Views: 39,868
Cheap underwater digital camera enclosure
All >
Tech >
Hacks/Mods > Cheap underwater digital camera enclosure by
natetrueNEW - See photos and video taken using this enclosure in
this creation and
this blog post
I'm leaving for a cruise in a few days, and I wanted to be able to take high-quality pictures underwater. Conventional
underwater enclosures are very expensive, so I decided to go with a variation on Tim Anderson's
DIY camera enclosure.
Remember that this will only work for cameras that don't have a protruding lens. I have a
Kodak V570 dual-lens camera that I really like.
He suggested using thick clear vinyl (the kind people wrap their couches in if they hate being comfortable), and that sounded like a great idea to me. You can find the material in any large craft/clothing store, but make sure to call ahead; I'm sure not everyone carries it.
Cut a strip about 18 inches long and wide enough to wrap around your camera with a little wiggling room and 2cm of overlapping material.
Curl it into a tube and overlap the edges as such. Hold it together with a bead of hot glue - don't worry about spreading it perfectly; we'll use an iron to seal it and spread out the glue.
Put a piece of aluminum foil into the tube. If your foil has a shiny side and a not-shiny side, fold the foil so there is no not-shiny touching the vinyl. The not-shiny side will stick to the vinyl and you don't want that.
Put another piece of foil shiny side out and iron with steady pressure. A heat setting halfway between wool and cotton should do just great. After ironing, let it cool and then try to pull the seam apart. If it's easy, put it back together and iron for longer than you did before.
Now you should have a beautiful air-tight seam. Seal one end with the same method - hot glue and heat.
The end will be much easier to seal.
Now for the Lexan piece. This is optional if you don't mind your photos looking kind of crappy.
Position your camera in the bag the way you'd like it to be in the end. Then grab an Xacto knife or similar and cut a hole.
Cut a piece of Lexan to cover the hole plus at least 0.5cm on each side. Use superglue to hold it in place (I prefer
brush superglue). The superglue will permanently bond the vinyl to the Lexan. You can also add a bead of silicone sealant around the edge if you're paranoid.
Congrats! You're almost done!
Grab some of that Blue-tack putty that you use to hang posters on your wall.
Jam a big wad of it across the end of the camera-tube. When you roll this up it will seal against the edges of the tube creating an airtight seal on that end that is easily re-openable.
Roll up the end as shown (make sure to push out the air before sealing the Blue-tack) and your camera is now completely resistant to the elements!
When I get back I will post my underwater photos to the comments of this creation, so make sure to subscribe!
Posted by natetrue 5 years ago ( 28-Apr-2007 17:44:48 )