Among my many obsessions, underwater photography has become a raison d'être for nearly all my underwater explorations. Admittedly, I'm still a dinosaur in the world of photography, as I remain a student of film. My main "big gun" has been the Sea & Sea NX-100 Pro housing for Nikon's F100 camera, mated with a pair of YS350 strobes for both wide-angle and macro photography. I like the big strobes because they cover about 62 miles of reef (OK, so I exaggerate slightly) with light for my wide-angle shooting and allow me to shoot apertures as tight as f-32 on macro. The strobes can be adjusted from one-quarter power to a full blast (there are five sync modes for creative types) for maximum control over the main nemesis of underwater photographers everywhere: light. Everything on this housing is in the right place and easy to manipulate on the fly. The shutter-release lever is only a finger-twitch away, and the aperture rotary knob is positioned immediately below for quick f-stop adjustments while following a turtle on the roam. One feature I use constantly is the thumb-controlled focus area selector, because somewhere in the back of my thick skull, Jim Church's (famous teacher, guru and author of seminal underwater-photography books) voice echoes the importance the rule of thirds in composition, which occasionally I luck out and remember.

Flash control, auto bracketing, exposure compensation, film speed and single-servo or continuous-frame shoot modes are all accessible and within economical reach for quick adjustments. Plus, the housing is small and compact.

One of the features that keeps the NX-100 Pro in my travel bag is its ease of use. There's a simple tray (attached with a single screw) to slide the camera in place and lock it down, and the ports can be swapped even in a pitching dinghy (not a good idea, but I've done it). The typical setup time does not eat up the entire night before the dive. In fact (again, generally not a good idea), I've shown up at a location and been unpacked, set up and ready to dive in less than an hour. Another nice feature I like for night dives is the accessory bulkhead connector for an optional focus-activated light, perfect for low-light conditions.

One day, I'll make the switch to digital. Until then, I'm quite happy with my old-school ways and the Sea & Sea NX-100 Pro.