Are you fasci­na­ted by under­wa­ter pho­to­gra­phy? That’s great! Now you have to decide for yourself how important this hobby should be. If you just want to take a few snapshots on vacation, you’ll get by with a small, inex­pen­si­ve system. If you want more and have high image quality requi­re­ments, you should choose a system right from the start that meets these requi­re­ments and can be flexibly adapted and expanded. Don’t overwhelm yourself at the beginning and start with macro pho­to­gra­phy. This will give you the best results and pre­sen­ta­ble images right from the start. SEACAM offers ever­y­thing you need for this and will be happy to advise you on that.

SEACAM was founded more than 30 years ago as a sole pro­prie­tor­ship by Harald Hordosch, an enthu­si­a­stic diver and pho­to­grapher in Austria. Step by step, the family business has grown into a small, dynamic team of out­stan­ding spe­cia­lists in deve­lo­p­ment, design and manu­fac­tu­re. SEACAM has never followed fashion or trends — we’re no fans of com­pro­mi­ses. We have always listened to good advice and have taken the comments and sug­ges­ti­ons of pho­to­graph­ers from all over the world very seriously. They helped us build some of the best tools for under­wa­ter photographers.

SEACAM produces 100% in the heart of Europe in Austria – in beautiful green Styria with crystal clear lakes, lush meadows and unique vineyards. Sus­tainable pro­duc­tion and excel­lent­ly trained employees from our region do excellent work every day. In our small team, each indi­vi­du­al per­so­na­li­ty stands behind every hand-made indi­vi­du­al piece with their craft­sman­ship, thus ensuring the high standard of our products.

SEACAM has partners around the world who are enthu­si­a­stic SEACAM pho­to­graph­ers them­sel­ves and will be happy to help you with any questions. On our website you will find the contact person for your region here. If there are no partners in your region, please contact us directly and we will be happy to advise you.

silver, the unique surface tech­no­lo­gy was developed by us here at SEACAM. Manu­fac­tu­red in complex mecha­ni­cal and galvanic steps, this surface defies the toughest attacks by seawater and mecha­ni­cal stress. The scratch-resistant and corrosion-resistant surface does not need paint or solvents and is pure aluminum. This makes our housings easy to find again if they are discarded or lost by mistake. silver has been our quality standard for over 25 years and will keep your case looking new even after many years of use.

For more than 25 years, our ports and view­fin­ders have been manu­fac­tu­red in the same dimen­si­ons. This con­sis­ten­cy allows for easy and unrest­ric­ted use of the full range of view­fin­ders, ports and access­ories on all of our housings.

All SEACAM housings are tested to a diving depth of ‑80m. The SUPERDEEP design for housing, ports and flash units allows diving depths of up to ‑200m.

When traveling, it is best to transport your system in a carry-on size backpack from brands like ThinkTank or Lowepro. These flexible pieces of luggage are light, weight-saving and can be packed indi­vi­du­al­ly thanks to the practical com­part­ments — camera and laptop included. All batteries always belong in hand luggage to avoid unp­lea­sant surprises on site. If you prefer to check your camera equipment as checked in baggage, we recommend the robust hard-shell cases from Pelicase.

When heading to the dive site or boat, use our paracord lanyard to con­ve­ni­ent­ly carry your gear like a tote or even more gently slung over your shoulder. Neoprene pro­tec­ti­ve covers for the ports and flashes should defi­ni­te­ly be included. If you go into the water from the boat, have your housing delivered to you later. If this is not possible, jump into the water as gently as possible, keeping the housing close to your body.

If possible, you should have the housing handed to you. If this is not possible, you can lower your housing to the water on a stable rope, secured with a carabiner and do not forget to retrieve it after the dive. If jumping is the only pos­si­bi­li­ty, adjust the flash arms so that the devices do not hit each other. Hold the camera tightly to your body and jump into the water with your back towards the water.

Securing the housing under water is a personal pre­fe­rence and can be done using the hand strap supplied as standard, with our paracord lanyard or a flexible safety line on the jacket.

After your dive, put your case in a safe place. Make sure that the ports are protected with the neoprene pro­tec­ti­ve caps. Cover your devices with a towel or, if possible, store the devices in the shade.

Soak your equipment tho­rough­ly with fresh water in the con­tai­ners provided or with a water hose. Operate the controls to remove dirt and water. Then dry your gear with a soft towel, or use a blow-off nozzle on your regulator. In order to prevent glass corrosion, it is par­ti­cu­lar­ly important to remove the wet neoprene pro­tec­ti­ve cap from the port, dry the glass and only attach it again when fully dry.

You can find more info below under “Main­ten­an­ce”.

All of our operating ins­truc­tions have been carefully prepared so that you can enjoy your high-quality devices and operate them without any problems. You should read the manual and all related ins­truc­tions tho­rough­ly before use and fami­lia­ri­ze yourself with both your camera and the housing. This is the only way you will be able to use all the functions of your devices and avoid mal­func­tions. If you follow all the ins­truc­tions carefully, nothing stands in the way of your suc­cessful under­wa­ter photography.

