Wow, a new iPhone 3G and now a new Nikon d300 and Subal ND30 housing all within a few days!  I’m exhausted -- trying to figure all this out but I did get a chance to snap a few photos of my new Subal underwater housing for the Nikon d300 digital SLR.

Frankly, yes it is neat to get “new stuff”, but I’d really rather be diving!  Still all this organizing time is good and will pay off for the rest of this year.

My former, well-taken-care-of and beloved Subal ND20 for the Nikon d200 is now being listed as used at ReefPhoto and Video - contact Ryan Canon if you are interested.  Also I must say that Ryan serviced me very well as I always feel that ReefPhoto and Video really try to go that “extra mile” for the customer.

Now for those of you who know me I don’t really upgrade to the “latest and greatest” often.  I usually economize and like to take care of my equipment and get the full mileage out of whatever I own.  I loved my Nikon d200 and Subal ND20 housing, but I really believe that the particular enhancements that were introduced in the Nikon d300 will make quite a difference in my manatee photography.  That is what I got it for.  If I just dove and shot mostly macro or wide angle in clear water and good light I wouldn’t have made the upgrade investment.  But as anyone who has done manatees knows the visibility is highly variable at best and the challenges of photographing before the sun has risen are significant.  Plus I’ve heard the color rendition of the Nikon d300 is like the Nikon D2X (which I loved when I saw others using it).  Also the Subal ND30 housing for the Nikon d300 has access some things that I’m anxious to use more this year.  With the Subal ND20 housing for the Nikon d200, Subal neglected to add a lever for access to flash compensation and ability to change from front-curtain sync to rear curtain underwater.  The Subal ND30 for the Nikon d300 fixes that oversight as you can see below.  Of course others have written a lot better reviews on the Subal ND30 than I particularly this review By Martin Edge on Wetpixel

But just wanted to state I’m now on the bandwagon too.  Yes I’ll get some handles attached to this housing when I can access some top screws and remove a metal piece so I can place the handles closer to the housing.  My last Subal didn’t have what I think are metric allen screws up top - but this one does as I almost stripped them with the allen wrenches I have.  Unfortunately Subal didn’t include an allen key so I’ll go to Home Depot tomorrow and see if they have metric (The US is just so behind you know!! :-0...)!!!

Anyway here are photos (shot while sleep deprived, but happy :-)....)

Subal ND30 - On/Off Has Been Changed and Slanted Forward

Don’t Know If That Will Be Good For My Small Hands Or Not

Notice Lever Now To Access Flash Modes And Modified Lens Release

Back of Subal ND30 for Nikon d300 Includes The Subal GS Magnifying Viewfinder (Awesome!) From My Former D200 Housing

And The Larger LCD Plus Some D300 Changes

But One Change Of Dropping One Of The Auto Focus Modes By Nikon Is Not Good For Underwater Photography - But The Benefits Of The D300 I Believe Outweigh That One Detriment