TESTCENTRE
One drawback when shooting stills is the lack of a means to trigger an external strobe . Any artificial light must therefore be of the constant variety , so the housing is equipped with a standard 3 / 8 ” thread at its base to mount a tray , handles and arms .
I attached a lightweight tray with a dual handle setup , topped off with a pair of video lights – it certainly looked the part . While I was impressed with the easy-toread computer layout , the inability to adjust and influence the white balance was frustrating .
Switching between stills and video mode was slightly more involved than I was used to , with three buttons to press to change from one mode to the other . That said , this is after all , a mobile phone repurposed , rather than a specialist camera system so cutting it a little slack is allowed .
My particular iPhone allowed me a choice of switching between the standard 1x lens or the 0.5x ultra-wide and this was a welcome one-touch operation . However , in wide mode , and especially near the surface , I found that light entering from the front and rear of the housing ’ s clear casing was able to reflect onto the lens and affect the image itself .
Applying a small piece of black electricians tape to the offending area did the business , but a more permanent solution could be achieved with a small piece of card or thin plastic .
Colour correction
The screen provided an excellent view , whatever the subject matter , but while shooting wide-angle stills , the inability to use a strobe was somewhat limiting . The video lights did offer a workaround of sorts , but with the iPhone ’ s video capability always impressing me topside , perhaps this is where its strength would also lie for underwater use .
Up close and personal , the lights certainly helped with colour , but when out of range and selecting correction mode , the image went through a number of different hues , flashing from blue to off-yellow to almost monochrome . This was quite off-putting , but post-dive I found the actual recorded footage showed none of this .
Out of curiosity , I filmed a section of footage with a GoPro and the iPhone , one above the other . Straight from the camera the GoPro certainly had a better colour to it , but tweaking the iPhone ’ s video on my computer vastly improved it .
Oceanic has certainly shoehorned a lot of features into its Dive Housing and I really wanted to like it . In many ways it ’ s a great product , particularly for those at the beginning of their diving journey . It won ’ t break the bank in order to get your iPhone up and running , as both a diving computer and camera capable of providing a record of your adventures .
The push-button controls are easy to use and the automatic vacuum is an excellent feature . While the animated walk-through setup is a great way to safeguard against flooding , it is time-consuming and soon becomes annoying having to endure it each time the housing is opened or closed . Perhaps an update to the app could provide the option to switch it off .
The diving computer side of the app is pretty faultless , and provides all you ’ d need as a recreational diver with a display that sits literally right in front of your eyes , albeit for the price of a subscription . On the flip-side , many of its topside imaging functions are inaccessible . It ’ s probably fair to say that the results are pretty much on a par with what you ’ d get from any decent Go-Pro style action camera . Neil Hope
SCUBA SAYS
The Oceanic + Dive Housing is a brave attempt to combine diving computer , photo and video capabilities into Apple ’ s iconic iPhone . In many ways it ’ s a success and will most certainly find a market among recreational divers , but for the more adventurous diver and serious image makers it probably falls short of the mark .
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