Aquatica A5Dsr Housing Announced

Aquatica Housings for New Canon 5Ds, 5Dsr & 5D Mk III Begin Shipping in July

By UWPG News, May 26, 2015

Canon recently announced two new 5D bodies with some mega megapixels, aimed at besting the beastly Nikon D810. Announced as 'bringing medium format to digital cameras,' Canon's 5Ds and 5DS R pack 50.6 megapixel sensors and dual DIGIC 6 processors.

If you're not familiar with these new cameras, you can check out the specs and our thoughts on the cameras for underwater photography in our Canon 5DS and 5DS R DSLR Review.

The Aquatica A5Dsr has been designed by Aquatica as an upgrade to the current A5D MkIII housing, making it lighter and more compact, refreshing the ergonomics, building in TTL control (for Ikelite strobes) and Aquatica's Surveyor monitoring sensor for moisture detection (and adding optional vacuum monitoring). 

Aquatica A5Dsr Housing Highlights

• Housing fits the Canon 5DS, Canon 5DS R and the original Canon 5D Mark III
• Refreshed & Improved Ergonomics
• New internal TTL circuitry for Ikelite strobes, with fingertip exposure control
• Surveyor moisture monitoring system & optional vacuum detect
• 90m / 300ft depth rating with optional upgrade to 130m / 425ft
• MSRP:  $3,399 USD (dual Nikonos bulkhead ports included)

Purchase the Aquatica A5Dsr Housing from Bluewater Photo

Shipping July 1st 2015! - Preorder Now!

PRESS RELEASE

May 25, 2015

Press release: Aquatica housing for the Canon 5Ds, 5Dsr & 5D Mk III is being introduced!

The Aquatica Team is proud to introduce to you the new Aquatica A5Dsr housing for the upcoming Canon 5Ds, 5Dsr and the existing 5D Mk III. Scheduled for shipping around July 1st.

THE DESIGN

Our Design team has refreshed the housing design for the 5D line of cameras with new improved operational ergonomics. This precision housing follows in the steps of a very time proven lineage of underwater camera housings for the constantly evolving 5D camera line up. Aquatica has been on top of the 5D program since they introduced the original one a decade ago, much like the 5D camera did, our housing has evolved into a fine imaging tool that mirrors the constant evolution of technology and the input of highly respected professional’s image makers from around the world.

IKELITE TTL OPTION & EXPOSURE CONTROL

Now offering original internal TTL circuitry from Ikelite as an option, this 5Dsr housing edition brings creativity to a new level, strobe exposure control is right there, were it is supposed to be, you can now tweak your lighting exposure or even go fully manual right at your fingertips. Controlling the amount of light entering your camera is paramount to the success of any image maker, and the A5Dsr housing controls for aperture, shutter, ISO and strobes exposures are all a “hands on the grips” approach. Every one of these is positioned to be intuitive, eliminating confusion and making the housing a natural extension of the photographer.

THE CONSTRUCTION

The Canon 5Ds and 5Dsr cameras brings stunning and previously unheard of levels of resolution to the realms of DSLR’s cameras, our job at Aquatica is to provide you with the right tools for capturing your vision of the underwater world.

All Aquatica housings are constructed from the finest material available in the industry. They are carefully crafted from a selected alloy of aircraft grade aluminum and a premium grade of stainless steel, the housing shell is machined using the latest 5 axis computer assisted machines. After undergoing a series of quality control operations, the main body and its controls knobs will get protection by anodizing them to North American military specifications, furthermore, a coating of “tough as nail” powder coating is baked on at a high temperature. Corrosion inhibiting zinc anodes are standard equipment on all of our housings. These extra levels of protection are apparent, as can be seen on some Aquatica housings that, even with over 1,500 dives on them, still look as fresh as the day they came out of the box. 

The A5Dsr housing was designed to be as small and lightweight as it could be, nevertheless its lightness in weight should not be taken for a weakness. This housing still has the same standard 90m/300ft depth rating and can still be upgraded to 130m/425ft.

Aquatica housings are made for the hard working photographer in mind, one who truly understands reliability in the field. Being built in Canada means that every Aquatica housing is born and bred in one of the world most rugged diving environment. Bottom line, if it works in our local conditions, it will work everywhere else!

SURVEYOR MONITORING SYSTEM

The Aquatica A5Dsr housing comes standard with a Surveyor monitoring sensor. This sensor acts as a moisture alarm and can with the addition of a vacuum extracting valve an pump, be used for constantly monitoring the sealing integrity of the housing, adding another level of safety and peace of mind.

THE ERGONOMICS

Given the immense impact its predecessors had on the underwater imaging, it was deemed absolutely important that this new housing be optimized so that all its controls would be easy to reach and operate smoothly. AF-ON & star button access is provided with a rotating collar that prevents ambient pressure from pushing it back toward the housing. Menus buttons are angled to provide an easier reach for your left hand. The 4xxxx gear system with a smaller housing pinion gear and larger lens gear results in smoother action while zooming in a video sequence. Knurled knobs and oversized controls translate into positive and easy operation no matter what the situation is.

