Light & Motion Titan D200

Sneak Peek at the Light & Motion Titan D200 With a few twists of the arm and a vulcan mind meld, we were able to snag Light & Motion's first Titan for the Nikon D200. Light & Motion will be unveiling the new Titan D200 at DEMA in a few days, but we thought you'd like a sneak peek. Click on the thumbnails below to see bigger images.

Size and Buoyancy

At first look, the Titan D200 is larger than the Sea & Sea and Subal D200 housings and I'm happy to see it. The D200 is a heavy camera body and needs a larger volume housing for buoyancy. The Light & Motion engineers didn't have exact specs, but they believe it will be close to neutral in water. With the strobe manufacturers tending toward smaller and heavier, I hope it's on the light side. Will it float... will it float?

Ergonomics

The ergonomics of the Titan D200 are very nice. The handles can be adjusted in, out, forward and back. The smallest hand on our staff had no problem reaching the controls. The main and sub command dials are magnetic dials that drive USB electronics and feature large indentations that should be easy to operate with heavy gloves. The shutter release has great tactile feedback. It's very easy to feel the difference between a half-press and fire.

Magnified Viewfinder

The optional magnified viewfinder is very bright and provides a larger image than the Subal finder. It's user removable for packing and has a diopter for vision correction that can be adjusted while underwater. A great feature for those O2 soaked eyes. As with all prism viewfinders, you have to keep your eye centered with the finder for a sharp image, however it's brightness and larger size looks great.

Sealed Electronics

All electronics are sealed in independent enclosures and are replaceable in the field. It looks like the seal design will eliminate or at least greatly reduce issues from splashes of water during battery or card changes. A new connector design is self-cleaning and should hold up to sloppy use. It's these electronic that allow the Titan D200 to be so ergonomic. Light & Motion will be shipping an easy to use field service kit and might even issue a firmware update that allows you to program user presets for different shooting situations.... think toggling from macro mode, wide mode, split mode... etc. Very cool!

ROC Strobe Control

Many folks have fallen in love with the ROC strobe controls from Light & Motion. The Titan D200 has ROC controls on the back and within easy thumb reach. As with previous housings, the ROC will allow you to control strobe power independently or both strobes locked together. An optional third sync port will allow you to use a TTL Converter if you just have to have TTL. Yeah, ROC is back!

LCD Display

The large LCD display makes it much easier to see exposure information and graphically displays the power setting on the strobes. An easy to use thumb lever on the left side of the housing allows you to toggle through exposure modes and menu settings quickly. Users of the Magic Filter will love Light & Motion's 3 touch white balance feature... so much easier than doing it with the camera. A hidden feature allows you to play the video game Pong on those long deco stops. He, he.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Titan D200 won't be shipping until January 2007. We'll keep you posted on this very unique housing!

Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo - 225 Cannery Row - Monterey, California 93940
phone 831.645.1082 fax 831.375.1526 Email: sales@backscatter.com