My housing history

Pete Atkinson · Issue 113, Mar/Apr 2020 · pp. 50–53

Products mentioned: Kodak Instamatic, Nikonos II, Fujica ST801, Canon FTB, Ikelite housing, Canon F1n, Speedfinder, Nikon F4, Nikon F90, Nikon SB-24 flashgun, Nikonos RS, Nikonos 15mm lens, RS 13mm fisheye lens, Subeye Reflex camera, Tensol 70 glue

My effervescent enthusiasm for Jacques Cousteau inspired me to build my first underwater housing in 1974 for a Kodak Instamatic camera. I was 16 years old. It had novel features. The back was held on with 14 brass wing-nuts on an expanded polyethylene gasket. It only leaked a bit! The front was also a flat plate, but the four sides were made from a single stip, bent into a square with a hot air gun. My Dad was a polymer physicist and had access to such things. This strip was held together with 4BA machine screws and epoxy and the front was attached in the same manner. The shutter release was triggered by a metal rod, pushed through a piece of vacuum tubing, in turn pushed through a larger hole in the housing. You had to push up on the release to depress the shutter. The film advance was a silicone pad which was pressed down and rotated. I was young, short of cash and to my great regret I…