Paralenz has filed for bankruptcy

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

A pity as it was the only underwater camera I've not managed to flood in hundreds of dives, most beyond recreational depths. Had a good battery life too. Liked the simplicity.

Obviously no screen and flaky software which could have done with an update.

Current GoPro is $450 plus a decent strong housing which seems to be about the same again. GoPros are much larger and older ones have short battery life. Plastic housings aren't great.
 
Watching for a half price Black Friday sale...
It seems that companies are managing to sell their stock even with the bankruptcy. Cave Adventures sold out all of their Paralenz Vaquita cameras in one day at $749 each. Dive Gear Express is still selling at $799.
 
A pity as it was the only underwater camera I've not managed to flood in hundreds of dives, most beyond recreational depths. Had a good battery life too. Liked the simplicity.

Obviously no screen and flaky software which could have done with an update.

Current GoPro is $450 plus a decent strong housing which seems to be about the same again. GoPros are much larger and older ones have short battery life. Plastic housings aren't great.
If you buy a GoPro usually the best is to buy via their website where they offer a reduced price if you subscribe to their services, just cancel it afterwards.

You also get a better deal usually on Black Friday.

Not sure if the 450USD is this price, I usually check the GBP price.

Agree on their housing not being that great too.
 
Seriously looking at a DiveVolk iPhone housing as an iPhone's a good video camera, has a decent sized screen and can play audiobooks underwater. And I have iPhones (which can be put on the business ;-)

Just need some recommendations though!
 
Seriously looking at a DiveVolk iPhone housing as an iPhone's a good video camera, has a decent sized screen and can play audiobooks underwater. And I have iPhones (which can be put on the business ;-)
DiveVolk is impressive. I’m in Fiji with one now, and an (insured) iPhone 14 pro max 1tb, with a tray. The membrane creeps me out a little, but it works very well so far (two dives, one with a lot of current, and bouncy rides) so good. I tried the sealife housing but it drove me crazy with alarms. I also have my Olympus kit and plan to use the iPhone mainly for video, but the stills are fine and the rig is obviously easier to handle. Having full access to the iPhone touch controls vs what an app allows through Bluetooth is great, and the camera improvements on the 14 are quite noticeable, especially the macro. Not a replacement or category killer, but a worthy advance. (I do have a Vaquita, but the battery life is iffy and the postage-stamp screen is not much use. With the iPhone, I attached a battery pack during surface interval and got two full dives.

Matthias Lebo has extended reviews of the DiveVolk on his YouTube channel.

Plus I’m on chapter 3 of War and Peace. :wink:
 
DiveVolk is impressive. I’m in Fiji with one now, and an (insured) iPhone 14 pro max 1tb, with a tray. The membrane creeps me out a little, but it works very well so far (two dives, one with a lot of current, and bouncy rides) so good. I tried the sealife housing but it drove me crazy with alarms. I also have my Olympus kit and plan to use the iPhone mainly for video, but the stills are fine and the rig is obviously easier to handle. Having full access to the iPhone touch controls vs what an app allows through Bluetooth is great, and the camera improvements on the 14 are quite noticeable, especially the macro. Not a replacement or category killer, but a worthy advance. (I do have a Vaquita, but the battery life is iffy and the postage-stamp screen is not much use. With the iPhone, I attached a battery pack during surface interval and got two full dives.

Matthias Lebo has extended reviews of the DiveVolk on his YouTube channel.

Plus I’m on chapter 3 of War and Peace. :wink:
Thanks for that.

Which housing do you have: the 3 or 4?

Have you added any 'extras' to it such as filters, macro lenses (which isn't needed for an iPhone 14)?

Do they have some form of neoprene(?) cover for it when not in use?

What's the sound like if listening to an audiobook? Need to hear it but not annoy others around.


Most of my diving is in cold deeper waters up to 75m/250ft, mostly in the 40m/130ft to 50m/165ft range. I'd imagine the storage pouch would be very important to keep it out of harms way when splashing and climbing out.
 
