Yamiya, Just wanna blog

Posts Tagged ‘underwater case’

It's been a year since the launch of Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 and there's still no sign of the anticipated original underwater case even though a large diving community are shouting for it, including myself. Historical fact is original case is launched together with the camera, thus I doubt there will ever be one. The alternative is to go for third party case. After much research I found three choices. The criteria, at least 80% of the buttons accessible and capable to submerge up to 50m (most scuba diving occur no deeper than 30m).

The first to appear in the market is 10Bar. Instead of the conventional full acrylic found on most compact underwater case, 10Bar is made of aluminium with acrylic back cover so you can view the LCD. The advantage of aluminium body is its durability and sturdiness, however some people are not willing to accept it because we are so used to see thru underwater case. Anyhow the case is well designed and all buttons are accessible. There's even a hot shoe plug and optional Olympus FL-50 underwater case if you wish to fire your flash underwater, although most underwater photographer will prefer a stronger third party strobe trigger by optical fiber. The maximum depth is 90m and recommended to operate no deeper than 60m as movement in water will substantially increase the pressure. It is priced around USD630 overseas, not including VAT. If you wish to purchase locally you can visit Scuba Symphony at RM2678 including after sales service and warranty. Compare to most original case which cost no more than RM800, 10 Bar surely is expensive, but wait till you meet the second and third candidate.

  

 

If you prefer the traditional see-through case, Nautilus is your answer. Not much is known about the company nor the product. Their website is in Japanese only. All their underwater case is handcrafted in Japan and hence driving the cost high up. The LX3 underwater case below will cost you a cool 98,000 Yen, approximately RM3680, excluding tax and shipping charges. Sales is only thru their website. They can be reached at dive-tail@nifty.com Don't worry, they can read and reply English email.

 

Last on the list is UK-Germany. A weird partnership and brand name, considering the turbulence past between the two countries. Nevertheless is good to see both friends again.

Similar to 10 Bar, the case is made of aluminium. Compare to 10Bar and Nautilus, it has less buttons and hence limited functions. Also there's no hot shoe support. The design is awkward, with no hand grip to hold underwater. The simplicity might makes one think this is the cheapest of the three, which in fact this is the most expensive model, which cost EUR1198 (RM6000)! I can buy a DSLR housing with that money!

At the time of writing UK-Germany website is under construction. You can read more at digideep. To be honest there isn't much to read, it just tad simple. If you are super loaded and prefer simplicity design you can order it at uw-photopartner.