The most important thing is to fami­lia­ri­ze yourself inten­si­ve­ly with your camera on land and to get to know its functions. Only those who know how to use their camera on land can work with it under­wa­ter without any problems. Before the first instal­la­ti­on, read our operating ins­truc­tions carefully and then install the camera in the housing according to our ins­truc­tions. Be sure to check the condition of the battery in advance and whether you have inserted a storage device in your camera.

Always follow the ins­truc­tions in our operating ins­truc­tions. The neck strap must always be removed from the camera before instal­la­ti­on in the housing. We also recommend this for the rubber view­fin­der pro­tec­tion of the camera, unless the camera does not allow this and the view­fin­der pro­tec­tion is firmly attached to the camera.

Due to the ever larger lenses and asso­cia­ted gear rings, it is much easier to put the lenses into the housing from the front after the camera has been installed. This system makes it easy to change lenses, even under difficult con­di­ti­ons, without having to open the housing com­ple­te­ly. The necessary lens release button is standard on every housing.

All our housings are equipped with 2 x S6 or N5 flash sockets as standard. Depending on the model, the con­nec­tions for vacuum, remote, HDMI, LAN and external power con­nec­tion are provided. There are 2 T‑pieces for attaching flashes, an M8 thread on the housing roof and a 3/8″ tripod thread con­nec­tion on the underside of the housing.

Both focus and zoom trans­mis­si­on are available on all SEACAM silver housing models. With SEACAM compact housings, you have the option of either zoom or focus adjus­t­ment due to the smaller size of the housing. There are front ports with an addi­tio­nal drive for special applications.

In order to protect your valuable camera from water, we only use grease and oil-resistant precision O‑rings of the highest quality. The robust and hard-wearing housing O‑ring is par­ti­cu­lar­ly strong and, thanks to its soft quality, ensures perfect safety. The front ports and controls are reliably protected against water ingress with up to 4 seamless O‑rings.

The halves of the housing close with 2 safety locks with a clamping force of 60 kg each. Sealed with multiple O‑rings, these locks remain dry and protected from any con­ta­mi­na­ti­on. High grade titanium paired with the highest quality stainless spring steel gua­ran­tees an unlimited service life. Despite the high closing force, the latches are easy to operate, even with smaller hands.

Our vacuum system is combined with the optical-acoustic leak detector. Within 4 minutes after acti­va­ti­on, the vacuum system checks whether the housing has been correctly closed and whether it is leak-proof under water. After a suc­cessful test, an acoustic signal sounds and the visual display flashes green. The elec­tro­nics then switch off to save battery. The leak detector in standby mode always remains active and provides addi­tio­nal security.

SEACAM already pays attention to a good balance in the water during the con­s­truc­tion and design of the housing. Due to the many equipment options and access­ories, it may be necessary to mount addi­tio­nal buoyancy aids for even better buoyancy. We offer these in 2 different sizes for easy mounting on our flash arms.

We also offer special handles for small hands, which ensure easy and ergonomic operation of all housings. The distance between the handle and the housing has been reduced for an ergonomic operation of the most important functions. These can be ordered directly upon purchase or retro­fit­ted at any time.

We have a number of housings in our range that fit several cameras. However, in order to guarantee the full func­tion­a­li­ty of the camera, adjus­t­ments inside the housing may be necessary. Therefore, please ask us or your partner in advance which cameras are com­pa­ti­ble with which housing model.
Examples:
Canon 5D MKIV – MKIII – D S
Sony A7III – A7IV

You can only shoot what you can see through the view­fin­der. Different lenses enable a wide variety of shots, which in turn require adapted view­fin­ders in order to be able to realize them. We therefore offer you various view­fin­der systems that you can adapt quickly and on site to changing requi­re­ments. The pos­si­bi­li­ty of removing all of our sports view­fin­ders from the housing for transport and being able to stow them sepa­ra­te­ly has proven to be par­ti­cu­lar­ly practical. Ulti­m­ate­ly, it is also very cost-saving if you can take not only the ports but also the view­fin­der with you in the ever shorter life cycles of digital SLR cameras.

Depending on the shooting situation, four matching view­fin­ders allow for an excellent per­spec­ti­ve and comfort. If your focus is on filming or you mainly use the camera monitor, our G‑PRO view­fin­der will suffice. For wide-angle pho­to­gra­phy, we offer our S180 sports view­fin­der with a straight view. For fans of macro pho­to­gra­phy, we have had our legendary S45 sports view­fin­der with a com­for­ta­ble 45° view (which is also great for split­shots and wideangle…). For use with both macro and wide-angle, we offer our S10 sports view­fin­der, which perfectly supports both types of recording. The view is a universal 10° and thus also enables shots close to the ground.

You can find more info about view­fin­ders in this post.

All of our view­fin­ders are very easy and quick to change. All view­fin­ders are securely fixed in the housing with the help of a locking ring and are sealed several times. The view­fin­ders snap into pre­de­fi­ned positions for quick adjus­t­ment of portrait or landscape format.

All of our view­fin­ders are double O‑ring sealed at the con­nec­tion to the housing. The optical elements are also multiply sealed and her­me­ti­cal­ly sealed on the water and camera side.

