Switching to SEACAM… In late 2023 an incredible combination of circumstances came into alignment for me. And I was offered a formal association with the Austrian underwater photography equipment company SEACAM. I could not quite believe it at the time and sometimes still can’t!

I have always considered Seacam as the Rolls-Royce of the underwater photography world. But never ever imagined I would be associated with the company. But sure enough in February 2024 I travelled all the way from Sydney to Voitsberg in Austria. To receive the equipment I had requested, plus three days of technical training on it all.

It really was quite an experience, so much so that I decided that I would try and document my journey with SEACAM. And this article is all about my first impressions. But first, let me explain how I got to this point.

Switching to SEACAM – How I Got to Here…

Scuba diving and underwater photography have been a passion of mine for a very long time. I first learned to dive back in 1978. And bought my first underwater camera, a Nikonos III, in 1984.

A Nikonos IV and then a V followed. And while I would never be so bold to claim that I mastered underwater photography with film. I did get my first illustrated article published in 1989 with images taken with my Nikonos cameras.

I housed my first SLR (Nikon F801) in a Subal housing in 1994. And used Subal for the next 17 years as I progressed through the first DSLR’s and finally to a D700. I would probably have stayed with Subal had I been able to get the housing for the D800 I was upgrading to.

But I couldn’t and timing forced me to switch to Nauticam for the D800 in 2012. Since then, I have had several Nauticam housings up to and including the NA-D850.

Overall, I was happy enough with Nauticam at the housing level. And appreciated the improvements they had made with their haptics over the years. Although I was less enamored with the price increases…

What really impressed though were the developments Nauticam made with their water-contact optics. And I was using the WACP-1, WACP-C plus the EMWL system with 160° and 100° lenses with my NA-D850.

Nikon Z8

 The opportunity to switch to SEACAM made me decide to go mirrorless underwater. As it did not really make sense to switch housings but stay with the D850 – as good a camera as it is…

I have been using the Nikon Z (Z6 and Z7) cameras and lenses with my landscape photography for a few years and really liked them. Particularly so the optical quality of the 2.8 S zooms which are stellar performers! I didn’t think they were ready for prime time underwater though as the autofocus was a bit lacking. But the Z8 changed the calculus, and it seemed a “no-brainer” to buy one and house it in a new SEACAM housing.

So, when I left for Voitsberg in February in my bag was a new Nikon Z8 and FTZii adaptor. Together with my Z14-24mm, Z14-30mm and F8-15mm zooms plus my F60mm and F105mm macro lenses. This would be my core SEACAM kit going forward.

Understanding SEACAM

Before I quit full-time work at the end of 2019 (just in time for the pandemic…) to concentrate on underwater photography and photojournalism, I had worked for a US based technology company for 25 years. And before that in the oil and gas industry – mainly in the Middle East.

The point being that I have been exposed to and part of high-end, advanced technology manufacturing and utilization for many years. My favorite part of all that was always the factory visits. And the chance to ask about how new technology had been conceptualized, developed, tested, and deployed with the people who had done it.

One thing always came over to me with those encounters. An incredible passion and commitment to develop a vision and make it happen. So, I was really looking forward to visiting SEACAM and understanding how they do what they do.

Understanding Harald…

Harald Hordosch is the founder and CEO of SEACAM. And while our initial ZOOM meeting went well, I was quite nervous about meeting him in person. And wondered how the three days with him would actually go…

Basically, what I saw while I was in Voitsberg was the same passion and commitment I had experienced in those many other factory visits in my previous life(s)!

Ideas are, in my experience, wonderful but delicate things. We all have them and we have all experienced the burst of intense excitement that accompanies a new idea or concept. 

The devil of course is in the detail. Because it’s one thing to have an idea but something else altogether to make it happen! Even if you can make it happen once, how do you repeat it and how do you make it all sustainable?

That’s the hard stuff and it comes on top of building the brand, finding the right staff, making sure the engineering and manufacturing are on track. And, of course making the sales numbers so the business is financially viable!

The #1 thing I learned in those three days in Voitsberg is that the key to understanding SEACAM is understanding Harald Hordosch!

Switching to SEACAM – Attention to Detail

Underwater photography is not the easiest of pursuits. It is equipment intensive, expensive and, stating the obvious, you can only do it when you are underwater. Which means that you are totally reliant on the prevailing conditions. But… it’s incredibly rewarding when it comes together. Whether that’s when a nudibranch finally gets in the right position. Or when a Blue Whale approaches for a closer look! Those are the moments you have been on this frustrating journey for. And you have but a fleeting moment in time to capture it.

