Would you use a smartphone to take pictures underwater?

Would you use a smartphone to take pictures underwater?

  • Most Likely

    Votes: 5 8.2%
  • Likely

    Votes: 3 4.9%
  • It depends

    Votes: 6 9.8%
  • Unlikely

    Votes: 5 8.2%
  • Very unlikely

    Votes: 42 68.9%

  • Total voters
    61
  • Poll closed .

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!

No. The idea of putting an iPhone in a housing crossed my mind but I never could really figure out why I would want to. For the cost of the housing you are well on your way to a gopro if it's a camera you're after. I've heard of housings that incorporate a depth sensor so the iPhone could be used as a dive computer, but always thought the platform not appropriate to rely on (possibility of another app causing instability, battery issues).
 
I am rather interested in the companies that are promising metal housings with a wrist mount so that a smart phone running an ap could be your SPG (wireless), compass, depth gauge, Decom-puter, still camera and video camera.
 
And leave $10,000 of DSLR, housing, lenses, and strobes on the boat?! Probably not. But the thing I like about my iPhone is that it's usually in my pocket, while my camera is not.

I saw somewhere (here, probably, or in my inbox) a housing for phones that converts them into dive computers. Great idea, availing divers of the economies of scale that smartphone users enjoy—the phone cost $600, my dive computer $1,200. If my dive computer could take pictures too, I'd have to consider it. Of course, it's probably a case of jack of all trades, master of none, but not everybody needs the master. You'd probably miss the strobes, though.

I voted "it depends."
 
Last edited:
Unlikely. Housings fail. Bad enough if a camera floods, I won't risk flooding my iPhone!
My iPhone cost a lot less than my camera, the data is backed up, and I've never had a housing fail.
 
Unlikely. Housings fail. Bad enough if a camera floods, I won't risk flooding my iPhone!
my camera is way more expensive than my iPhone.

---------- Post added April 19th, 2012 at 09:28 PM ----------

I would "depending" :wink:
Could you please elaborate on "depending" ?

---------- Post added April 19th, 2012 at 09:37 PM ----------

And leave $10,000 of DSLR, housing, lenses, and strobes on the boat?! Probably not......
:eyebrow:


....I voted "it depends."
could you please elaborate on this?
 
They are pretty crappy in low light... And their focusing system is very slow... Those are two important characteristics of an uw camera... So I really see no use for rhem underwater... But at the end it might be a perfect camera for facebook photos:)
 
Depending = some points off the top of my head:
- cost of housing
- depth rating of housing
- bulk of housing
- my activity on that day
- tradeoff of image quality vs my rugged Panasonic TS3 or housed baby camera and size/convenience of only having the phone along some times

I would likely never consider using my phone underwater as my primary system, but I have been out and about here or there where it's crossed my mind that gee, I wish I could take this thing underwater/in-water with me. The ease of instant sharing to Facebook, my blog, email on my data plan is appealing though I have to say I'd rather have my camera do that than my phone take photos underwater :)
 
There is now a coating technology that can make electronic devices waterproof without a housing. Don't recall the name of the process but micro particles are deposited on all internal and external surfaces. Similar to the concept of putting meat or fish in a smoker. Pressure is applied during the process and the device can be immersed in water. Sorry I can't recall the source of the info, I spend too much time surfing but it might have been AP news or new york times technology section. So if my phone ran a good dive computer app, had a digital compass, could follow gps underwater, had automatic fish id, had side scan sonar, was a metal detector, blood gas analyzer, O2 and CO detector, allowed me to make underwater calls and send photos, played my favorite music at the right times, translated languages, 1200 watt daylight spectrum dive light/strobe, shot hd as least as good as my sony hdr not the crap from the gopro, preferable as good as a RED, forget 1080p I want 4000p, Air intergrated so no hoses and transmitter to an augmented reality Google goggles and most importantly allowed me to pour unlimited beer from it after the dive,yes then I would very much like to dive with a smartphone.
 
I would never use a cell phone for underwater pics. I wouldn't want to risk damaging my phone and even if I did the pictures wouldn't be as good as the most basic underwater camera setup. In addition I couldn't imagine controlling my phone to take shots underwater. It would be very difficult at best.
 

Back
Top Bottom