Underwater Housing used for a Sound Blimp?

<p>I'm in sticker shock over sound blimp prices and even rental prices for that matter. I know its a small market for professional use, but.... If I were going to spend that kind of money on a blimp, could I just spend it on an underwater housing and get the best of both worlds? Anyone with an underwater housing on a D700 use it for a blimp? How much does it attenuate the noise? As far as I can tell sound blimps really don't leave you with a lot of camera control, but underwater housing seem to offer more access to camera controls.</p>

 

<p>Stephen, if you're handy and don't mind an ugly DIY job, it's not rocket science to build your own starting with a Pelican case and some high density foam. Done right, it should be more than quiet enough for church use. <br>

[<a href="https://www.google.ca/search?q=DIY+sound+blimp&um=1&hl=en&source=lnms&ei=f6_ST8amE8n20gHk4K2sAw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=1&ved=0CA4Q_AUoAA&biw=1440&bih=770">Link</a>]</p>

 

<p>Why do you need a sound blimp?</p>

<p>He likely has a noisy Nikon, and needs to use it in a very <a href="../nikon-camera-forum/00aU0y">quiet environment</a>. For that you need a sound blimp. Quiet Mode doesn't cut it.</p>

<p>I did see the DIY cases and might end up doing something like that, but an underwater housing would get 2x bang for the buck - I don't need an underwater housing, but it sure would be fun to play with. ;-) Realistically though I will probably end up using my D7000 next time or renting a blimp.</p>

<p>@craig... I'm shooting shooting a full classical orchestra and although they have asked me to be there during rehearsal, my D700 is too distracting and has no quiet mode especially when I'm backstage which seems to direct the shutter sound at the conductor who is listening carefully to get the music right.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>FWIW, my Ikelite reduces the shutter of my D7000 by maybe 2/3rd (rough estimate)... not sure if that is quiet enough. More expensive housing may do more. You can probably rent those, too. As for 'playing round', a D700 with any lens underwater takes some getting used to!</p>

<p>BTW, did a quick search - Aqua Tec's blimp are around $1400 for a body/lens com0, you'll spend much more for an underwater housing with lens ports, and some lenses may not even fit!</p>

<p>The OP has another thread that he had started just minutes earlier. He shoots orachestra rehearsals: <a href="00aU0y">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00aU0y</a></p>

<p>The D700 (2008) is the last higher-end Nikon DSLR that does not have a quiet mode. After the D700, the D300S (2008), D3S, D7000, D4 and D800 all have the quiet mode. When I tested the D3 back in early 2008, I was capturing a wedding from a church balcony that was very far back (I was so far away that I set up the 200-400mm/f4 zoom, something not often used in weddings), and my shooting partner downstairs close to the altar could hear every shot I made; he even commented that my timing was good. I was surprised how loud the D3 was. With the quiet mode, the subsequent D3S (2008) is far better.</p>

<p>Before you spend a lot of money, you might try wrapping the camera in a camera wrap. We used to have to shoot in the courtroom with our very big and heavy sound blimp. One time it was being used by another photographer, so I used a camera wrap and it killed 90% of the sound. I used it several times after that without any problems or complaints. I used my 80-200 lens front to cut a hole in the wrap , and used the velcro to wrap it around my hand and camera. Very little noise escaped. You could cut the end off of this http://seamlessphoto.com/camera-wrap-2.html and it might word as well. Much cheaper than a blimp. <br /></p>

<p>mm for the same amount of money, or even less, you could also have a look at a high quality mirrorless camera like the Fuji X1 pro , near silent and very high IQ ..</p>

<p> And if you want to keep using your nikon lense, thn there is an adapter for either Nikon, or Leica M mount lenses..</p>

<p>I guess I should have just combined both threads into one. Next time...</p>

<p>Thank you all for the advice. Live view is still giving me shutter noise on my D7000, but I'm still going to go for my D7000 next time and use quite mode as it does a very effective job of removing the click. I'll also try the camera wrap on the D700 as thats dirt cheap.</p>

<p>The cheap Ikelite UW housings seem to be in the same price range as a blimp, but I bet I'll end up with a housing that doesn't quite meet my primary need of sound.</p>

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<p>Stephen, you can probably get an idea of how effective that Ikelite UW housing will be by simply operating the D700 in an empty Pelican-type case. Similarly, try wrapping the camera in a couple of layers of bath towels to simulate the camera wrap. <br>

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It will point you to the right solution if the experiment proves effective. </p>