Do I need the dive housing for GoPro Hero 4 Silver?

[divebrasil]

Hi All,

I used to have a Hero 2 which I manually changed the round port to a flat port but used the standard housing for UW video. I just ordered a GoPro Hero 2 Silver and now I am wondering if I need to order the dive housing. The standard is rated to 40m which sufficient for my dives, but besides max depth are there any other differences? Seems the locking is different?

Did anyone hear of problem using the standard housing for diving?

Thanks so much

 

[dumpsterDiver]

the standard housing will be fine.

 

[mockney]

I recently bought a Go-Pro Hero 4. I have dived with it a couple of times now using the standard housing without any issues. The deepest being just over 30m.

 

[RJP]

I have a Hero 4 Black. I found that when using the LCD back in the regular housing - at depths in and around the rated 130ft depth - the touch-screen would sometimes activate. I would say three dives out of the 10 or so I did with that housing. I'm assuming that meant that pressure was causing the housing to touch the screen itself. The problem would be that at that point I could no longer operate the camera at all because the camera assumed I was touching the screen and it kept prompting me to "unlock" it by sliding the red circle up. (Which I couldn't do with the camera in the housing.)

This never happened with the dive housing on nearly 30 dives so far... including one to 210ft. (Um, I mean 197ft... if any GoPro warranty folks are reading this thread.)

In addition to the beefier lock, the dive housing is thicker overall. It also has a touch more room between the housing and the camera itself. This extra space also allows for easy insertion of the moisture absorbent strips into the housing. Although these strips can be used multiple times, they don't fit as well in the standard housing after a single use since they puff up a bit.

 

[AngloFish]

Hero 4 black with the supplied housing. I've done about 10 dives with it so far and no leaks. Max depth about 100.

 

[seaseadee]

Does anyone know if there are differences in the ports on these two? Does the dive housing do anything different for the image than the standard housing?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Not that i have noticed..

 

[kinchosolera]

Go Pro 4 works perfectly on diving. Be aware of the frames per second for high quality definition. Best regards

 

[divebrasil]

Go Pro 4 works perfectly on diving. Be aware of the frames per second for high quality definition. Best regards

I ended up pulling the trigger on the Dive housing. Don't want to risk getting a flood during a trip.

I know about the FPS, but what do you mean by "be aware"?

Thanks

 

[scubatoys]

The Dive housing is rated for a deeper depth. The casing is slightly thicker to withstand the greater pressure. The lens on the Dive Housing is a slightly higher quality glass but unnoticeable either way. I can tell you that the Dive housing will come with a small neoprene pad across the inside of the back door to keep things secure in the housing. I have not received a great answer from GoPro as for what to do for the Hero 4 Silver since the screen is built in, there is not a great solution to getting a completely clear backdoor that fits the dive housing.