60mm lens if you like macro. The Af-105-VR is an unbelieveable lens but you should get the 60 down along with strobe placement etc. first.

 

[Doc Harry]

Thanks for all of the info.

 

[peterbj7]

Unless you're after a bargain don't get a D300 - get the D300s. But I would have thought the D90 was a better camera for the application, being smaller and lighter as well as cheaper. Don't ignore the likely introduction soon of the D400 though, and the impact it'll have on the D90 and its prices.

My personal choice would be a Canon T2i, about the same price as the D90 but with cheaper lenses and vastly higher resolution. That facilitates even quite extreme crops, something I find very useful for underwater shots. You won't be able to crop a D90 image much.

 

[bax737]

I , like Mark Gray , have the aquatica + D300s from scubapix - awesome kit - this kit will last me the next 20 years - I paid a bit more now for the best and will have it until the next really huge change come in - the features on the d300s are awesome and I have won a few comps with it -HTH

 

[dr.sasanka]

Hi Dean

I think the biggest advantage of the d300s is the 51 focus points and the white balance metering. Correct me if I'm wrong. Ergonomically they both fit nicely in my hand, but the d300s extra weight might be a bit issue under water and for travel as well. I mentioned that currently I'm using d40x above water, which is light weight plastic body and I never had any truble with that camera. Both d90 and d300s are better build then my old d40x.

_{Setting the housing discussion aside... the D90 will provide you with the same quality results as the D300. The few additional features will most likely not be missed by any photographer that actually learns all of the functions of their camera. For the underwater photographer, the heavy duty body of the D300 will not be a factor. Other D90 features include:
> "Portrait" and "Landscape" Picture Controls have been added in the Nikon D90. With the D300 these two additions must be downloaded.
> "Extra high" and "Auto" added to Active D-Lighting options on the D90. (D300: these two options are not available).
> "Distortion control", "Straighten", "Fisheye", "Filter effects" ("Cross screen"/"Red intensifier"/"Green intensifier"/"Blue intensifier"), "Small picture", "Quick retouch", "NEF (RAW) processing" available as in camera retouch functions (On the D300 these options not available).
> The Nikon D90 offers 72 thumbnail playback display, calendar display, and histogram for only the portion of the image displayed with playback zoom.
> Advanced Scene Modes are offered on the D90 which are not available on the D300.
> Shutter durability of 100,000 cycles on the Nikon D90 compared to the more durable shutter mechanism incorporated in the D300 which is rated up to 150,000 exposures. You'll need to judge whether or not you'll use those extra 50,000 shots before upgrading to a new camera.
You can get more comparisons on the cameras and even look at how they compare to the Canon cameras at: Compare Nikon D90 to D300}

I definitely will use the camera for over 50% above water, unless I find some good dive buddy in Brisbane area. As you said the d90 sounds better then the d300s, specially for my bank. As someone mentioned the price for the housing follow the price of the camera. And yes, replacing flooded d300s will hurt more then the d90. Also the 1k extra on top the d90 to upgrade to d300s might be used toward the d90 aluminium Aquatica or Naticam housing.

I don’t want to go for Canon, doesn’t feel right in my hand and I don’t like the menu.

_{If I planned to use the camera for over 50% above water use, I'd consider the D300. This is due to the camera body construction and the fact that I could more easily use many of my older Nikkor lenses. BUT, I would prefer the D90 for underwater use because the few extra dollars I'd save will be consumed with housing enhancements (dome ports, flood sensor, handles, strobes...) Hope some of this helps... there's a lot more on the decisions of the housing... select your camera first!}

Actually I start to think that I should wait for the new model of d90, as the d90 is on market for almost 2 years and that’s about the period of time when Nikon replace/upgrade their cameras. I'm not sure what it is going to be called but it might have better focusing, white balance and Full HD movie. I know I'm not buying video camcorder but I think to have HD video on camera is good feature.

Regards

Peter