Make your Digicam an UNDERWATER Digicam

[dark horge]

There may be times when you want to shoot an unknown sessile critter in extreme macro, and the only way is to shoot it from INSIDE the tank




That underwater Reef Videoclip I posted awhile back on the main General Reef Discussion forum was shot with a Fuji Finepix A201 compact digital camera. It is not a waterproof camera by itself.

It was ably protected from the water by an Aquapac waterproof camera case, which I bought last Summer in the US (at a Sports Authority outlet). It is a British product, and involves a clear soft plastic pouch, with a hard plastic 'lens' for the camera to shoot through --this even comes with an attached 'lens cap' to protect it from scratches (this cap when open can bump into things when shoting macro in crowded quarters)-- all of it sealed with a hard-plastic locking device to keep water out.

So long as a camera's dials have a thumb knob, they are fairly easy to operate through the soft plastic. Slide switches are a little trickier, but manageable.

Since the waterproof pouch comes in only a few sizes, your camera may be too small, and this can make aligning the camera lens with the pouch 'lens' tricky. Stuffing the bag with tissue paper for a slightly tighter fit may work (you still want some looseness to operate the camera switches). Or you can just align the two 'lenses' for each and every shot.




hth,



horge

[thefatman]

this i did not know. very cool indeed!!!!!

and here i thought you had some really expensive underwater camera!! thanks horge, i'll have to check around our local sports stores.

[dark horge]

Actually
Up until the shoot, I was scared poopless to use it.

I had to test it with dry tissue paper insde at first ---repeatedly-- before actually trusting the Aquapac with my digtal camera. I think anyone buying this product should test it thorougly befiore use too.

Ya never know when an item on the shelf was preiously returned after undeclared abuse!

[Ben Nicholls]

I just ordered one of these this morning before I saw this thread. They do sell them from thier web site too.

http://www.aquapac.co.uk/

[ChrisIsBored]

So exactly how deep underwater did you take your camera?

From their website:

Next they were tested for waterproofness. All complied with IPX7 which covers temporary immersion. Then they were tested to the most demanding standard of all – IPX8 – meaning 30 minutes continuous immersion at a depth of 10 metres = 33 feet. In this test a tiny drop of water did get through the very longest clamp – that’s the one which has 4 levers. But the shorter clamps were still 100% dry and passed the test. In fact the smallest Aquaclip - used on the mini and small phone cases, the pager case, and the Keymaster pouch – was still waterproof at 40 meters = 131 feet.

I'd be a bit scared of pressure doing something to break my camera without some sort of hard style case. Looks perfect for snorkeling though or when diving in shallow water.

[dark horge]

Deepest must have been about 4 meters, Chris.
Unfortunately, I discovered that the memory card was already full at that point, or I'd have some killer footage of a field of purple, pink and blue Anthelia.