@Daniel :
This is not a direct answer of your question, maybe it help you or other before you decided to buy an underwater housing for DSLR Camera.
For my DSLR cameras I used a Seacam Housing and Seacam accessories, all Seacam Housing are build from the ground up.
The housing is a standard used by many of the pros because of it's reliability and superior ergonomics,
Seacam Housing allow you to use only one camera model for one Seacam housing.
Before you buy and use a Seacam or Subal underwater housing with the accessories for your Nikon D3, please ask your self :
-if you have enough diving experience with a minimum of 60 dived, because good buoyancy is "a must" for an underwater photographer
-if you can buy a Nikon D3, do you have the budget for the Seacam or Subal underwater housing for your Nikon D3
-how will you start your first underwater photography, with a macro lens or a wide angle lens, this is important to know because you have to decide to buy
one strobe (my last Seacam strobe is very expensive, 1.800 Euro each with 250 watt of power) for macro photography or two strobes for wide angle photography
and the use of flash arm system.
-How will you connect your flash cable to the housing ?
+ Using the the conventional Nikonos V type plug or
+ Using the S6 flash socket (expensive)
-for each of lens you are using, you need a lens port/dome port.
-will you use a non interchangeable standard viewfinder or
-an interchangeable viewfinder :
+ Swivelling 45º sports viewfinder (~ 1300 Euro) or
+ Sports viewfinder S180
Small Accessories
I used a lot of small accessories, I will not count it here, but this is a "must have" for me :
-T-Carrier systems, it is a foldable grip and can be mounted at the top thread of the housing (expensive 120 euro)
-Safety lock for the flash button
-Point & Shoot arm system
For freehanded flashing , it is an easy-to-operate point shooting grip.
-Emergency system for my underwater housing (flooding alarm) and a simple rescue system to bring my housing slowly to the surface without me.
otherwise you lose your expensive equiptment in the bottom of the sea.
I had 3 dive accident, 2 times the boat people forgot to pick up me and my wife, we have to swim 2 hour in strong current to the next island with the Seacam
housing and one accident in 50 meter during a wrack diving, I stayed to long on the wrack bottom and made pictures nearly without air and can not reach the
deco tank in 12 meter, instead to rescue my self, I chooice to rescue my Seacam housing first,
The next part is out of topic!
I dived since 11 years and since 7 years I dived with my wife as an underwater photographer.
The first 3 years experience as an UW photographer it was very frustrating, my picture was far from OK, it is very disappointing, at that time I never show
my underwater pictures. Now I show my underwater pictures in the office and hang around 30 frames in the wall and change it every 6 months, mostly in macro.
I start my UWP with Minolta Dynax 9Xi, Fuji FinePix S2 Pro and the last camera is a Nikon D200, all with Seacam housing and Seacam accessories.
Compare to the analog camera in the past, life time of a DSLR is very short, what happen with your undewater housing if you accidently flood your Nikon D3
after 2 or 3 year of diving with it ?
My solution was to buy a second Dynac 9xi or FinePic S2 and D200 one year after I bought the underwater housing, so right now I have always 2 cameras for
each underwater housing.
My wife start with Nikonos V and one year later with Nikonos RS, since year 2007 she use my old Fuji FinePix S2Pro with the Seacam housing.
We are not a professional Photographer, we use the equipments as a hobby and dived mostly in Indonesian, because I was born in Indonesian and I live sind 34
years in Austria, the last 2 year we add the Red Sea as our dive destination.
Compare to dive destination in Indonesian :
- The flight from Austria to Egypt ist shorter (4 hour flight) and cheaper,
- diving in the Red Sea are cheaper,
- dive boats and dive personal in Egypt are excellent
- they have always an oxygen bottle for decompresion emergency.
- The airline allow you to bring 30 Kg of lugage per person
The weight of my underwater gear without diving equipment is around 35-37 Kg + 40 Kg of diving equiptment (for me, my wife and the 2 children), 6-8 KG rescue
system, so at least we carry around 120-130 Kg of lugage. After 9/11 it is difficult to carry the underwater photo gear as a handbag, last year we have to
pay 20 KG for overweight, it is alot of money.
Depend on the camera I use, I spent around 8.000-10.000 Euro for each system inkluding accessories.
I'm a satisfied Seacam User and I'm not affliated with this company, if you need more information about Seacam product:
Seacam distributor in Singapore :
-ScubaCam Pte Ltd, 89 Short Street, #01-09 Golden Wall Centre, Singapore 188216
http://www.scubacam.com.sg/
-Seacam USA
http://www.seacamusa.com/products.shtml
Price lists are in Euro
http://www.seacamusa.com/seacam-prices-nikon.shtml
-Seacam Austria
http://www.seacam.com/
Ask Seacam owner Mr Hordosch junior per email, when the Seacam housing for Nikon D3 will be available.
The website is not actual.
Happy diving and greating from Vienna, Austria
Subagio Rasidi Kusrini (etoy)