My definition of successful underwater photography is being in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment configuration and knowing how to use it!

This is, in my opinion, the underlying ethos behind SEACAM. And it is Harald Hordosch’s attention to detail that makes it all happen. That penny dropped for me when he demonstrated the way the incredible functionality of the Nikon Z8 could be accessed, and changed quickly, because of the way the controls on the housing are configured.

It sounds simple, but once I understood the underlying rationale, the difference between the SEACAM equipment and everything I have ever used before became clear. And, once understood, it really is a big deal because it’s the difference between good and great – in my opinion… And right now it’s just that, an opinion, because I have not used any of my new SEACAM stuff underwater. That will come soon as I will be in the Solomon Islands on a four-week long assignment from mid April.

Switching to SEACAM – The Detail about the Details…

My previous careers and my current pursuit of success in underwater photography have all taught me that details really do matter. Not all the time of course, but when that time comes it’s the details that make the difference.

In underwater photography, that can be boiled down into two basic components. Will the equipment work when you need it to (reliability) and can you adjust it quickly when you have to (haptics). 

Of the two, reliability is by far the most important because great haptics cease to matter if the overall system is not reliable.

Perhaps the best example of the drive for reliability on all SEACAM housings is the S6 wired strobe connection. Which, I must admit, had previously been a source of some mystery to me.

Connecting a strobe to a housing, and therefore through a cable to the hot shoe and the camera, is simulateously both the best way to make that connection and the weakest link.

It’s the best way because the direct connection enables the really great stuff like High-Speed Sync (HSS) and also TTL exposure (when it’s needed).

But it’s the weakest link because the industry-standard wired connection is the Nikonos five-pin strobe cable. That connector was originally designed by Nikon in the 1960’s to allow strobes to be used with the Nikonos II and III cameras.

The first version of the strobe cable came in a three-pin configuration. As manual exposure was the only option and three connections between the strobe and the camera were all that were required.

The advent of TTL exposure in 1984, with the release of the Nikonos V, required a five-pin configuration for the Through The Lens metering to function. That five-pin cable configuration is what became the industry standard…

The Nikonos connector uses a single O-ring to seal radially and keep seawater out.

But, because most housings have vertically orientated bulkhead fittings, it’s easy for droplets of residual seawater to fall into the bulkhead recess when removing the cable. 

That will typically initiate corrosion on the spring-loaded connector pins and will ultimately require the bulkhead to be replaced. And, in all probability the failure will occur at worst possible time…

I learned the hard way many years ago to dry the connection as best as possible. And then invert the housing before removing a cable and carefully check for any droplets in the recess and on the cable connector.

Plus, I always travel with a spare bulkhead fitting and strobe cable just in case.

SEACAM on the other hand use their S6 connector which has an extra pin for increased reliability. Plus, two O-rings to seal radially and a third to seal axially.

Furthermore, SEACAM housings have bulkhead fittings horizontally orientated on the side of the housing, so they are less prone to water droplets.

Overall, it’s a much better design than the Nikonos five-pin one. It’s probably not 100% bulletproof, very few things are underwater, but it’s inherently much more reliable.

Switching to SEACAM – What Next?

Switching to SEACAM and being formally associated with the company is a huge honour for me. They are the premium underwater photography equipment brand and their Ambassadors are some of the most talented and inspiring people in the business!

Visiting Voitsberg and learning how the equipment is designed was (for a tech-head like me…) truly incredible. The details, committment and passion that makes it all happen was amazing to see. And on the long journey back to Sydney I realized just how lucky I have been. Because not only was I given a complete set of equipment (everything I asked for and a bit more for good luck…) but I had three days with Harald and his team learning how it all works.

Few people can say that and I decided that I really should document it all. Not because Harald Hordosch asked me to – he didn’t… But because if you are like me and want to move from being a good underwater photographer to a great one then you need to know more about SEACAM. 

I got all my stuff back to Sydney OK. And then spent the next three days putting it all together and understanding how it works. Then I left for a family related committment up in Bali and left it all behind. I’ll be back in April and off to the Solomon Islands on that month-long assignment where I will use my SEACAM equipment for the first time. I will be documenting that experience as I go up the learning curve!