Underwater photography with the Nikon D80/Sea&Sea DX-D80

In 2002 I took up underwater photography with a digital compact camera. Since then, I extended and upgraded my collection of equipment and accessories and recently switched from the Nikon D70 and Fantasea underwater housing in favor of the Nikon D80 and Sea&Sea DX-D80 housing.

Main reason for the switch was that I found the 6 megapixels of the D70 becoming insufficient to retain a decent resolution after cropping an image. Of course, the D80 also implied finding a new housing, and for this I wanted a better control of the functions and buttons than the Fantasea provided. I decided to buy the Sea&Sea DX-D80.

The equipment

The Nikon D80 is a 10.2 megapixel digital SLR with a DX size (23.6x15.8mm) image sensor and a 2.5" LCD. All major functions are directly accessible through a button on the body. The D80 is more compact than the D70, but still a little bit bigger than competitors such as the Canon EOS 400D (Rebel XTi) and the Sony A-100.

The Sea&Sea DX-D80 underwater housing's front part is made of a corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy, whereas the rear case is made of polycarbonate. All essential functions of the camera can be controlled, including the Auto/Manual Focus switch.

It comes standard with two kinds of N-type strobe connectors: one 5-pin for attaching the optional Sea&Sea TTL-converter, and one 2-pin connector for manually controlled strobes. Both grips are equipped with shoes for attaching arms, and an additional shoe is positioned on top. A built-in leak sensor signals water in the housing by means of a red led light.

The DX-D80 can be fitted with Sea&Sea's NX-type ports. I use the NX Compact Macro Port Base/Wide Port L for the Nikkor 18-70DX kit lens, the same base with the Compact Macro Port S for the Nikkor 60mm Micro and the NX Fisheye Dome Port for the Sigma 15mm Fish-eye. To control the lenses, I additionally use a zoom ring for the kit lens and a focus ring for the 60mm Micro. Sea&Sea's extensive port and ring collection supports a wide variety of popular lenses.

For lighting I use the Sea&Sea YS-110DX and YS-90DX underwater strobes, complemented by the Fisheye HG20DX video lamp during night dives.

Experiences during preparation

The camera needs to be mounted on a quick shoe, making it easier to insert and lock it in the housing. This shoe is small and light, and can thus be left permanently on the camera if you want to shoot on the surface during a diving holiday.

Despite the shoe, some attention during loading is still required: the power switch, shooting mode dial and zoom/focus rings must be positioned correctly, which take some time to get the hang of. The mode-selector on the camera is a little difficult to see through the window, so this must also be aligned correctly with the housing's dial during assembly.

After everything has been put in place, the port can be locked, the strobe shoe connected and the back side of the housing can be attached. This is done through three locking latches that guarantee quick and solid attachments and prevent accidental opening.

After closing, some shortcomings of the leak sensor become apparent: it has no on/off switch, no test mode, and does not blink to indicate it is working. It is thus impossible to forget to switch it on, but you will also not know whether it is functioning properly (or you must find it reasonable to poor water in the housing each time before use).

A setup consisting of camera, kitlens, housing and port weighs just over 4,5 kilos, and that is without arms and strobes. Quite heavy, but this is to be expected with the territory of underwater SLRs. However, the two grips make it easy to carry and the two lanyard hooks allow attachment to your BCD.

Experiences under water

Once under water the set's buoyancy is slightly negative, and the housing is easily managed. The placement of most of the housing's controls matches the camera's, and many have small icons to signify their function. The control for the sub-command dial of the camera is positioned in such a way that it can be turned using only one finger without letting go of the grip. This is quite handy for controlling the aperture, which I tend to change the most during photographing. The buttons for metering selection and exposure compensation feature a "push and lock" mechanism: after pushing them in, they can be locked down by a slight turn, so you can turn the back dial to switch the settings.

The 0.66x pickup viewfinder on the housing and the window for the LCD display offer an excellent view under water. The window for the status display on top of the camera is not completely aligned, making it sometimes difficult to read. Activating the illumination of the display helps, so I activated the Illumination option in the menu and additionally use the LCD-illuminator on the power switch if required.

Taking shots is effortless: the shutter lever can be controlled by a gentle finger press. Even half-press feedback is clearly noticeable, so staged focusing/measuring and releasing is no problem.

The D80 itself is an excellent camera, and offers all functions and features an underwater photographer requires. The white balance setting via Kelvin color temperature/gray card and the RGB histogram functions are two improvements over the D70 that I found very beneficial for underwater use.

The features to control zoom and focus through the housing also have proved to be great. The zoom ring for the Nikkor 18-70mm allows me to vary between 18mm wide angle and 35-50mm close-ups/portrait under water. I rarely go up all the way to 70mm, only when trying to catch a glimpse of something big and rare in the distance (these results are usually only suitable as "proof", and will not be price winning shots). I use the 60mm Micro in combination with a focus ring: when the camera has difficulty to focus, e.g. dark conditions, hiding creatures, transparent jelly fish etc., I manually set focus at the appropriate distance and move the set and use the viewfinder to get everything in focus. The MF/AF switch on the camera can be operated, so changing between auto and manual focus with compatible lenses is no problem.

In the past I did use automatic exposure in combination with the Nikon SB-800 flash in an underwater housing for a while, but I never really liked the results that iTTL produced under water, and frequently found myself compensating various settings. That is why I only tend to shoot in the M-mode, using manual setting of shutter and aperture, and also manually set both Sea&Sea strobes.

Dual strobe lighting helps to reduce shadow casts, and also enable better and creative illumination for wide angles by aiming one strobe at the foreground and one at the back and regulate their power accordingly. Such a positioning of the strobes will make the slave function unreliable, so I use the Dual Sync Cord N.

A drawback of the D80 that I did encounter is the the flash synchronisation with fast shutter speeds: if I go below 1/200s, part of the photo will not be exposed to the strobes light (see example on the right). With the D70 I was able to go to 1/500s, due to its combination of electronic and mechanical shutter.

Conclusion

The Sea&Sea DX-D80 underwater housing is an excellent piece of work and offers all features that a (semi)professional underwater photographer may wish for. The only improvements I can imagine are the leak sensor and the positioning of the top windows.

Review by: Michael Heus

Add to:     Del.ico.us     Digg     Reddit     StumbleUpon