Yes,…there are variety of underwater housings for NIKON than for this particular model of SONY camera. Flashes too. However small, the underwater offer is there for SONY a77 mark 2. Maybe the reason for that could be that while NIKON has long ago become a standard, the future of SONY alpha series is still fairly uncertain, and the manufacturers of underwater housings are reluctant to invest in development of related products.
Anyway, while the advantages of NIKON are quite obvious, my attention when SONY is concerned is still drawn to several specs such as the biggest APSC sensor (among cameras in the similar price range), more AF points, insane continuous shooting rate of 12 fps and, of course, the articulating screen. I understand that the last thing is not essential, but it can con in handy in certain situations. Also, and I understand that it is purely individual preference, I like SONY’s robust build, although with only about 50g more in weight over NIKON, there isn’t much difference between the two.
Now,… I understand that SONY lacks in variety of lenses, but what about Tamron and Minolta lenses? Can this camera use those?