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Usefulness of pistol grip for underwater housing

Started Feb 14, 2018 | Questions thread
Miguel_A81 Junior Member • Posts: 44
Re: Usefulness of pistol grip for underwater housing

Barmaglot_07 wrote:

Miguel_A81 wrote:

Hello! I'm late to this party and I'm also a complete newbie to underwater photography.

What about an Aquatech housing for example, that only has a handle on one side and no option to add another on the other side. Is one handle still better than a pistol grip underwater?

Aquatech housings are made for surf photography, not diving - they're rated to a depth of only 10 meters. The pistol grip is useful for holding the camera up above the water, and the side handle is for extra stability while waves are tossing you around - neither of these things apply to dive photography. Conversely, when you're diving, you often need to get your rig down to the bottom to shoot small critters, or just to obtain an upward-looking perspective, and that's where a pistol grip sticking out of the bottom of your housing will get in the way. You are also likely to carry big lights or strobes, which you rarely need above water, and you need to distance them from the lens to reduce backscatter - tray handles provide attachment points for strobe arms and they help you stabilize the large and bulky rig.

Wow! I thought I had read all about the housings but how wrong I was. I didn't notice that aquatech housing are only rated for a depth of only 10m. Thanks for the heads up!

I think i'll go with ikelite instead.

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