I bought this to use on a recent trip to Maui, HI. All I can say is WONDERFUL. The image quality and sound are far higher than I expected on a $140 camera with a $40 housing. I have pretty extensive UW photography experience and own a number of housings for my SLRs, so I was pretty confident I could see a good seal all the way around the o-ring and hopped right in. In the ocean and the pool this camera was a winner. The lens is great in low light and thus perfect for UW work.
I'm planning to rig a mount for my BC, just turn it on and hit record before I dive, we'll see how well it does below 30' -- but thus far its been fine. Generally its the buttons on these things that just cease to work below a rated depth, but the o-ring holds a seal pretty well. Certainly do not use it outside the manufacturers specifications if you expect them to be responsible.
I am very, very pleased. Perfect for baby in the pool or snorkling/diving in open water situations. Flip Video Underwater Case for 1st Generation Flip Video Cameras
I had the flip ultra camera for less than two weeks and loved it. As I live in South Florida, I really wanted the underwater case in order to film snorkeling and water park trips. I read all of the reviews here and despite some negative reviews I bought it. STUPID STUPID STUPID! I did the tissue test and the tisue stayed dry in the case. All of the buttons lined up fine. I made sure there was not a speck of hair or dust in the seal. 3 minutes and 14 seconds into the snorkel the camera case filled with water killing my flip. The people who make this case should be ASHAMED of themselves. As soon as you push the power button in underwater it allows water to flood in to the case. By the time you realize what is going on it is too late. Another Flip has been killed. I did everything I could to pre test this out. Do not buy! It made my 8 year old daughter cry.
I bought this to go with my Flip Ultra video; I wanted a disposable camcorder for some scuba diving antics, and this fit the bill - at $200 for the case + camera, it's throw-away if anything goes wrong...and so far, it's been flawless.
The manufacturer rates the case to 30 feet; I've had it down to 140' without a problem, although at those depths, I've been a little busy with switching gas mixes to play with the camera buttons. The case does stay waterproof, though, in any case. The way the gasket's designed around the buttons, it may not hold much deeper (bummer) and I'm not sure if the buttons will work that deep...I'll try it out next weekend and see. I kind of wish they'd done a little better job and used o-ring sealed spring-loaded buttons. On the other hand, $50 for this thing? How can you go wrong?
The weakness of the case is that there's not a mount for a tripod, bracket, etc - you'll need to epoxy a couple of stainless nuts to the case to actually mount this on a bracket with a video light or two. You can easily find the appropriate thread (1/4"-20) at Lowe's, though, and, if you do it right, you can glue it to a simple tray. I'm using mine with a couple of UK Light Cannons (10W HID lights with a video diffuser in each.) It's the ultimate low-budget underwater video rig, suitable for YouTube... Sure, it's not the 3CCD 1080p rigs with which to shoot "real" underwater footage, but at 1% of the cost, it's a lot more than 1% of the fun. It's also a lot more compact, and a lot easier to travel with... it's not like Light Cannons are "real" dive lights, either, but it all seems to work.
Like any underwater housing - if you're sloppy putting it together, it'll leak - clean your o-rings thoroughly; any dust or hairs on them will be your demise. Also, be sure to lube the o-rings until they're shiny (but not so you see the grease at all on the surface...) You can get the lube online or at any decent camera store. That's important - if you're not careful to maintain the housing, you deserve any leaks you get.
All in all - it's a great product, totally disposable ($200 for everything? Who cares if it floods? Just buy another...) and it's a blast...
I took my Flip camera with me on vacation, and bought the underwater case for our snorkeling trip. I used the case exactly as specified, but water somehow got into the case, and RUINED my Flip camera. It won't even turn on now. I lost all of the videos I took during the trip, too. What a waste!!!
EDITED COMMENT TO ADD: I contacted Pure Digital and they responded immediately. They said that I can return both the camera and the case, and they will make the necessary repairs. They also said they'd do their best to retrieve the videos from the memory card.
I bought this case last January to take with my Flip Video camera to Kauai and use while snorkeling and to capture my marriage proposal to my now fiance. The case is super easy to use the camera just pops in you turn the wheel and you know the camera is sealed and locked in place.
All the controls worked perfectly while I was snorkeling and the footage of was much better than I expected. I had used the disposable underwater still cameras before and found that the colors came back muted when the film was developed. Not so using the Flip Video underwater case. My videos were very clear and you can see my fiance's ring sparkling underwater as well as dozens of colorful fish and coral.
The best part of this product however is the price. I had investigated getting an underwater case for my digital still camera and they started at over $100 and a lot were only good for 20 feet. Thanks flip for allowing me to capture my special day. - Flip Video Underwater Case - Underwater - Video - Camcorder'
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