New underwater housing for the RED Komodo has been introduced by Matt Hipsley from Salty Surf. This housing will allow you to take your Komodo and film inside our marvelous oceans up to 20m / 66ft deep. Read more below.
Salty Surf Housings
Salty Surf Housing is a company founded by Matt Hipsley which develops and produces surf housing for a wide variety of cameras. The housing is CNC machined from a single block of billet aluminum that allows a unique strength to weight ratio. According to Matt, the housings are extremely durable whilst weighing less than half that of most current competitors. The housings also offer simplified access to camera functions as a standard feature. Users are easily able to adjust aperture, shutter speed, and ISO whilst in the water.
RED Komodo housings
The new RED Komodo housing is designed to work with RED Komodo, plus 2x Canon BP-975 Batteries (or smaller) and the Atomos Shinobi with NP-F770 Battery. According to Salty Surf, you can fit similar size monitors to the Shinobi inside the housing, however, you will sacrifice the monitor on/off control capabilities. The Komodo housing allows full physical control of the camera, including ON/OFF Switch, MENU, FORWARD, BACK, SELECT, PLAY, RECORD Shinobi ON/OFF Switch, and 2x M16 bulkhead thread. Check out the image below for focusing on the control’s access to the housing. The housing weighs about 3kg.
The housing is CNC machined from a single block of billet aluminum that allows a unique strength to weight ratio.
Construction
The RED Komodo housing is made of CNC machined from a single piece of billet aluminum then anodized and painted. All buttons and hardware are 316 stainless steel, providing superior corrosion resistance. Furthermore, the housing comes standard with two Vans ODI side handles included.
Ports
The Komodo housing comes with the ‘STANDARD’ port system, which is compatible with lenses up to 105mm diameter. However, the Komodo housing does not allow fitment of larger CINE lenses due to the compact size of the housing.
Color customization
The housings are painted in highly durable two-pack paint. The paint not only provides additional corrosion protection to your housing but also provides an opportunity to customize the look of the housing. You get to choose your color from a wide variety of options, which can be very special and beneficial especially for current Komodo owners that purchased the preproduction models (ST and colored). For those who are not familiar with the costume colored Komodos, make sure to read our article: Stormtrooper Komodo Is A Go. The Blacks Will be Shipped in September. Also, check out the slide below for a quick recap.
Depth Rating
This is the most important parameter. Salty Surf RED Komodo housing can be used at a maximum depth of 20m / 66ft, which can be enough for most underwater productions. However, keep in mind that this is not defined as diving housing. If you’d like to use your Komodo deep into the ocean, consider getting the Gates Underwater’s Deep Komodo, which is still in development (read: Ocean Cinematography News: The AquaTech REFLEX and Gates’ Deep Komodo).
Price
The Salty Surf RED Komodo housing costs $4,500 and can be ordered from their website.
Would you take your Komodo underwater with the Salty Surf Housings? Let’s know your thoughts.