This spring positions the view­fin­ders in preset positions to quickly switch from portrait to landscape format. This is ensured with a small spring and plastic pin, which engage accor­din­gly. For­get­ting or missing this spring does not affect the tightness.

Dried water stains or glass corrosion on the view­fin­der lenses are almost impos­si­ble or very difficult to remove. For this reason, please dry your view­fin­der with a soft cloth after each dive. If water stains are already present, they can only be pro­fes­sio­nal­ly removed in the factory.

We suggest you remove them for transport. This not only saves unneces­sa­ry volume in your luggage, but also protects your gear during transport. When you ship your system to us for a service, remove all sports view­fin­ders and pack them sepa­ra­te­ly – the small G‑PRO can remain on the housing.

“The closer to the object — the better the pictures!” Don’t even bother with objects that are further away from you than the outstret­ched hand — with the exception of land­scapes — that is the rule of thumb. Water is not air and contains an abundance of particles that lead to scat­te­ring, dif­frac­tion and reflec­tion. Moreover, the pho­to­gra­phi­cal­ly correct shooting distance cor­re­sponds to a third of the visual range perceived by the human eye. Due to these cir­cum­s­tances, lenses that can be set very close are par­ti­cu­lar­ly suitable for under­wa­ter pho­to­gra­phy. Lenses with a minimum focusing distance of 15–25 cm are ideally suited. The basic equipment of every ambitious under­wa­ter pho­to­grapher therefore includes a macro, wide-angle and fisheye lens.

Pay par­ti­cu­lar attention to a good read­jus­t­ment option of the lenses you want to use. A maximum focusing distance of 30cm and a good light intensity of around 2.8 guarantee perfect results right from the start.

Every lens is different and has very specific pro­per­ties in order to provide the appro­pria­te imaging per­for­mance. For this reason, different ports are necessary for the different lenses. You can find the right port for your lens in our port list. We use plane glasses for standard lenses up to 35mm. Our specially cal­cu­la­ted dome glasses are used with wide-angle lenses from 24mm. This improves the image quality enorm­ously, as each image ray passes through the glass unbroken. The angle of view of all lenses is fully preserved even under water.

In the field of macro, standard and wide-angle optics, fixed focal lengths achieve the highest image quality with the best light inten­si­ties. In addition, there are enormous advan­ta­ges in the view­fin­der bright­ness. Dome glasses can only be cal­cu­la­ted exactly for fixed focal lengths and thus offer excellent bril­li­ance and corner sharpness. Despite these facts, zoom lenses are becoming more and more popular because of their ver­sa­ti­li­ty. Since front ports can only be used for one focal length, com­pro­mi­ses have to be made in the optical imple­men­ta­ti­on of zoom lenses. We adjust our ports to the shortest focal length in order to be able to offer optimal results here. So in con­clu­si­on, fixed focal lengths are part of the basic equipment of every under­wa­ter pho­to­grapher — zoom lenses can com­ple­ment the system but never replace the fixed focal length.

SEACAM silver bodies are fitted with manual focus and zoom adjus­t­ment trans­mis­si­ons as standard. SEACAM compact body with zoom adjus­t­ment only, due to their compact size. In order to be able to set these functions on the housing, special rings are available that enable this function. Each lens has different dimen­si­ons and therefore requires different rings. Just ask — we also have the right one for your lens.

All SEACAM silver housing models have this option installed as standard in addition to the zoom adjus­t­ment. As with zoom lenses, different types of toothed rings are required for adjus­t­ment. In principle, all lenses work with very good autofocus systems, so that manual adjus­t­ment is not necessary. With macro lenses and cor­re­spon­din­gly low-contrast objects, manual adjus­t­ment can be done more effi­ci­ent­ly. Manual focusing is also essential in the wide-angle area, espe­ci­al­ly in the case of splitshots.

The port is the part of the camera body that contains the lens. These are used either sepa­ra­te­ly or in com­bi­na­ti­on with the port extension, we call them PVL (short for the German word for port extension). Camera housing, port and PVL are connected to each other with the bayonet connection.

The special port con­nec­tion was developed to enable you to install your ports and port exten­si­ons in a par­ti­cu­lar­ly safe and simple manner. The SEACAM bayonet is the unique com­bi­na­ti­on of secure screw thread and bayonet in one unit. Simply, auto­ma­ti­cal­ly and powerful­ly, the bayonet thread pulls the O‑ring, which is respon­si­ble for the secure seal, into the housing sealing surface with just one turn and positions the port precisely at the stop. The con­nec­tion has a 360° overlap — con­ven­tio­nal bayonet con­nec­tions are just 30° or 45°; so it is not uncommon for a port to be dis­con­nec­ted and lost unin­ten­tio­nal­ly. A second O‑ring provides addi­tio­nal pro­tec­tion against dirt and fine-grained sand. SEACAM front ports have been stan­dar­di­zed for more than 20 years and have an enlarged lens passage to also be able to use large, fast lenses.

