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The long awaited Subal housing for the Nikon D200 has arrived. The Nikon D200 was keenly anticipated by many underwater photographers and Ocean Optics had provisional orders for the new housing even before the camera itself had been shown publicly. Indeed, by the time our show housing arrived, we had more than 20 firm orders for the Subal ND20 . The waiting list numbers many professional shooters including Martin Edge, Mark Webster and Paul Naylor. The D200 has also won the attention of some very serious photographers who had continued to shoot on film, feeling that digital SLR’s had not yet come of age. With the D200 creating so much attention, and Subal’s reputation preceding the ND20, it is hardly surprising that if you would like a Subal for your camera, you’ll need to get on to the waiting list. They are unlikely to be off the shelf for some time yet!
The housing itself more than lives up to expectations. Arnold Stepanek has created a new housing that embodies the fine designs and quality workmanship long associated with the brand. The housing is carved from a solid billet of aluminium, combining great strength with light weight – about 2kg. It’s easy to travel with and safe, officially, to 70 metres. Subal’s are renowned for being hard wearing and the tough finish will ensure a long working life even when used professionally under the harshest conditions.
Subal ND20 for Nikon D200
The ND20 offers more than 25 controls to let you take full advantage of the D200’s creative capabilities. The oversized paddle type shutter release ensures a smooth action to minimise camera shake at low shutter speeds or when shooting high magnification macro. Sub and main command dials are placed for easy operation with your thumb and index finger. There’s also a thumb action lever for auto-focus and exposure lock. On, off and light are available to you along with exposure mode and exposure compensation. Metering pattern is selectable and you can operate focus area select and focus mode via push buttons and a switch on the back. A line of buttons let’s you access enter, image lock, view, menu and monitor. Bracket and delete are provided. You can white balance (essential with Magic filters), set quality and alter ISO underwater. A zoom/manual focus control is placed on your left. This has a de clutching mechanism to protect the auto-focus system when focusing by eye. A switch lets you choose manual, servo or continuous focus modes.
The ND20 uses non-slip handles to make your housing comfortable to use over long periods, such as when waiting out a shy subject. The right hand grip uses a strap. This sits across the back of your hand, allowing you to relax your fingers without losing the housing! This is a small touch that makes a big difference when your hand is tired and cold and starting to cramp…
The D200 mounts onto a saddle and then slips easily and quickly into your housing. Because most controls either line up automatically or can be aligned once the camera is installed, loading your camera into the hull is very straightforward.
Subal’s established Quick Lock latches make opening and closing the hill fast and easy – but also secure. Each latch incorporates a safety mechanism to make it impossible to open accidentally. An optical leak detector is included.
The ND20 is available with two viewfinder options. The standard finder is an image reduction system, offered on most competitive D- SLR housings. This provides corner-to-corner viewing, but means your viewfinder will appear a little smaller than normal. The alternative GS finder is a genuine viewfinder enlarger, unavailable on most housing brands. This finder uses both lenses and prisms to provide an image around twice the size of that of the D200’s own viewfinder. This makes it very easy to read your viewfinder displays and to focus manually. And, let’s be honest, it makes composing the picture luxuriously easy
To prevent your mask and your chosen viewfinder scratching each other, the standard finder has a rubber buffer and the GS is equipped with a fold down rubber hood. Our diving shop, Mavericks, carries a large selection of low volume, black-skirted facemasks which are ideal for use with SLR housings.
The large monitor window is deeply recessed to protect it from scratches and to shield it from stray light that could mar your view of the image or menus.
The ND20 is well thought through for strobe photography. The housing is equipped with TTL circuits for use with dedicated D- TTL strobes (our recommendation for TTL is a housed Nikon Speed light). However most D – SLR photographers use manual strobes (we prefer Inon) and the D200 circuits can be switched to manual in seconds without tools, so the choice is always yours. Two Nikonos type connectors are standard, alongside two mounts for popular strobe arms. A mount is also provided on top of the housing for fitting a focusing light. Mavericks stocks a range of suitable small torches.
Subal offer a choice of dome and flat ports suited for lenses from full frame fisheye through to 200mm tele macros. These all feature glass optics. An extensive range of extension rings mean that with a little forward planning most photographers will never need more than two ports to accommodate any lens they are ever likely to need. Ports mount easily and securely via a two claw bayonet. A lens release is fitted, so you can switch lenses through the mount. This is a really practical feature that means you don’t have to remove your camera from the housing to change lenses between dives to shoot different subjects.
As stated earlier, the D200/Subal set has created tremendous demand among some very serious shooters and perhaps that’s the best endorsement.
DSLR