Nikon V1 Waterproof housing

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einaroh

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Hi,

I have a Nikon V1 and will do some diving with it. I was thinking about buying this waterproof housing off ebay but am a bit hesitant given the huge price difference between this and the OEM housing. Has anyone used these housings available on ebay and are the actually waterproof?
 
This really is a case of you get what you pay for.

Nauticam are up there with the top of the range underwater housings, and offer a full system for future growth, and excellent customer support from Alex Tattersall, the UK importer. his website is uwvisions.com. He also has a stand at LIDS this weekend.

I cannot comment on the other housing other than it looks very much like one of the usual manufacturers own housings that you often find from Canon and olympus. They generally do well, you tend to see quite a few on dive boats, but I feel you may be taking a risk - just my personal opinion.

As a middle ground, have you considered an early olympus m4/3 system?

I know you already have the Nikon, but you can get a second hand EPL-1 with kit lens and olympus housing for around £500. Very good for all but the fastest action shots.

Also, either the canon S90 - S110 range are well regarded underawater as is the Olympus XZ-1.

Both systems new in their own brand housings are a lot cheaper than the Nauticam housing alone - check out camerasunderwater.co.uk as a rough guide.

Mike
 
Thanks go the great answers guys.

I gave cameras underwater a call and they told me that these ebay housings were not worth the money. So thats not an option.

This would just be for a one time trip so unfortunately I cant justify spending £500+ on this.

The gopro hero2/hero3 silver can be picked up for substantially less, would that be any good for this purpose?
 
They're ok, but not great.

If it's just for one trip you could consider renting or buying a used setup then selling for very little loss when you get back.

A massively important concern though are your diving abilities. Shooting underwater you can very easily lose concentration on your dive - never a good idea! You really need to be virtually diving on auto pilot to use a camera well and safely underwater.

If you want some specific camera / housing suggestions give us an idea of your budget along with where you will be diving.

Mike.
 
Ok, this will be my second time scooba diving, going to take the open water PADI while on the holiday. I have however gone snorkling/freediving many times before and am very comfortable in the water. Do you think that bringing a camera underwater might be a bad idea?

I will be diving in Borneo (Malaysian part), Thailand and Vietnam and will mostly be in shallow water. My budget is a bit unclear. To be honest its: as little as I can get away with while getting acceptable pics. This is just for personal use and as long as the pics aren´t a blue haze i´ll be very happy.

Btw Mike, thank you for taking the time to help :)

Einar
 
I'm going to have to be blunt I'm afraid. Taking a camera down at this stage is likely to be a distraction you could do without.

If it's going to be a fairly dive intensive trip then maybe towards the latter part you could take some shots as your skills improve, but the number one rule (apart from staying alive!) is getting as close to your subject as you can, which isn't as easy as it sounds without causing damage.

Where you are going your likely to encounter plenty of subjects such as turtles which tend to respond well to free-divers, maybe this might produce the better shots?

Mike
 
einaroh said:
Ok, this will be my second time scooba diving, going to take the open water PADI while on the holiday. I have however gone snorkling/freediving many times before and am very comfortable in the water. Do you think that bringing a camera underwater might be a bad idea?

I will be diving in Borneo (Malaysian part), Thailand and Vietnam and will mostly be in shallow water. My budget is a bit unclear. To be honest its: as little as I can get away with while getting acceptable pics. This is just for personal use and as long as the pics aren´t a blue haze i´ll be very happy.

Btw Mike, thank you for taking the time to help :)

Einar
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Personally I would get the qualifications first and get to at least advanced open water before even considering taking a camera down with you, you will have more than enough to concentrate on without worrying about the camera and using a camera in a housing and underwater is a totally different and not easy to get good results.
 
A massively important concern though are your diving abilities. Shooting underwater you can very easily lose concentration on your dive - never a good idea! You really need to be virtually diving on auto pilot to use a camera well and safely underwater.
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I know that sounds alarmist, but I had the unfortunate experience of watching a very serious accident as a result of a camera operator losing awareness on a very easy dive
 
boyfalldown said:
I know that sounds alarmist, but I had the unfortunate experience of watching a very serious accident as a result of a camera operator losing awareness on a very easy dive
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Having seen a few rapid accents and the results, fortunately not fatal, I wouldn't wish it on anyone. To the op, please become a competent diver first and get plenty of dives logged before thinking about underwater photography with scuba gear.
 
wow ok didn´t know this could be this serious!

I´ll learn how to dive properly before I start thinking about taking my camera gear under water.

Thanks guys! :)
 
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