The correct position of the lens to the port glass is essential and deter­mi­nes how good the optical per­for­mance is under water. Finding this correct position is not that easy and, in addition to extensive knowledge of optical cal­cu­la­ti­ons, also requires years of expe­ri­ence. The right port extension for your lens always cor­re­sponds to the port that is used and can be found in our port list.

There are countless lenses from different manu­fac­tu­r­ers. In order to keep the overview, you will only find the respec­ti­ve original lenses in our port lists. We are also happy to help you with lenses that are not listed and check for you whether they are suitable for use under water at all.

When light passes from one medium to another, it is refracted at the interface. This happens several times in modern cameras before the light hits the sensor. This means that optical dis­tor­ti­on of the image field occurs as the recording angle of a lens behind a plane glass pane increases. However, light rays that strike the interface between the two media per­pen­di­cu­lar­ly are not refracted. With the dome glass you take advantage of this and can thus use the full angle of the lens. SEACAM dome ports are precisely cal­cu­la­ted and therefore guarantee you perfect image quality and the highest corner sharpness.

Widely used plastic glasses made of poly­me­thyl methacry­la­te are light, but also scratch quickly due to their low hardness. The glasses are cast from granules or formed from sheet material. This causes dif­fe­ren­ces in the wall thickness and the resulting optical errors. Although a plastic lens can be easily polished, over time it tends to develop micro-cracks and yellowing, so that unde­si­ra­ble clouding occurs, espe­ci­al­ly in backlight.

The chemical name of the mineral glasses is silicon oxide SiO2 and are refined by adding other oxides such as aluminum oxide or boron oxide. Although mineral glasses are somewhat heavier, they are signi­fi­cant­ly harder than plastic glasses, do not scratch as easily and cannot yellow. Only hardened mineral glass, precisely ground, finely polished and optically coated meets the requi­re­ments of the highest image quality.

Light is reflected at the boundary between air, water and glass layers. Even on a simple pane of glass, the loss of light is approx. 4%. Reflec­tions depend on the dif­fe­rence in refrac­ti­ve index between air, water and glass. For a high image quality, it is important that all elements of the optical system have maximum trans­mis­si­on. In order to achieve largely reflec­tion-free trans­mis­si­on of the light, a highly developed layer system is applied to the inside of the front glass. This optical coating ensures a 3–5% higher light output, up to 70% reduced reflec­tions and an excellent contrast.

When you shoot with a dome glass, it acts like a lens. This lens creates a virtual image that is focused on. The smaller the radius of this dome glass, the closer it has to be focused.
In order to achieve good image quality, the size of the dome glass essen­ti­al­ly depends on the factors of the close-up limit and the aperture used. If the close-up limit of a lens is small and you use small apertures, the dome port can also be small. With the high-reso­lu­ti­on cameras of the latest gene­ra­ti­ons, this can be achieved with a higher ISO setting via the aperture. For this, SEACAM has been offering the CP Com­pact­port for some time, which takes these facts into account and is ideal for travel. If you want to take perfect half-half shots, you can’t get around our SD Superdome, as only this gua­ran­tees a very long waterline.

We have designed our dome ports in such a way that close-up lenses are only necessary if lenses have too large a close-up limit. For this and to keep the actual close-up focus under water, we recommend only high-quality attach­ment lenses if necessary. In general, however, these should be avoided, since addi­tio­nal optical elements always impair the imaging quality.

The size of the dome glass deter­mi­nes the imaging quality when the aperture is open. The larger the glass and the smaller the close-up limit of the lens, the better the imaging per­for­mance in the corners of your images. For the many different appli­ca­ti­ons and lenses, we therefore offer different dome ports that differ in size.

Fisheye macro shots show macro objects in the fore­ground and the wide-angle character in the back­ground. These recor­dings are always quite spec­ta­cu­lar. Only lenses that can be set very close (15–20cm) and are small to fit into the very small dome port are suitable. Very small apertures are necessary to ensure that your images are sharp in both the fore­ground and back­ground. We can help you with the selection of the lenses in question.

We call our special ports for macro pho­to­gra­phy “micro ports”. These differ from con­ven­tio­nal ports in their design, which is conical, has a front glass with a small diameter and thus enables better illu­mi­na­ti­on of the motifs directly in front of the port. These ports are suitable for the most common macro lenses. Fur­ther­mo­re, all MIP are equipped with a mount for our wet achromats and swivel mechanism.

An achromat enables you to increase the imaging per­for­mance of your macro lenses and thus get larger imaging scales of up to 1:4. It corrects chromatic aberra­ti­on and annoying color fringes at the edges. Our achromats for the scale 2:1 and 4:1 are so-called “wet lenses” and can be mounted on your microport or swiveled forward if required.

There are 2 ways to mount our achromats. They can be trans­por­ted with a holder on the housing or flash arm and, if necessary, plugged into the microport under water. The other variant is our swivel adapter, which is mounted on the microport and, with a swivel mechanism, can swivel one or two achromats forward if required.

The biggest enemy of glass ports is water stains and glass corrosion. Dried water stains are almost impos­si­ble or very difficult to remove. Glass corrosion can be reco­gni­zed by cloudy spots, mostly on the entire dome. This can only be pro­fes­sio­nal­ly repaired by the manu­fac­tu­rer. For this reason, please dry all glasses with a soft cloth after each dive. For internal cleaning, use a lint-free or optical cloth. An existing optical coating cannot be damaged by this.

