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The author would like to thank Nauticam for providing a T7 HD UltraBright Monitor for the purposes of this review.
 

Nauticam’s T7 monitor was bright enough to work just below the surface on a sunny day—with the backlight set to 5 out of 10
 

For years, Nauticam has been producing housings for monitor brands such as Atomos, SmallHD and RED, which have proven very popular with underwater videographers. In April 2025, though, Nauticam unveiled two additions to its lineup of underwater monitors during the Asia Dive Expo (ADEX) in Singapore: the T7 HD UltraBright (with HDMI 1.4 input) and the G7 HD UltraBright (with HDMI 1.4 and 2K SDI inputs). Interestingly, these were not housings for monitors purchased separately, but permanently enclosed monitors sold under Nauticam branding with a battery system re-engineered by Nauticam.

I had the opportunity to try a Nauticam T7 over a five-month period, a chance to write my thoughts about the pros and cons of monitors for underwater photography, and to review the T7, which is the purpose of this article.
 

The author, diving with a Nauticam T7 monitor mounted on his Nauticam housing for the Canon EOS R5 Mark II

Size and Weight

As the name suggests, the T7’s standout feature is its 7-inch display. I particularly enjoyed this extra-large display, which gave a great view of the scene even when holding my rig at arm’s length.

Despite offering this larger display, both the T7 and G7 are only 8.0in (204mm) wide and 5.9in (150mm) tall, making them more compact than Nauticam’s 5-inch monitor housings, such as their SmallHD Ultra 5 housing (9.4in/238mm x 5.9in/150mm) and their Atomos Ninja V-S housing (8.8in/223mm x 6.7in/169mm). This is because the controls are on the top of the housing rather than occupying the front.
 

Having controls located on the top of the monitor means the display occupies most of the fascia
 

Both the T7 and G7 monitors tip the scales (in air) at 5.5lbs (2.5kg), including the batteries and Nauticam’s ingenious swivel-and-tilt adjustable mount. This translates to –1.8lbs (–0.83kg) underwater.
 

The Nauticam Swivel Mount

Both monitors ship with a mount that lets you tilt and rotate the monitor in all directions and is easy to operate one-handed. In practice, I could keep my right hand on the housing handle, with my index finger operating the trigger, while adjusting the monitor’s angle with my left hand and keeping my eyes on the subject. I found this solution much more ergonomic than relying on a clamp, which would typically require both hands to reposition the monitor.
 

The mount allows rotating and tilting the monitor at almost any angle, with only the HDMI cable limiting the most extreme movements
 

Another advantage of Nauticam’s mount is that the monitor can remain upright above the housing for long periods, unlike a clamp, which may need retightening. This is great for long split-shot sessions

The only exception was when shooting macro with a snoot positioned directly above the camera, as this is where the monitor sits when mounted on the swivel. When I knew that was how I was going to shoot for an entire dive, I disconnected the swivel mount from the monitor and replaced it with Nauticam’s ball mount for monitor housings.
 

For macro dives with a snoot, I replace the swivel mount by a ball mount, and position the monitor behind the housing as opposed to right above

Brightness

The T7 and G7 boast a whopping 3,000 nits of maximum brightness, adjustable across 10 levels. The default setting is 5 out of 10, which I assume is 1,500 nits, and I found this sufficient for shooting near the surface on a sunny day. For most of my photography, though, I would dial it down to level 2 or 3, and to the minimum level 1 at night, to avoid attracting a loyal following of swarmies!
 

Batteries

Battery life is one of the key strengths of the T7 monitor (and similarly for the G7), thanks to the large battery compartment, which houses four 21700 lithium batteries. I used either the Nitecore NL2153HP (5,300mAh) or the NL2160HP (6,000mAh), with the latter offering slightly longer battery life.

Nauticam claims six hours of battery life at brightness level 5, which is about what I achieved with four NL2160HPs, before the battery indicator turned from green to amber, after which I had around 30 minutes of power remaining. As mentioned above, I tended to set the brightness to level 2 or 3 most of the time, which extended the already ample battery life further.
 

Maintenance

While Nauticam’s traditional monitor housings all come with a vacuum valve, the T7 and G7 do not. Indeed, there is no housing to open, but you do need to access the battery compartment, which is protected by a single O-ring.
 

Left: The battery compartment is secured by a red push button and a latch. Right: While the O-ring remained clean and required little maintenance, I would have preferred a vacuum-controlled seal for added peace of mind
 

The HDMI bulkheads on the housing and on the monitor are sealed with double O-rings, a reassuring design

Menu Navigation

The T7 packs a menu loaded with features and options, accessed via the five buttons on top of the monitor. These offer many useful features for videographers, but as a stills shooter, I feel I underused them, only changing the brightness level and rotating the screen as needed.
 

The menu includes lots of settings and the option of setting up favorite views—something that I am sure will be more fully utilized by videographers rather than still shooters like me

Wake-up Time

After six months of heavy use, the only aspect of the T7 monitor I disliked was its wake-up time. With my Canon EOS R5 II in sleep mode, it took the monitor about five seconds to show the live-view feed after I half-pressed the shutter to wake the camera. This could be annoying on action-packed dives, so I increased the sleep-delay setting on my camera whenever I knew the dive would be full of surprises.
 

When diving with Montague Island’s fur seals, which tend to show-up unexpectedly, I increased the delay before my camera went to sleep to avoid the monitor’s frustratingly long wake-up time

Final Thoughts

Overall, I have really enjoyed using the Nauticam T7 for my underwater photography over the last six months. The monitor was a joy to use for wide-angle, macro and super-macro work, as well as for split shots, on sunny days and on night dives, and in temperate and tropical waters.

It was a luxury to have a 7-inch screen while using a less bulky setup than Nauticam’s 5-inch monitor housings, and I appreciated having more than six hours of battery life, so I was never rushed to change batteries between dives.

The swivel mount is a clever solution that makes adjusting the monitor’s angle and tilt a breeze, and I would only trade it for a ball mount and clamp ahead of a snoot-dedicated macro dive.

It remains to be seen whether I will ever get used to using a viewfinder again. But that’s a story for another day…
 

The Nauticam T7 monitor, mounted on the author’s NA-R5II housing, and ready to go photograph fur seals in Narooma, NSW, Australia
 

About the Reviewer: Nicolas Remy is an Australia-based pro shooter and founder of online underwater photography school and community, The Underwater Club, with members in 26 countries. He serves as an ambassador for Mares and Nauticam, and chairs the jury of the prestigious DPG Masters photo competition. Nicolas’ images have been widely published in print and digital media, and have won over 40 international photo awards. To see more of Nicolas’ work or browse his upcoming workshops, visit: www.nicolaslenaremy.com.
 

If you’re a photographer considering adding an external monitor to your rig, check out “External Monitors for Underwater Photography” by Matthew Sullivan.
 

Nauticam T7 HD UltraBright

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