A control extender arm for the ISO button is now a standard feature on the Aquatica A5Dsr Pro Housing. ISO is an important, and in our opinion a vital feature, especially when shooting video, in normal circumstances this can be done by pushing on the ISO button located on the right hand top of the housing. This lever gives a quick and comfortable access to the ISO control of the camera.

Battery and card replacement are a simple affair with a camera tray that precisely positions the camera in the housing and easily disengage by a simple push on a tab. The zoom actuating pinion gear and the lens release lever pull out to allow the user to remove the camera from the back while still keeping a lens and zoom gear attached.

Handling the housing is via our acclaimed molded grips, these have been the industry reference in comfort for the last 25 years. These lightweight yet sturdy grip handles are made of one piece and cannot come unglued, fall apart or corrode. Grips are provided with standard sized mounting holes ready to accept the most current strobes and their supporting arms. On top of the housing is an extra mounting point for attaching a focus/video light or other accessories, three additional standard sized mounting points are provided under for various brackets, support or tripods.

On the right is a view of the business end on the Aquatica A5Dsr, clearly showing the serious nature of this housing. The record button is located close to your thumb and not only is it oversized but with a bright red coating, it is visually easy to pin point. The Live View toggle is within easy reach and the SET button is also oversized. The multi controller pad is accessible. All push buttons are of high quality Type 304 stainless steel, the same used in the aerospace industry; these will not break or rust. Their smooth operation and position gives the photographer a very intuitive and normal feel to the housing.

CONNECTIVITY

The Aquatica A5Dsr housing offers a choice of connectors to take advantages of the current technology advancement made in underwater strobes.  They are user serviceable and replacing them is done quickly without requiring the need for any special tool. Again, these improvements were implemented with the travelling photographer in mind, reliability and user’s friendly field maintenance being the key word here.

Additional bulkheads access holes (16mm & ½” sized) are available for adapting accessories such an external monitor, triggering device, Surveyor vacuum monitoring system and/or sound recording accessories.

VIEWFINDERs

The Aquatica A5Dsr is supplied with our Galileo type eye piece. This high quality and coated optical finder gives a bright and full view of the view finder. For those seeking the ultimate in viewing for still image, the optional Aqua View Finder, available in straight and 45 degrees version, are among the best of the industry, they can easily be installed in a matter of a few minutes by the user. The enlarged and enhanced image provided by the Aqua View Finder is second to none in clarity, it provides the photographer with tack sharp corner to corner viewing of the camera view finder for composing and critical focusing

OPTICS

These new Canon 5D models, with their 50 megapixels, will be brutally demanding on optics, both the ones mounted on the camera and the ones attached to the housings. The Aquatica housing are supported by one of the most established and comprehensive port and accessories system of the industry. Our ports are manufactured with the finest optical material available, with four different sizes dome ports and three flat macro port, that selection is intended to let you optimize your system according to the situation at hand.

Dome ports are as follows: starting by our state-of-the-art 9.25”/230mm Megadome made of BK-7 coated mineral glass, to our classic workhorses, the 8” and 6” dome ports with removable shade, and going down all the way to the diminutive 4”/100mm Minidome, also made of coated BK7 glass. A selection of port extension rings, some including our unique manual focus capability, these extension are available for both the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM Type II and the EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, Two serious candidates for the video shooter and for which manual focus access is vital, prime lens focusing can be done using the controls knob on the upper left side of the housing.

The Aquatica 5Dsr is destined, much like its predecessor, the A5D Mk III, for a life of multi-tasking role. This previous A5D version is still a reference to date, and is used by many of the major television underwater documentary production; it has been embraced by scores of top image makers in the world whose work can be seen weekly on network television, advertising work and movie productions.

This philosophy that made the Canon 5D Mk III and its Aquatica housing so popular has not been lost on this newer version! Every effort was made to give you an underwater imaging system that can be tailored to your needs.

SPECIFICATIONS

The Aquatica A5Dsr is a very compact and lightweight housing tipping the scale at just: 

Dimension: (with grip attached) W 35cm x H 19.5cm x D14.5cm / W 13.78” x H 7.65” x D 5.72”

Dimension (without grip) 23cm x H 19.5cm x D14.5cm / W 9.06” x H 7.65” x D 5.72”

Priced starting at just $ 3,399 USD retail, with dual Nikonos included) it is one of the most economical and best designed of its category. 

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Purchase the Aquatica A5Dsr Housing from Bluewater Photo

Shipping July 1st 2015 - Preorder Now!

Further Reading

• Canon 5DS and 5DS R Camera Specs

• Aquatica A5D MKIII Underwater Housing Review

• Canon 5D Mark III In-Depth Camera Review

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