Review: Hugyfot HFN D70 Underwater Housing

The Hugyfot HFN D70 is an aluminum underwater housing for the Nikon D70 and D70s digital SLRs.

It is designed using CAD/CAM and precision fabricated using Computer Numerical Control (CNC), resulting in an extremely beautiful housing.

The weight is 1950 grams (without camera) which is not exceptional for this type of housing. Depending on the lens and port used, this may result in a slightly negative or positive buoyancy under water.

Apart from the bracketing and shooting mode buttons, all D70 functions can be controlled. Additionally there is a dial that can control zoom lenses when they are equipped with a special adapter ring. The housing has three windows, two on top for the control panel and mode dial, one at the back for the LCD monitor.

A leak detector is present on the inside. It will issue a warning using a red LED and audible signal when moisture is detected on the bottom of the housing.

One handle comes standard on the left side, a second one can be added optionally on the right side. The handle is, like the housing itself, equipped with a ball connection for attaching an arm. Besides these balls, no screw holes or connection points are present for attaching more accessories.

One connector for an external strobe is present, which can be fitted with a Nikonos Sync or other type as desired.

Using the housing

The claimed attention for the exterior design of Hugyfot HFN D70 proves itself under water: even using one hand it handles and operates excellently. But becasue of the design, Allen type bolts instead of quick clasps have been chosen. These make opening and closing awkward and hinders visual verification of whether the housing is sealed sufficiently.

The shutter-release is placed on the side of the housing and can be operated using multiple fingers. It is very precise so that the amount of pressure required for a half or full press comes as a second nature.

The model we tested had an issue with the inside shutter lever's position, making it slide over the camera shutter-release button instead of pressing it. After some bending was applied this problem did not occur any more.

The housing's dials for mode and main command are quite large and directly coupled, giving excellent control over these functions without having to press the dial down first. In comparison, the sub-command dial is much smaller and geared and needs much turning before the camera changes a setting.

In the end, the housing took little time to get familiar with and we worked around some of the issues. After a few dives we could handle it and the D70 inside without even looking, leaving plenty of time to concentrate on getting the best compositions.

Conclusion

The Hugyfot HFN D70 is an beautifully designed underwater housing with excellent handling characteristics. This design also brings along issues with some of the controls and limits the attachment of accessories.

The personal demands of the user will determine whether these are real problems or only minor annoyances of a housing costing 2100 euro.

More information

• Hugyfot website
• Hugyfot D70 Delrin
• Nikon D70(s) underwater housing overview

Add to:     Del.ico.us     Digg     Reddit     StumbleUpon