Canon 7D, Aquatica A7D and Fibre Optics

Glenn Lawyer · Issue 53, Mar/Apr 2010 · pp. 26–29

Products mentioned: Canon 7D, Aquatica A7D housing, Inon strobes, Canon 100mm macro lens, Tokina 10-17mm lens, Canon EOS 20D

Gear lust. The enemy of dive budgets everywhere. A new dSLR and housing easily cost more than an exotic dive vacation. But double the AF, double the ISO, double the frame rate, double the processors, double the rear display, and OMG video! I didn’t need the dpreview.com review. Even my amateur hands could tell that Canon’s 7D is a formidable beast. A new camera means a new housing. The choice is now more than brand (Aquatica, see Bruce Yate’s review in UWP 49 to know why). The new question is electric or optical strobe control. Optical cords are lighter yet more rugged, don’t flood, easier to connect, and support TTL. On the other hand, “better the devil we know.” Optics rely on the camera’s pop-up flash, which heats the housing and drains the battery. Low batteries mean slow recycle times. Plus, TTL is for lazy photographers. Real pros prefer TTB (through the brain). Right? It was a pro…