To protect your valuable equipment, you should only remove the neoprene pro­tec­tion when you are in the water. Secure it with a carabiner or stow it in your BC. When you finish the dive, put the protector back on to protect the glass from scratches. Be sure to remove the neoprene pro­tec­ti­ve hood after each dive and after washing your housing and only reinstall it when the glass and neoprene are dry. If the neoprene pro­tec­tion on the glass dries, expensive glass corrosion can occur, which can only be repaired pro­fes­sio­nal­ly by the manufacturer.

All our ports have a brake and sand pro­tec­tion O‑ring. This addi­tio­nal O‑ring on the ports prevents fine particles or sand from getting to the green main O‑ring of the port. This O‑ring is also used for better fixation, espe­ci­al­ly of the larger dome ports, thanks to its braking effect. However, should it happen that you notice under­wa­ter that something is wrong with the sunshade of your port — the correct position is up/down — you can also correct it in the water — but not at a depth greater than ‑3m. If you are deeper, ascend using all safety pre­cau­ti­ons and rotate the port to the correct position. After that you can easily continue your dive. Cor­rec­ting position at greater depths may flood your housing.

If your dome glass is scratched, check whether the damage is noti­ceable in your pictures. If this is the case, you must send the port to the service. We will then check whether a repair is possible or whether the glass needs to be replaced if the damage is deeper. If the dome port has received a heavy impact, check whether there is any major damage and the stability of the glass is end­an­ge­red. In this case, stop diving with it and send us the port for inspec­tion and repair.

Glass corrosion can be reco­gni­zed by cloudy spots, mostly on the entire dome glass. This cannot be removed yourself and can only be pro­fes­sio­nal­ly repaired by the manufacturer.

Please contact your retailer or contact us directly to arrange shipping. If the glass is slightly damaged, it will be repaired by our optical partner. So that you don’t have to wait long, we always have repla­ce­ment lenses available. If the glass can no longer be repaired, it can be exchanged for a new one.

Under­wa­ter shots without a flash are altered by the pro­per­ties of the dense medium of water. The warm tones such as red, yellow and orange disappear at a shallow depth and are filtered out by the water. Even green and blue disappear with incre­asing depth. The solution to this problem is arti­fi­ci­al light or under­wa­ter flash.

The per­for­mance requi­re­ment of an under­wa­ter flash unit always depends on the intended use. Macro shots do not require a large beam angle, but high per­for­mance to enable small apertures and a large depth of field. If you are more inte­res­ted in wide-angle images, a large illu­mi­na­ti­on angle and an appro­pria­te color tem­pe­ra­tu­re are important criteria. Many years of expe­ri­ence show that flash units with 160Ws have suf­fi­ci­ent power to fully cover both areas of application.

The power of a flash unit is defined by the spe­ci­fi­ca­ti­on in Ws (watt seconds) from which its guide number is derived. We give the measured UW guide number at 100 ISO at 1m distance at full power. Since not all manu­fac­tu­r­ers adhere to this defi­ni­ti­on, the spe­ci­fi­ca­ti­on for the power of the flash in Ws (watt seconds) has become established.

The abbre­via­ti­on ‘TTL’ stands for the term “through the lens”. The camera and flash unit com­mu­ni­ca­te with each other and regulate the amount of light required for the subject situation during the recording. This com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on is camera-specific and only works with specially prepared flash units. e‑TTL stands for Canon’s system — i‑TTL for Nikon’s.

The important feature of the flash for pho­to­graph­ers is the high image quality. The short burn time enables extremely sharp recor­dings and even the finest details are repro­du­ced bril­li­ant­ly. Our Seaflash 160D offers syn­chro­niza­ti­on times of up to 1/8000 and the option of strobe adjus­t­ment. The flash also allows low ISO values, which improves the image quality con­sider­a­b­ly. If you’re shooting with slower shutter speeds, wide open apertures, and higher ISOs, steady light is an option. If you also want to film under­wa­ter, use our LA-VS con­ti­nuous light to sup­ple­ment the flash.

In coope­ra­ti­on with the Swiss company Keldan, we offer you the Seacam LA-V‑S LED con­ti­nuous light in the proven silver design with a precisely cal­cu­la­ted high-per­for­mance diffuser and dome glass for par­ti­cu­lar­ly homo­ge­neous image illu­mi­na­ti­on. The compact light impresses in the water with its high per­for­mance, balanced, neutral and ergonomic behavior.

You can find info about our lamp here (bottom).

Of course, flash units from other manu­fac­tu­r­ers can also be used on your housing. This must be prepared accor­din­gly and the flash sockets fit. In order to ensure the manual function of the connected flash unit, it is necessary to remove contact pins on the camera hot shoe of the housing, to use a manual flash cable or an adapter cable. We explain in detail how to do this in our operating instructions.