It seems that companies are managing to sell their stock even with the bankruptcy. Cave Adventures sold out all of their Paralenz Vaquita cameras in one day at $749 each. Dive Gear Express is still selling at $799.
Dive Right In Scuba is really selling them out then. They are selling bundles right now with the Mask mount, 3rd person viewer, and lens cover with a Viquita 2 for $599.00 and Viquita 1 for $399.00
 
On a related note, my Gen 2 Vaquita performed flawlessly last week during a dozen dives in the Keys.
Perhaps just coincidence, but 2/8 divers on T&C explorer trip last week were happy paralenz users.
 
Thanks for that.

Which housing do you have: the 3 or 4?

Have you added any 'extras' to it such as filters, macro lenses (which isn't needed for an iPhone 14)?

Do they have some form of neoprene(?) cover for it when not in use?

What's the sound like if listening to an audiobook? Need to hear it but not annoy others around.


Most of my diving is in cold deeper waters up to 75m/250ft, mostly in the 40m/130ft to 50m/165ft range. I'd imagine the storage pouch would be very important to keep it out of harms way when splashing and climbing out.
Hi wibble, I have bought the divevolk SeaTouch4 max and I am really fan of it. I have been using it on a red sea trip in the begining of November. It was my first time shooting underwater so I am not an expert even though I have learn a lot on this forum

I own a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ which is a very large phone filling up all the membrane screen which is great (I have access to all my screen). Actually I have been able to see both seatouch 3 pro and seatouch4 max because my girlfriend initially bought me the 3 for my birthday. I send it back because I have read different review telling that people were having issue with the touchscreen below 20m. I also read that for bigger phone such as mine the phone fits but you can't access all the screen. Before sending back the 3 to the local store, I contacted Divevolk to ask the same question than you. Here is their answer :
"the biggest diffrence is we improved the touch screen function, you will touch the seatouch 4 max housing screen more flexible than seatouch 3 , on the other hand, the seatouch 4 is bigger than seatouch 3, so it compatible with much more phone models than seatouch 3"

All of these points convinced me to buy the Seatouch4 and I can say it is day and night in term of feeling of solidity. The 4 is way more bulky and is (feel?) more durable than the 3 which is mainly plastic.

I bought with it the clamp system with red lens and ultrawide lens. I don't know if ultrawide was really needed as I own an ultrawide on my smartphone but I don't like the fisheye effect and quality it and the divevolk lens is rectilinear limiting the fishey effect. Wide angle lens is really usefull for picture of person or group of person and also for video as I shoot in 1080p for a 4k capable camera, the default field of view is very narrow.
I have shoot all my pictures with red filter in RAW and manually correct white balance on lightrrom after.
I also have a tray, two DL07 wurrkos light and two Divetek float arms to reduce the 1.2kg of this setup without float to only 400gr in natural water allowing me to let my gear out of my hand for few seconds without it sinking too fast.
For the protection part I am using their neoprene protection which I find nearly perfect (I don't like the color). You can see my review directly on the web site (Vincent's review) : Link here

I will think I will invest in a macro wet lens for my next trip next spring/summer

I have tried to listen too music and it is clear and more than loud enought. I can't say if it is disturbing as I didn't try it for too long because I find it weird too add music too the peacefulness of underwater 😀

I took the seatouch4 too 40m without any issue on the touchscreen. I am not yet allowed to go deeper so I can't tell. However one thing happened at 40m : against Divevolk recommandation I kept my tempered glass screen protector on my screen and it broke in half on my 40m dive. It's not an issue as Divevolk clearly warn not tu use any screen protection but I was too scared of breaking the screen on land and aside from the break it worked perfectly with the housing all my trip even once it was broken. It made me wonder how much pressure the screen (and thus the phone) is put too. It appears that the soft membrane is transferring some pressure to the phone and it is increasing the deeper you go. For me it was not a big deal as my screen was still protected with just one clean crack and I wasn't taking picture below 20m because there was less things to see.

Be aware that if you go below 60m, only the seatouch 3 is specified to 80m.

I will maybe take time to do a full review if people are interested and if I have time.

You can see some of my picture on my Instagram (same pseudo)

Regards

Vincent
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom