From the deep end!
What do you think I am crazy? Well, maybe a little! Actually this past weekend, I took advantage of the nice, warm, weather and decided to test out the an underwater housing for the Canon G10. It has been raining for what has seemed like months here in New England. In fact, one day I swore I saw a big wooden arc float by loaded with animals! I have never considered myself a risk taker. I hate gambling and never buy scratch tickets, so putting a $500 point and shoot camera in the pool made me kind of nervous. After pulling this housing out of it’s box, the first step was to do a dry test to check for leaks. The manual that comes with the thing tells you to submerge it in 5 inches of water for 4 minutes. Did I mention that I love my camera? That test is not enough to make me comfortable! I decided to attach a diving weight to the plastic contraption with a ribbon and threw it in the deep end of the pool for an hour. So 5 inches turned into twelve feet, and 4 minutes turned into 60! That is just how my mind works! When I pulled it up it was bone dry inside. The case did it’s job! Now for the fun! The camera sits snuggly inside of this little housing. If none of you have seen this marvel of engineering here is a photo from B&H’s website:
It really is amazing how all these little knobs and buttons line up with the real controls on the camera! You really have full control over the camera and there is nothing that you cannot do while it is inside this housing. To make sure the sealing ring gasket stays in tact and maintains a seal, it is important to grease it up before each use. My only complaint is that it is difficult to see when you are in bright sunlight shooting with it, and the case cripples the viewfinder on the G10 because of it’s size. It is something that definately takes some getting used to. I ended up using the camera on an automatic setting because I was not happy with the blue cast created by the water, and the “Underwater” setting provides a nice neautral white balance. I originally got this thing to take pictures while snorkeling in the carribean. Towards the surface there should be plenty of light, eliminating the need for me to drag a strobe around. My test photos proved that there was ample light. Most of the shots were exposed at ISO 80! Who knows I might even have to use the built in ND filter in the G10! Well, it’s off to the beach for the next week! I am hoping to be doing some commercial type images with models on the beach, in the arcade, and maybe even catch some fireworks! Or then again…maybe I will just relax!
Jeff swimming below.
VC Images and Performing Arts 