All of our housings are equipped with 2 flash sockets, allowing the use of 2 flash units. However, dual operation always depends on the flash units used. Our flash units have offered dual TTL control for many years. This makes it possible to ensure shadow-free illu­mi­na­ti­on of your motifs in TTL mode.

The large amount of elec­tro­nic data between the camera and flash unit is exchanged via con­nec­tion sockets and detacha­ble sync cords. With the robust and func­tion­al­ly reliable S6 connector system and par­ti­cu­lar­ly hard-wearing spiral or straight cables in various lengths, we offer you a par­ti­cu­lar­ly robust cable system. SEACAM flashes can also be used with fiber optic cables. Here we only use cables from well-known manufacturers.

Precise data trans­mis­si­on must be robust, easy to handle and abso­lut­e­ly reliable. For these reasons, SEACAM developed the 6‑pin data con­nec­tion many years ago. With 6 robust, hard gold-plated pins, an abso­lut­e­ly plug-in-proof system and the 4‑fold O‑ring seal, there has been a perfect con­nec­tion for many years. The superior per­for­mance of the S6 system is a must in the digital world and it is evident in practical use without any interference.

In addition to an elec­tri­cal cable con­nec­tion, there is also the option of syn­chro­ni­zing flash units using optical impulses. Your camera must have a built-in flash and the camera body must have a properly posi­tio­ned port window. There is also the pos­si­bi­li­ty of con­ver­ting the elec­tri­cal impulse of the camera into an optical signal with a module if your camera does not have a built-in flash unit. The signal is then trans­mit­ted from the camera body to the flash unit with a flexible fiber optic cable, thus trig­ge­ring the flash.

In addition to syn­chro­niza­ti­on in TTL and manual mode, our SEAFLASH flash units offer very complex functions such as syn­chro­niza­ti­on up to 1/8000, strobe, follow-up function and much more. This requires a trans­mis­si­on of complex data. This is only possible with a solid elec­tri­cal con­nec­tion to ensure proper function. Fiber optics are suitable for a simple manual function. Nevert­hel­ess, it is important to ensure that the con­nec­tions are not acci­den­tal­ly pulled out of the sockets when adjusting the flash arms, or that the sensitive cables are not kinked and irre­trie­va­ble images are lost.

Always store your NiMH battery fully charged. Train this regularly every 2 months through charging and dischar­ging cycles. This is easy and can be done using the pilot light of the flash unit. To do this, let your flash unit burn at the highest pilot light level until the automatic switch-off. Then let your battery pack cool down and charge it again. Repeat this process 3 times every 2 months.

If the per­for­mance of your battery pack decreases and the training is no longer suc­cessful, we will be happy to replace the used NiMH cells for you, provided the elec­tro­nics are in order. Please contact your retailer or contact us directly.

Only well-main­tai­ned elec­tri­cal con­nec­tions work properly and reliably. Therefore, check the flash sockets and cables regularly for flawless O‑rings. Keep the contacts dry and lightly grease the O‑rings. You can lightly oil both the gold-plated contacts and the threads with the main­ten­an­ce oil that we have supplied. From time to time clean the bulkheads by blowing them out with com­pres­sed air. If you notice water in the bulkheads, rinse them suf­fi­ci­ent­ly with fresh water and then maintain them as before. Leave the cables and sockets open after you dis­con­nect them — any moisture that may be present can dry out as a result.

In order to be prepared for emer­gen­ci­es or to be able to use third-party flash devices on your housing, you have the option of con­nec­ting a third-party flash with an N5 flash connector to your housing with the S6/N5 manual flash cable adapter.

Flash arms carry the flash units, set them quickly and easily to any position and allow them to be fixed in any situation. It is important to be able to rely on the chosen position both in the macro area and in demanding drift dives and movement under water. SEACAM flash arms are cha­rac­te­ri­sed by the enormous, con­ti­nuous­ly sel­ec­ta­ble holding power of 0–12 Nm and the low weight. The patented brake disc tech­no­lo­gy makes it possible to keep flash units in position even on land. Under water, the arm can be sen­si­tively, quickly adjusted and reliably fixed using adjus­ta­ble joints.

Our standard flash arms are composed of 2 extension arms and the base part and are available for a wide variety of appli­ca­ti­ons. In addition to the extension arms in lengths of 50/150/300/400/500mm, there are also exten­da­ble teles­co­pic arms, which can be preset to the desired length on land.

Take a look here.

SEACAM flash arms are cha­rac­te­ri­zed by the enormous, con­ti­nuous­ly sel­ec­ta­ble holding power of 0–12 Nm. The patented brake disc tech­no­lo­gy makes it possible to keep flash units in position even on land. Under water, the arm can be quickly adjusted and fixed powerful­ly using levers. In contrast to wheels, our arms offer the pos­si­bi­li­ty to securely tighten the arms and proofing them against unin­ten­tio­nal movement and readjustment.

Our patented locking system is made in a friction joint con­s­truc­tion. A friction lining clamps the aluminum balls to a greater or lesser extent depending on the setting of the locking lever. With this adjus­ta­ble arm, you can con­ti­nuous­ly adjust the firmness from soft to firm. If the friction lining no longer holds the balls, there is defi­ni­te­ly grease in the friction joints or on the ball. Therefore, clean the balls of the system regularly with alcohol.

