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S.U.P.E.R. Part 4: Nauticam NA-D7100 housing for the Nikon D7100 DSLR camera
In our ongoing series S.U.P.E.R. (Scubaverse’s Underwater Photography Equipment Reviews), Nick and Caroline Robertson Brown from Frogfish Photography will be reviewing new underwater photography equipment, general diving equipment, and some older favourites too.
For the fourth instalment of S.U.P.E.R., Nick and Caroline will be looking at Nauticam’s NA-D7100 housing for the Nikon D7100 DSLR camera.
Change is difficult! I have been using the same underwater camera & housing for the last 5 or more years, and the thought of upgrading left me feeling panicked at both the idea of having to learn a new system and being hauled out of my comfort zone, and of course, the cost. But it was time for my existing system to be retired, and I leapt forward and ordered in a brand new Nauticam housing for a Nikon D7100. I have taken the system underwater now on 17 dives in the Maldives, plus a quick pool session before we left. What are my initial thoughts?
Firstly, I was delighted that Nauticam offer a system that allows you to use your existing (non-Nauticam) ports, so I did not have to go and spend close to £1000 on a new large glass dome port. I could keep the existing one, and simply buy an adapter to continue using it with my new housing. Many underwater photographers never change housing systems simply because of this restriction and so it is refreshing to have this option now, and know I will have a great choice of ports when I choose to upgrade these at a later date.
When I first pulled the housing out of the box, I had to smile, as it is a thing of beauty. It has a shiny black aluminium body, with solid, knobbed dials that are easy to use even with thick gloves on. It looks and feels solid and, as such, has a depth rating of 100m.
Putting this housing in the water for the first time was a bit daunting! Not because I was worried about the new system leaking (more about this later), but because the housing has been designed so well, that every single button, menu and lever can be accessed with the camera in the housing, and I was now going to have to think about all of this. No excuses for any poor images! However, I was delighted to find that it was easy to find everything, intuitive to use and I only stumbled on a couple of occasions. Once when I accidentally put the lens into manual focus, and took a while to realize that this was what I had done, and on another occasion being unable to remember where the video button was located whilst sat in the dark on a night dive that was only the 3rd dive I’d had the camera in my hands.
At first, before I had even put the camera in the water, I had difficulty reaching the aperture control wheel and shutter button at the same time, whilst still keeping hold of the housing handle. One mention of this to Nauticam UK, and a new handle arrived the next day that was positioned better for me, and the issue was resolved. Now that is what I call customer service.
I love that I have 4 ball mounts where I can attach strobes, lights or my GoPro. I also love the rope lanyard that makes it easy for dive guides to understand where to grab and lift the camera out of the water, rather than holding a strobe arm or worse. I also went for a 45 degree view finder – that again takes a bit of getting used to, but is well worth it, with excellent optics to see your images and it allows you to get close down to the reef to take your shots. One small downside of this viewfinder is that it does make reviewing images and shooting video a little harder, as it slightly obscures the back screen. Nauticam have thought of this already, and do offer an additional housing to be able to mount a monitor that gives those wanting to use this camera for video, a great option for smoother well composed films.
Another highlight of my new Nauticam housing is the vacuum leak detector. This allows me to check the integrity of my seals before I get in the water. A coloured light system on the back of the housing tells me if the housing is waterproof, without having to put it in water to check, or find out the hard way! Another new feature for me is the ability to use fibre optic, without the camera flash being popped up. Instead, a flash trigger is attached to the camera hot-shoe and this in turn fires your strobes via fibre-optic cable. This means that you have far less delay in recycling time on your strobe firing, improving battering life, and you can keep up with all the action going on underwater.
There are so many great features of my new Nauticam housing, it is too much for a short review to cover. But you can know that I am very happy with my new system, which should last me a very long time. So far I have only shot wide angle, and so have lots more testing and getting in tune with this setup. I am already looking forward to my next dives with it. More good news – should I choose to upgrade to the next camera model up – the Nikon D7200, it will fit in this Nauticam housing too.
Discuss this review in the Scubaverse Forum.
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Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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