Sony A9II/A7RIV Underwater Housing by Nauticam

Sony has been at the forefront of the mirrorless evolution, offering cameras with specifications that are truly geared towards meeting the disparate needs of today's image makers while maintaining a similar, if not almost identical form factor. With the a7R IV, Sony introduced the highest resolution full frame mirrorless camera to date and with the a9 II it took speed image quality to another level. Luckily, for those wishing to take their cameras underwater, the a7R IV and the a9 II have extremely similar body size and control placement. For this reason, Nauticam is offering the NA-a2020 housing that offer full support for both cameras in the same housing without modification.

THE SONY A7R IV AND SONY A9 II CAMERAS

While both the a7R IV and the a9 II feature the same size sensor and body, they are two very different cameras. With the NA-a2020 Underwater Housing, you now can choose the right camera for the job while using the same housing, lenses and ports. Both cameras share 5-axis in-body stabilization (IBIS) providing up to 5.5 stops of stabilization and the ability to record 4K video either from the full sensor width or a Super35 crop at up to 30p to dual UHS-II SD card slots.

Both cameras are capable of clean HDMI video output up to UHD 4K 4:2:2 8-bit at up to 25p.

THE SONY A7R IV CAMERA

The Sony a7R IV is the company's fourth generation, high-resolution full-frame mirrorless camera. The 61.0-megapixel full-frame Exmor R CMOS sensor combined with BIONZ X imaging engine delivers unprecedented resolution, fine gradation, and low noise. Relative to previous generations, it promises more robust build quality, refined controls, the company's latest autofocus.

The a7R IV also received a serious upgrade from a7R III to its electronic viewfinder (EVF) in a 1.6x bump in resolution to an impressive 5.76-million-dots of UXGA OLED display, the highest of any mirrorless full-frame camera.

Sony Alpha a7R IV Key Specifications

• 61MP BSI CMOS full-frame sensor
• Fast Hybrid AF with tracking
• 10 fps burst shooting (12-bit Raw mode) with AF Tracking
• 5.76M dot OLED viewfinder
• 4K video from full sensor width (sub-sampled) or oversampled from Super35 crop
• S-Log 2, S-Log 3 and 'HLG' video modes (8-bit only)

THE SONY A9 II CAMERA

The a9 II is the flagship full-frame mirrorless camera in Sony's lineup and features a 24.2MP Exmor RS BSI CMOS sensor. The original a9 set the bar for high speed shooting with an incredible 20fps without EVF blackout, a trait passed on to the a9 II. It's 693 phase-detection pints cover over 93% of the sensor's surface which, combined with the BIONZ X processor leads to fast and accurate autofocus, even while tracking. Placing only 24.2 megapixels on the sensor, the a9 II prioritizes dynamic range and excellent low-light sensitivity over resolution.

Sony Alpha a9 II Key Specifications

• 24.2MP BSI CMOS full-frame sensor
• 20fps continuous shooting without EVF blackout
• Fast Hybrid AF with Tracking
• 3.69M dot OLED viewfinder
• 4K video from full sensor width (sub-sampled) or oversampled from Super35 crop

THE NAUTICAM NA-?2020 UNDERWATER HOUSING

Nauticam has supported the Sony Alpha full-frame line since the original a7 with professional grade aluminum housings that offer intuitive access to all the controls and functions of the cameras. As the cameras have evolved, so have the Nauticam housings. The Nauticam NA-a2020 takes our commitment to the Sony full-frame mirrorless line to another level by delivering the first housing that will support both the a9 II and the a7R II with full access to all controls without modification or restriction.

Integrated DSLR-housing styled handles with ergonomic rubberized grips and stainless steel stiffening brackets add stability and accessory mounting points. The NA-a2020 also features dual rear thumb-levers that are easily reached from the handle that access three of the most-used controls on the rear of the camera. The right lever actuates the AF-ON and RECORD buttons while the left lever is mapped to the PLAY button.

Atop the housing on the left side are controls specific to the a9II in the form of a MODE dial and FOCUS mode lever. The C1, C2 buttons as well as the EV compensation dial also have direct access from the top of the housing. The C3, which is typically assigned to control switching between the EVF and the LCD screen is easily reachable on the rear of the housing from the left handle.

ACCESSORY PORTS

The NA-a2020 has both and M24 port at the front of the housing for both HDMI 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 connectivity (see sidebar for recommendations) as well as an M14 at the rear for the optional Vacuum Valve (25624). The housing comes with electronics pre-installed for Nauticam's Vacuum Check and Leak Detection system. This monitoring system provides constant updates on the water tight and safe-to-dive status of the housing. A simple color coded LED lighting system lets the user know that the vacuum is solid, or that the housing is losing vacuum. Leak detection is built into the same circuit, so if there is water intrusion, an audible and visual indication will occur. The Nauticam system is temperature compensated, eliminating false alarms caused by a change in outside temperature, or from a camera heating up on an action packed dive.

PREMIUM PROFESSIONAL OPTICS

Nauticam's wide range of ports and in-house corrective optics are the perfect compliment to the NA-a2020's inherent flexibility. Built around the N100 Port System, the NA-a2020 supports a wide variety of Sony FE mount lenses, as well as EF mount lenses via adapters. In addition, there are several options available to use the groundbreaking WACP and WACP-2 wide-angle corrective lenses as well as the more compact and in-water removable WWL-1.

For example, With the Sony SEL1635GM FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM, the WACP 2 brings the original 105º field-of-view to an impressive 128º with sharper corners, an ~0" minimum focus distance and a more natural looking image than would be provided by a standard glass dome port.

FLASH TRIGGERING

Both fiber-optic and electrical strobe triggering options are available. The Nauticam Universal Fiber Optical cables attach to the built-in bulkheads atop the housing and feature modular connections for both Sea&Sea-style bushings and INON threaded connections. Triggering is achieved using the optional Nauticam Mini Flash Trigger for Sony (26302) which uses LEDs powered by an on-board coin-cell battery to generate a manual signal that is transmitter via the optical cables to compatible strobes.