After each dive, rinse your flash arm system suf­fi­ci­ent­ly with fresh water and move it around. To prevent the friction lining from sticking to the balls after use, tighten the joints only modera­te­ly or not at all when they are wet! Clean the joints from time to time. Carefully grease the threaded bolts and dis­as­sem­ble the arms annually to clean and maintain them.

A remote system enables and faci­li­ta­tes the recording of motifs that would otherwise not be possible. Dangerous or shy sea creatures can be staged and pho­to­gra­phed in a safe and skilful way. Also, when taking pictures in sports pools or in places where diving or snor­kel­ling are not allowed, the SEACAM Remote System is the ideal oppor­tu­ni­ty to take pictures.

The system is used with a pole pole or a tripod within sight. Securely fixed, the housing is released by means of a remote release when you think it is right. A socket is installed in the camera housing and connected to the remote con­nec­tion of your camera.

Since the camera is triggered at sight, it makes sense to choose the length of the cable so that you can also see the object you want to pho­to­graph. On a pole, the cable is equal to the length of the pole. If you work with a tripod, depending on the visi­bi­li­ty, 3–10 m are realistic.

We take the picture manually with the remote shutter release. The trigger has 2 stages: First, it focuses and then takes the picture.

There are several ways to carry your case and flash units overland. Our paracord lanyard is very practical for carrying your equipment com­for­ta­b­ly like a bag or even more gently hanging over your shoulder. You determine the length of the lanyard yourself with the flexible attach­ment loops.

All our housings are equipped with an M8 top thread. This allows, among other things, the attach­ment of a carrying handle in a T‑shape. This handle is also available with con­ve­ni­ent ball con­nec­tors for attaching access­ories. Each housing comes with a strong belay loop for hand or BC attachment.

Here you’ll find all our carry systems.

No — your SEACAM system is complete when you purchase it. To close and protect openings on ports, view­fin­ders and housings, we supply you with the appro­pria­te pro­tec­ti­ve caps as standard. All ports are of course delivered with removable neoprene pro­tec­ti­ve caps. Standard access­ories, view­fin­ders and flash arms are packed in practical neoprene bags with Velcro fasteners.

This par­ti­cu­lar­ly depends on your personal main­ten­an­ce and care. In general, we recommend a service interval of around 300 dives or after 3 years at the latest. O‑rings age, espe­ci­al­ly when exposed to the sun, and as a result lose their sup­p­le­ness and sealing ability. With a complete service, ever­y­thing is really pro­fes­sio­nal­ly main­tai­ned and all O‑rings are replaced. We will also bring your silver piece back into shape optically, so that you can continue to have fun with your housing.

It’s defi­ni­te­ly time when bulkheads or levers can no longer be moved properly or are com­ple­te­ly stuck. This is a clear sign of a lack of care and an urgent need for action. Despite multiple O‑ring seals, the corrosion has obviously pro­gres­sed so far that there is no longer any tightness.

The costs for a complete main­ten­an­ce always depend on the condition of the system and what really has to be done in the end. The housing is com­ple­te­ly dis­as­sem­bled, cleaned, all O‑rings and, if necessary, defective parts are replaced, the outside is also repaired and finally mecha­ni­cal­ly, elec­tri­cal­ly and in the water pressure tested. € 380.00 to 450.00 would be the ballpark.

Regular main­ten­an­ce and care after each use are essential for the safe and problem-free operation of your system. This main­ten­an­ce relates to the appli­ca­ti­on and use of the housing and access­ories. From pro­fes­sio­nal assembly of the com­pon­ents to regular greasing of the O‑rings and cleaning, you can and should do ever­y­thing yourself. Proper service should be entrusted to pro­fes­sio­nals after the recom­men­ded deadlines.

O‑rings require regular main­ten­an­ce. However, one should not overdo it. O‑rings should be kept supple with silicone grease. Grease has no sealing function, too much of it is only harmful, attracts dirt and sand and can therefore cause leakage.

SEACAM silicone O‑ring grease is specially designed for the care of your devices. However, by using O‑rings made from high-quality rubber compounds, you can also use other acid-free silicone greases.

For the daily use of the housing you will find in the accessory bag, O‑ring grease, main­ten­an­ce oil, O‑ring lifter, spare O‑rings for the housing and port. A small reserve set with small parts is also included, as is a complete Allen key set for all common screws on your housing. There is also a wrist strap that can be used to secure the housing.

In order to keep your SEACAM silver beautiful over the long term, treat the surface from time to time with SEACAM care oil. To do this, put something on a cloth and spread it over the surface. In addition, the oil is used to care for all external threads and for the care of plugs and sockets. Use the oil sparingly on bulkheads and blow them out with com­pres­sed air after servicing.

It’s almost unbe­lie­va­ble, but even the most expensive cameras have tole­ran­ces. In order to be able to com­pen­sa­te for this with our non-adjus­ta­ble pressure pins, the small white plates are included. If a pressure pin does not work properly, pull the black rubber cap off the pin and place one of the plates under the pressure pin. The pin is leng­the­ned by the small plate and the function then works perfectly. The black rubber caps are attached to the end of the pressure pins and levers of the trans­mis­si­ons to protect your camera. Should such a cap ever be lost, you have a repla­ce­ment on hand.

