If you read my review of the GoPro HD Hero2, you’ll have noted that I thought it strange that a company who touts their cameras as being capable of being used 60m underwater would produce a housing that wasn’t optimal for this purpose. The domed lens on their standard waterproof housing results in blurred video and photos while underwater due to the way the camera focuses (not unusable but not the best). This has lead to a market in third party flat lens add-ons that result in much clearer images underwater, such as the Blurfix. Well GoPro has finally released their own OEM Dive Housing.
“The Dive Housing’s flat glass lens allows for maximum photo and video sharpness underwater in all resolutions, free of vignetting.”
There’s no mention of availability of things like additional filters yet however.
Available from GoPro for $49.99.
Send to Kindle
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
@Ian – I just got a GoPro dive housing, and I think the only real option for mounting filters would be something external that’s strapped to the flat lens. This is how Backscatter’s (http://www.backscatter.com/) aftermarket GoPro dive housing works, but that was explicitly designed to support a few specific filters that Backscatter offers.
For more flexibility with external filters, I think a great option is the BlurFix flat lens attachment (http://www.aquaprohd.com/blurfix). This is a machined aluminum mount that is attached to the standard GoPro housing, and which lets one use standard round screw-on camera filters (UV, colored, polarized, etc).
For what it’s worth: I bought & installed a BlurFix for diving. I found it frustrating for that purpose, because water would seep between the filter and the GoPro housing (no risk to the camera, fortunately!). Perhaps I didn’t install it exactly correctly. Anyway, I just bought a GoPro dive housing. Happy to pass on my BlurFix to someone who will use it, if you can send me a PM.
@Michael,
I sure could use that BlurFix unit.
adfoss@gmail.com
@Michael – Thanks for the offer. PM sent.
Here’s a red filter for the dive case that I just found:
http://stuntcams.com/shop/gopro-polarized-lens-filters-p-370.html
Here’s a red underwater filter for the dive case that I just found that works great with the dive case:
http://stuntcams.com/shop/gopro-polarized-lens-filters-p-370.html
The new one will be square as I just tryed out one of the first ones and it worked great!
Oops, that was the wrong link. The one for the dive housing is here: http://stuntcams.com/shop/gopro-dive-housing-underwater-filter-p-499.html