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The author’s new SEACAM Nikon Z8 rig, complete with SEAFLASH 160D strobes
 

In late 2023, a remarkable series of events aligned for me, leading to a formal association with SEACAM, the Austrian company I have always regarded as the Rolls-Royce of underwater photography equipment. Even now, the reality feels surreal—I never imagined I’d be affiliated with such a prestigious brand. Yet, in February 2024, I found myself traveling from Sydney to Austria to receive the equipment I had requested, followed by three days of intensive technical training. The entire experience was extraordinary—so much so that I felt compelled to document my SEACAM journey. In this article, I’ll share my first impressions after my switch to SEACAM, but first, let me explain how I got here.
 

How I Got to Here

My scuba diving journey began back in 1978 when I first learned to dive, and my lifelong passion for underwater photography started not long after, in 1984, when I purchased a Nikonos III, the third iteration of Nikon’s 35mm film camera designed specifically for taking pictures underwater. That was followed a few years later by a Nikonos IV, and eventually a Nikonos V. While I wouldn’t claim to have mastered underwater photography with film, I did manage to have my first illustrated article published in 1989, featuring images captured with those early Nikonos cameras.

I housed my first SLR—a Nikon F801—in a Subal housing in 1994. I would use Subal for the next 17 years as I progressed through the first DSLRs and finally to a Nikon 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 theirs for the Nikon D850. Overall, I was happy with Nauticam in terms of their housings and I appreciated the improvements they made with their ergonomics over the years—although I was less enamored with all the price increases. What really impressed me were the developments Nauticam made with their water-contact optics. I was using the WACP-1, WACP-C, and the EMWL-1 system with 160° and 100° lenses with my NA-D850 housing.
 

The Nikonos III was introduced in 1975, a little over a decade after the Nikonos I, Nikon’s version of the Calypso, the famed underwater camera conceived by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and designed by Jean de Wouters

Nikon Z8

Switching to SEACAM also marked my transition to mirrorless underwater. Sticking with the D850, as excellent as it is, wouldn't have made sense with a new housing.

I’d been using the Nikon Z6 and Z7 for my landscape photography for a few years and had been impressed with their performance, particularly the stellar optical quality of the f/2.8 S-line zoom lenses. However, I wasn’t convinced they were ready for prime time underwater, as the autofocus performance was a bit lacking.

The Nikon Z8 changed that. When I departed for Austria, in my camera bag was a new Nikon Z8 paired with the FTZ II adapter (to allow a Z-mount camera to use an F-mount lens), along with my Z-mount 14–24mm f/2.8 S and 14–30mm f/4 S, and now-discontinued F-mount 8–15mm Fisheye, 60mm f/2.8 Macro and 105mm Macro. These would form my core SEACAM kit going forward.
 

Like the D850 before it, the Z8 has become the camera of choice for both enthusiast and pro Nikon shooters

Understanding SEACAM

Before I quit full-time work at the end of 2019 (just in time for the pandemic) to focus on underwater photography and photojournalism, I spent 25 years working for a US-based technology company. Prior to that, I worked in the oil and gas industry, primarily in the Middle East. The point being, 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 find out how new technology had been conceptualized, developed, tested, and deployed—from the people who had done it. One thing that always struck me during those encounters was the incredible passion and commitment to develop a vision and make it happen. Suffice it to say, I was really looking forward to visiting SEACAM’s headquarters in Austria and understanding how they came to do what they do.
 

3D scan of the Nikon Z8 on a computer at the SEACAM facility
 

Founded in 1989 and led by Harald Hordosch, SEACAM is a family-owned business based in Voitsberg, about 12 miles from Graz, Austria’s historic second-largest city, which is known for its excellent educational and research institutions, strong industrial sectors, and a robust automotive industry. SEACAM’s business model focuses on designing its products in-house and utilizing the high-end engineering and manufacturing facilities in and around Graz to produce all key components. Products are assembled and tested in Voitsberg before being shipped around the world.

A good example of SEACAM’s process is the development of the housing for the Nikon Z8. Harald secured a pre-release camera body from Nikon Austria, which was 3D-scanned in Graz. Then, using in-house computer-aided design (CAD) software, the housing was designed around the 3D model. Once complete, the design was transmitted to a local metal-processing company and programed into a state-of-the-art CNC (computer numerical control) milling machine.

CNC machines are incredibly complex, highly automated, and extremely expensive examples of modern technology at their very best. Once programed, they transform raw metal into precisely crafted components with minimal human intervention. Programing and setting up these machines require exceptional technical expertise, but once perfected, they enable the production of exact replicas with remarkable efficiency. While SEACAM’s proximity to Graz ensures access to some of the highest-quality production techniques, what truly sets the company apart is its attention to detail and commitment to creating exceptional ergonomics.