Only use the enclosed plastic O‑ring lifter, the black plate with SEACAM logo on it. Metal jacks can per­ma­nent­ly damage the housing and port o‑ring grooves and lead to costly repairs.

Dried water spots or glass corrosion on the port glasses or view­fin­der lenses are almost impos­si­ble or very difficult to remove. For this reason, please dry your view­fin­der with a soft cloth after each dive. Do the same for all ports, regard­less of whether they are flat or dome ports, and always remove wet neoprene pro­tec­ti­ve caps and let them dry sepa­ra­te­ly. Water stains or glass corrosion can only be pro­fes­sio­nal­ly repaired in the factory.

Ports and port exten­si­ons should always be well greased. It is important to grease this part well, which accom­mo­da­tes and seals the port O‑ring. Both parts should only be screwed together for diving and then separated again. O‑rings can “stick” to sealing surfaces quite well and then become difficult to detach unless they are regularly separated. If this happens, you can help yourself by heating up part of it (hot water, hair dryer) and then trying to unscrew both parts with two people. An oil filter wrench can also be helpful. If you are not suc­cessful and the parts can no longer be separated, you must send them to us.

Rinse your flash arm system suf­fi­ci­ent­ly with fresh water after each dive and move the joints while doing so. To prevent the friction lining from sticking to the balls after use, tighten the joints only modera­te­ly or not at all when they are wet! Clean the joints of the system and make sure that no grease gets on the ball or joint. Carefully grease the threaded bolt and dismantle the con­s­truc­tion regularly. It can be com­ple­te­ly dis­mant­led with the help of a screw­dri­ver and can also be cleaned and main­tai­ned on the inside.

Store your case in a safe, dry place after you have properly cared for it and prepared it for storage. Even during longer breaks, you should close the housing and not remove the main O‑ring. O‑rings are built for such tasks and do not need to be removed for pro­tec­tion. You don’t remove the O‑rings from the bushings either. Always store the case com­ple­te­ly closed, otherwise it may happen that you take the case out of the closet and one of the two halves falls on the floor because you have forgotten that the case is open.

Before any service, contact your local dealer. They will help you get the repla­ce­ment part, ship the case for service, or do it on their own, if they’re aut­ho­ri­zed to do so. If you do not have a contact person on site, please contact us directly at our main office in Austria before each shipment to avoid problems with customs. We will be happy to help you and tell you what you have to consider.

As always, shipping costs vary and depend on the size of the order and the desti­na­ti­on of the delivery. Our shipping costs are always cal­cu­la­ted accor­din­gly when the offer is made and shown sepa­ra­te­ly. Insurance for 1% of the value of the goods is mandatory for every shipment and will be charged with the shipping costs.

Perfectly packaged and insured, we will ship your package with UPS Standard or Express Service. Within Austria we ship with Express Post Service.

Yes. A secure service and gua­ran­teed, day-by-day sche­du­ling are the pre­re­qui­si­tes for sending your high-quality order. It doesn’t matter whether you are at home in the EU or at the other end of the world — we deliver wherever you want — provided there is always reliable delivery in the respec­ti­ve country.

If the delivery is delayed or your package does not arrive, please contact us as soon as possible. We will imme­dia­te­ly determine the whe­re­a­bouts of your shipment via package tracking and inform you accordingly.

Always check the condition of the packaging and the contents upon receipt of your shipment. If the package arrives damaged, take a photo imme­dia­te­ly and complain to the relevant delivery company. In order to claim an insurance benefit, we need a damage cer­ti­fi­ca­te from the respon­si­ble transport company. In any case, contact us as soon as possible.

Before you send your equipment in for service, please get in touch with your local contact — they will advise you accor­din­gly. If there are no partners in your region, please contact our head office directly. We will be happy to advise you and will of course help you further.

Please always contact us before shipping. For shipping from an EU country, simply select your preferred shipping company. Whether express or standard shipping, there are no customs for­ma­li­ties to be observed. But remember to take out appro­pria­te insurance for your valuable cargo.

Would you like to send us one of your devices for service? Please always contact us before shipping to avoid extra time and issues.

The sending of goods from a non-EU country is subject to customs duties. If we receive a package from non-EU countries, the customs aut­ho­ri­ties will charge approx. 10% import duty and 20% VAT. Another option is to introduce the package in the customs notice. This can only be carried out by a freight forwarder at con­sidera­ble cost.

For this reason, we work with a so-called pro forma invoice and a low value of goods. Here the customs charge no or only small customs fees and the value added tax, which is reim­bur­sed to us by the tax office. We will create the necessary pro forma invoice and forward it to you. Provided with your signature, add this invoice to the shipping documents.

Make sure that you state “Austria” for the country of desti­na­ti­on and country of origin and that the value matches the pro forma invoice! Don’t forget to take out appro­pria­te insurance for your valuable cargo.