Fantasea Hybrid Vacuum Safety System Review

With their new Fantasea Sony a6400 housing, Fantasea has introduced an exciting new hybrid vacuum safety system feature. The Sony A6400 is Sony’s newest cropped sensor, mirrorless camera. It boasts many of the features from their full-frame line, yet at half the cost. The Fantasea Sony a6400 housing is an excellent, high-quality option for the a6400 at an extremely low price point. The new vacuum system adds an additional layer or security to the system. You can be sure that the chance of a flood with this housing and a properly used vacuum seal is almost non-existant. 

Fantasea a6400 Underwater Housing

Vacuum Safety System Overview:

The Fantasea hybrid vacuum safety system is perhaps one of the easiest to use vacuum systems of any housing manufacturer. Vacuum systems create an extremely watertight seal by creating a vacuum inside of the housing. This ads extra security in the dive. This vacuum system is additionally equiped with a leak detector that has a moisture sensor. If any water gets into the housing, the leak detection system will immediately set off an alarm that will alert you it's time to abort the dive. This is a highly unlikely situation considering the pre-dive vacuum check feature included with this safety system. The pre-dive vacuum check analyzes the strength of the vacuum seal over the course of a few minutes before getting in the water. If the vacuum seal passes the check, the housing will let you know with a green light. 

Vacuum and Leak Detection System Operation:

The signal board (which emits the light signal) will need to be charged after every 3 full days of diving with an android-type cell phone charger. Using the safety system is very simple: 

1. Turn on the signal board. This will activate the moisture sensor as well as the light signals for the vacuum valve

2. The light should be blinking blue - indicating the housing is ready for the vacuum seal. Rapid blue flashing indicates a low battery

3. Unscrew the vacuum valve protective cap

4. Attach the vacuum pump and start pumping the handle

5. As you pump, the signal light will blink orange. Once it turns a solid orange, stop pumping and wait.

6. The vacuum seal will be analyzed by the housing for the next few minutes. At the end of analysis, the signal will glow green if the housing is ready to dive. If the seal test failed (red light), fill the housing back up with air, check your oring, and try again. 

7. At the end of the dive, take off the protective cap, rotate the vacuum release tip counter clockwise, and the housing will fill with air. When the signal light turns red that means your housing is ready to open. 

Vacuum pump light indicating the vacuum seal is ready for analysis

Our Thoughts:

Overall, we love this vacuum system. It's sophisticated but intuitive. In fact, we didn't even need the manual to figure it out (though we recommend still reading it to make use of all of it's feaures). It only takes a few pumps to make a vacuum seal and is much quicker to use than some other manufacturer vacuum seals. We also loved how it's integrated with a moisture sensor for added protection. The predive check gave extra peace of mind, and let us skip the step of having to check to make sure the pressure was maintained on the vacuum seal. At the end of the day, we took the Sony a6400 and Fantasea housing to some of the wildest local dive sites we knew, and the camera stayed safe and dry. 

Fantasea Sony a6400 underwater housing and vacuum system video review:

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Sony a6400 sample underwater images: 

Hermit crab photographed with the Sony 50mm macro lens. f/2.8, 1/160, ISO 200

This bull kelp scene is the perfect showcase of the dynamic range ability of the Sony a6400