My three days in Austria were fascinating, but the main thing I learned was that the relentless focus on precision and tactile feedback is what makes SEACAM products stand out in the underwater photography world.
 

Precision modeling of the Nikon Z8 housing in CAD software

Attention to Detail

Underwater photography is not the easiest of pursuits. It’s equipment-intensive, expensive, and of course, you can only do it underwater, meaning your success depends entirely on the prevailing conditions. But when everything aligns—the gear, the subject, and the environment—it’s incredibly rewarding. Whether it’s capturing a perfectly poised nudibranch or an approaching blue whale, those fleeting moments make all the challenges worthwhile.

Successful underwater photography means being in the right place at the right time, with the right equipment configuration, and crucially, knowing how to use it. This is very much the underlying ethos behind SEACAM, and it is Harald’s attention to detail that helps to make it all happen. The penny dropped for me when Harald demonstrated how the amazing functionality of the Nikon Z8 could be accessed and changed quickly because of the way the controls on the housing are configured. Once I grasped this design philosophy, the difference between SEACAM equipment and everything I had used before became striking.
 

A freshly CNC-machined Z8 housing before surface finish
 

My previous careers and my current pursuit of success in underwater photography have all taught me that details really do matter. In underwater photography, the critical details can be distilled into two essential components: First, reliability—will the equipment work when you need it to? Second, ergonomics—can you adjust it quickly when necessary? Of the two, reliability is obviously the most important, because great ergonomics cease to matter if the overall system is not reliable.

Perhaps the best example of SEACAM’s drive for reliability is their S6 wired strobe connection. I must admit, it’s something that had previously been a source of some mystery to me. Wiring a strobe to a housing, and thereby through a cable to the hot shoe and the camera, is simultaneously the best way to make that connection and the weakest link. It’s the best because a direct connection allows for advanced features like high-speed sync (HSS) and TTL exposure when required. It’s also the weakest because the industry-standard Nikonos five-pin connector came with a history and a set of vulnerabilities.

The Nikonos five-pin connector was originally designed by Nikon in the 1960s to allow strobes to be used with the Nikonos II and III cameras. The first iteration was a three-pin connection, since manual exposure was the only option back then. When TTL metering came onto the scene with the Nikonos V in 1984, a five-pin configuration was necessary, and this subsequently became the industry standard.

The Nikonos five-pin connector relies on a single O-ring to seal radially and keep seawater out. However, with most housings featuring vertically oriented bulkheads, there’s a tendency for residual seawater droplets to fall into the bulkhead recess when the cable is removed. This typically initiates corrosion of the spring-loaded connector pins and ultimately requires the bulkhead to be replaced. And, in all probability, failure will occur at the worst possible time.
 

Clockwise from top left: Nikonos five-pin connector; SEACAM six-pin connector; SEACAM bulkhead with three O-rings; SEACAM bulkhead connector with cable installed
 

In my Nikonos days, I learned to always dry the connection as carefully as possible; then, invert the housing before removing a cable and carefully check for any droplets in the recess and on the cable connector. Plus, I would always travel with a spare bulkhead fitting and strobe cable just in case.

SEACAM’s S6 connector represents a significant improvement in design. It adds an extra pin for greater reliability, seals radially with two O-rings, and uses a third O-ring to seal axially. Moreover, most SEACAM housings have horizontally oriented bulkheads on the sides, reducing the risk of water droplets entering the system. It’s a much smarter design than the old Nikonos standard and, while nothing is ever 100% foolproof underwater, the S6 connector feels far more robust and reliable.

This emphasis on reliability, particularly in something as critical as a strobe connection, demonstrates SEACAM’s commitment to detail, and in my opinion, it’s what sets them apart. It’s not just about making the technology work; it’s about making sure it works when it matters most.
 

Harald Hordosch, the man behind those beautiful silver housings, demonstrating SEACAM’s ergonomic design

Final Thoughts

Visiting SEACAM HQ and learning how the equipment is designed, machined and assembled was, for a tech-head like me, a truly wonderful experience. The details, commitment, and passion that make it all happen were amazing to see. On the long journey back to Sydney, I realized just how lucky I had been. Not only did I receive a complete set of equipment—everything I asked for and a bit extra for good luck—but I also had three days with Harald and his team learning how it all works.
 

Harald reluctantly hands over the Nikon Z8 housing to the author
 

This article details my first impressions of my new SEACAM rig and was written before I used any of the gear I received in Austria. Since then, I have used the equipment on trips to the Solomon Islands; Raja Ampat, Indonesia; Fakarava, French Polynesia; Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands; Dominica; and Anilao, Philippines. Look out for my follow-up article, a one-year review of what I have learned about SEACAM while shooting in these locations.
 

Don is an Australian underwater photographer based on Bali, Indonesia. His website, www.indopacificimages.com, has extensive location guides, articles and images on some of the best diving locations in the Indo-Pacific region and “big animal” experiences globally.