Le Roy French, owner of Bamboo Reef dive shop, designed this hosing in the mid 1960's. It was built for an 8mm movie camera, but the same casting could also be machined to house the Nikon 35mm series. The Bamboo Reef under the direction of French and his partner, Al Giddings, manufactured a number of housings during the mid '60's and early '70's.
Later, French started his own company, French Underwater Industries, and manufactured a complete line of underwater photo equipment; strobes, wide-angle lenses, housings for Bronica, Nikon, and a number of 8mm units. French also purchased the rights and tooling to build the Sampson/Hall housings, which he re-designed for the 16km Cinema Beaulieu motion picture camera. This housing was donated by the Historical Diving Society USA.