Would you use a smartphone to take pictures underwater?

[dfx]

Every picture that I take with my DSLR is subject to post-processing before I display it here or elsewhere. For example, I do not see the point of doing white balance underwater when I can tweak my RAW file in the comfort of my office. Yes, a DSLR can take a nicer picture than a point-and-shoot or cellphone camera without post-processing, but I see this as a discussion that's largely academic.

Discussing that one particular special case might be academic, but when you extend it to have general meaning, it's not academic at all. You can also take two photos, one from a DSLR and one from some cheap camera, subject both to the same processing and see which one comes out better. It's all about one tool being better suited for a job than another.

Snapping identical photos in the same light would give us an apples-to-apples comparison. There are other variables though, particularly for underwater use. Can the diver handle the camera and its controls underwater? In low light? In a current? Are the controls accessible? Can the diver afford the camera and housing? The extra baggage charges? Will the propeller plane even take it? Etc. Sometimes I'm a little envious of other divers when I see their little point-and-shoot dangling daintily from their wrist, while I drive my housing and strobes like a forklift. And there are a few divers on ScubaBoard who take excellent point-and-shoot pictures.

Correct, cameras which produce lower quality images often have some other advantage that makes people buy and use them (often it's just the price). But I really, really, really don't see the advantage of using a cell phone to take pictures under water. It's not price, you need to buy an expensive housing. It's not picture quality, because cameras which are just as small and cost just as much as the housing produce better pictures. It's not ease of use (can you even use the touch screen under water?). It's not the fact that you always have it with you (which is usually given as the killer argument for using the phone for everything) because the phone itself doesn't cut it, you also need to have the housing with you, which again means that instead of that housing, you could also take a real camera. It's not battery life. So what is it, other than to show off how iCool you are?

 

[vladimir]

So what is it, other than to show off how iCool you are?

I need a camera that is small, light, and cheap. I already have an iphone (because I need to feel iCool), so take the cost of that out of the equation. I could buy a housed Canon from Backscatter for $1,200—admittedly a much more capable system, especially with the bundled strobe—or I could buy the housing in DiveNav's post for $350. So, since cheap is one of my criteria, I am leaning towards housing my phone. But—again, because I need to feel iCool—I am in the habit of posting my pictures on FaceBook immediately after taking them, for the pleasure of my 14 friends, 12 family members, and 213 people I barely know. If I took the pictures with my phone, I could post them to FaceBook as soon as the boat got within signal distance of shore! But wait, it gets better! Because I am an incredibly shallow person, I like to make those 213 "friends" a little jealous of the exotic places I travel to. What could be better than posting the GPS data alongside the picture?! That's right, losers, I am diving off an outrigger canoe at S8 24.56255 E115 11.33387, and you are watching reality tv!


For the record:

I thought my Nikon D70 + Subal housing was optimal for my needs when I bought it. When I upgrade, it will be to a newer Nikon and the corresponding Subal housing.

I have only taken one picture with my iPhone, and I have only owned it for a few months. I was happily uncool with a Blackberry until my corporate landscape changed.

I have never posted anything on Facebook.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I need a camera that is small, light, and cheap. I already have an iphone (because I need to feel iCool), so take the cost of that out of the equation. I could buy a housed Canon from Backscatter for $1,200—admittedly a much more capable system, especially with the bundled strobe—or I could buy the housing in DiveNav's post for $350. So, since cheap is one of my criteria, I am leaning towards housing my phone. But—again, because I need to feel iCool—I am in the habit of posting my pictures on FaceBook immediately after taking them, for the pleasure of my 14 friends, 12 family members, and 213 people I barely know. If I took the pictures with my phone, I could post them to FaceBook as soon as the boat got within signal distance of shore! But wait, it gets better! Because I am an incredibly shallow person, I like to make those 213 "friends" a little jealous of the exotic places I travel to. What could be better than posting the GPS data alongside the picture?! That's right, losers, I am diving off an outrigger canoe at S8 24.56255 E115 11.33387, and you are watching reality tv!

That made me LOL. .

I have never posted anything on Facebook.

One of the remaining holdouts

 

[dfx]

I need a camera that is small, light, and cheap. I already have an iphone (because I need to feel iCool), so take the cost of that out of the equation. I could buy a housed Canon from Backscatter for $1,200—admittedly a much more capable system, especially with the bundled strobe—or I could buy the housing in DiveNav's post for $350. So, since cheap is one of my criteria, I am leaning towards housing my phone. But—again, because I need to feel iCool—I am in the habit of posting my pictures on FaceBook immediately after taking them, for the pleasure of my 14 friends, 12 family members, and 213 people I barely know. If I took the pictures with my phone, I could post them to FaceBook as soon as the boat got within signal distance of shore! But wait, it gets better! Because I am an incredibly shallow person, I like to make those 213 "friends" a little jealous of the exotic places I travel to. What could be better than posting the GPS data alongside the picture?! That's right, losers, I am diving off an outrigger canoe at S8 24.56255 E115 11.33387, and you are watching reality tv!

Of course, none of this would actually work under water.

 

[DelrayDM]

Aluminum housings for iPhone 4 now exist and are available here.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Aluminum housings for iPhone 4 now exist and are available here.

I wonder what happens when Apple revises their software and the screen gets re-laid out?

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I wonder what happens when Apple revises their software and the screen gets re-laid out?

It's never changed since the iPhone was first released. Probably a pretty safe thing to bet on. Even other brands of smartphone have the camera buttons in the same spot.

Sent via teletype

 

[Tigerman]

Of course, none of this would actually work under water.

It would however once you surface and below water youre too busy taking said pictures to put on FB to actually do it anyways!

I actually would consider the housing myself if I had $350 to spend (and if it works with the iPod touch as I dont have the iPhone) given that it has a built in depth gauge and dive computer capability, but I wouldnt care about the photo part though..

 

[ScubaSteve]

It's never changed since the iPhone was first released. Probably a pretty safe thing to bet on. Even other brands of smartphone have the camera buttons in the same spot.

Sent via teletype

True enough however with something that changes as quickly as cell phones do, I would still worry about it. That may just be me. I would also not be happy if I went under water and forgot to disable the "swipe to unlock" feature (which I don't know how to do). And I would go into this knowing that I would have this for no more than maximum 3 years before I replaced the phone with something better (such as a 5 which would require a new housing since it is dimensionally different from the 4).

Although this post makes it sound like I am against this item, I actually am not. If I was not so attached to my phone (read this to say scared to lose it or to have to $$ replace it) and if it was brand new (meaning 3 years before my contract was up) then I would seriously consider it.

 

[DelrayDM]

Upon further 'investigation' there is a 99 cent app for it called i-patima at itunes