Aluminium Under Water Housings

I sat on the fence between the Aquatica and the Nauticam before picking the latter.  I already had ports for a 20D that I could have repurposed with the Aquatica, and the price was good in the spring (2700, then 28xx).  And now that Nauticam jacked their prices 15%, putting their housing at 4700, I wouldn't have gone to it.

Backscatter and Bluewater both felt the Nauticam was better designed, particularly with the port options.  Aquatica was also 'coming soon' for quite a while.   It does seem a bit awkward that you need a port extension for the EF adapter as well as a second one to match to the lens, rather than using one.   In theory there is better resale for the Nauticam parts, though in practice I wonder how true that is for anything used anymore.

However, should you decide to go with Aquatica, I could offer you a great deal on the 8-15 zoom gear, the 21.5 port extension, and a 6" acrylic dome, all never used.

I have no personal experience with the Isotta.  Love the red finish.  It will stand out in a crowded camera table.

Architeuthis wrote:

I like Nauticam housings. Used NA-EM5II before and now I use NA-EM1II. never had a problem with one of the housings. I see as a big advantage that Nauticam has the greatest offer of (dome)ports/extensions/wetoptics of all companies. Also third parties (e.g. Zen) offer ports...

I am a fan.   but I don't think I see enough value add to warrant 50% more for the housing.   The extra $1500 gets you a decent 210-230mm dome, and almost enough to pay for glass if you want to carry the weight.

Even before the $700 bump this month, I was in a bit of sticker shock, anchored to the 1900 I paid for the NA-GH4 housing in 2015.   (Though in truth, the jump happened soon after with the GH5 at 3900. so there's only minimal savings with the 4/3 sized cameras)

Will be interesting to see if they can maintain that price premium, or if the other higher end makes can gain.   Still seeing a lot of ikelites on the boats as well, but personally would rather stick to metal.

I just recently purchased an Isotta housing for my Nikon and it seems very well done and can't beat the Ferrari red   Not enough experience to provide a proper review but I will add that my friend has one for few years and loves it.

Nauticam is so terribly expensive, they just bumped their price for my camera by $850. Ports and everything else you will need are also so expensive.

Good luck!