Improved Underwater Camera Housing

This instructable shows how everybody can make an underwater camera housing, using regular materials and for only a few bucks!

You could film your family of friends under water, in a swimming pool...Or film some fish in an aquarium!

Here you can watch some footage that I shoot in an aquarium with this Underwater camera housing!!



My idea is based on other instructables like:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Underwater-Video-Camera--Camcorder-Housing-for-le/
But I wanted to improve this instructable by adding more possibilities to control the camera, like using the on/off buttons, zoom-buttons but especially the record button!

This is the link to our class:
http://blog.wdka.nl/make
WDKA Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Ruud

Step 1 List of equipment

The most important thing:
- A watertight case or box (you could try to find one in or around your house) For this instructable, I used a case that people normally use to keep dogfood in.

- plexiglass
- PVC with diameter 3 cm.
- ducktape
- a watertight glove
- velcro
- an old belt
- some wood
- a small piece from the inner tube from a bicycle tire
- a small package moisture absorbent
- silicone paste

Tools:

- Scissor
- small saw
- jigsaw
- file
- a pencil
- electric drilling machine

And ofcourse, you need a videocamera!

Comments

[delizia]

great instructable!!, I have made several underwater housing units. With this project i'm really sure the housing is waterproof. Tested it underwater for about an hour, no leaking anywhere. And as you can see I also made a small window for the camera display. Instead of a belt I use a piece of wood with a bolt that you can screw in your camera.

[richeypaul1]

When I went snorkeling in the Caribbean, I used a underwater housing camera and the picture turned out great! They were awesome!

[myssa]

hoeveel kan dit kosten (how much would this coast)

[chinchymork]

the only problem is that if the container is air tight that means there is still going to be air inside which will make it hard to drag under water. The camera will want to float to the top.

[wscottc60]

If you had a camera with an LCD view finder in the back preferably one of the 2 inch ones you could put a window in the back and be able to see what you were shooting or 'filming'

[casey321b]

wouldnt the air inside make it float??? how do you get it far underwater

[gomiboy]

Thanks for referencing my Instructable - glad it was inspiring! This looks great!

About the finger control and how watertight it is - check out http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-the-12-Snorkelbox--A-small-and-simple/ for what looks like a great way of doing this. I'm planning on this for my 2.0 version, which I'm working on now (Instructable soon).

[Patrik]

Looks snazzy! I would be worried about that glove finger, though. Try slipping that finger over your water faucet and turn on the tap - does it inflate? If so, it will likely do the same when you stick this thing a couple of feet underwater...

[Mangetout]

Good point - I'd be inclined to use a finger from a fabric-reinforced glove - one of those industrial gauntlet things that is thick rubber with embedded canvas lining or something. Also, I think the housing probably needs some weights inside it - not enough to make it sink on its own, but enough to counteract some of the buoyancy of the enclosed air - otherwise it's going to be hard to actually dive with the thing.

[themakeclass]

And my answer to what Patrik says...ofcourse I tested the glove finger if it was waterproof..I have done this by using the faucet...but I thought it was not such a good idea to put all my testing results to this Instructable! I made a lot of tests...I tested ducktape for wastertightness but It was not watertight and I also tested the silicone paste, which was waterproof!

[themakeclass]

It is fully waterproof..the problem was that I did not have the time to test it in deeper water with fish or something yet...but I will do that soon and add the results to this instructable! Indeed the video now shows only a test while it is half under water...I did this because you can see the line now where the water ends...if I'd put the whole thing under water, you would not see anything, you would not see if it really was under water because water is too clear...only if there where fish or plants in the water, but as I said, I'm going to film that stuff soon.

[082535]

From the video there was no way of telling if the whole thing would be water proof. This video made the thing look like it was a just in case you drop it into a lake sort of thing, and not for full under water adventures. good Instructable though