Up to now, I’ve been impressed with the Oceanic+ app on my Apple Look Ultra to the purpose that I’m now the spend of it as my secondary dive pc, alongside a Suunto D5.
While I’m gratified with my pc setup, my see for a valid digicam has been much less fruitful. I’ve been by means of a minute handful and have up to now been upset with all of them, for diverse reasons, at the side of low quality and dejected battery performance.
When Huish Begin air – the same firm that designed the Oceanic+ survey app – equipped that they’d be constructing a cell phone housing designed to address my iPhone the complete sort down to 60 meters (a long way past where most recreational divers would ever obtain themselves), I couldn’t have been more happy. No matter the complete thing, I’ve stopped the spend of my DSLR on terra firma on fable of my easiest cameraphone now fits into my pocket.
Fortunately for me, the Oceanic+ Dive Housing arrived real days earlier than my iPhone 15 Skilled, real because the diving season here in the UK is coming to a shut.
What can the Oceanic+ Dive Housing enact that my digicam can now not?
After somewhat a prolonged setup process (more on my skills with that below), you’ll be met with a corpulent-visual show unit screen digicam observe where you would possibly presumably well furthermore switch between taking photos and videos, or enter a splendid mode that takes a photograph periodically (you would possibly presumably well furthermore elaborate this) whereas filming.
You would possibly presumably be in a goal to also fiddle around with issues fancy inequity, white balance, quality, video stabilization, focal point mode, which of the lenses it’s good to spend (at the side of ultrawide), and file form (at the side of RAW), all of which will most seemingly be changed on the dash underwater by means of the keypad, which connects to the cell phone by means of Bluetooth.
For the rationale that Dive Housing also has its have temperature, depth, and stress sensors, it serves as its have self sustaining dive pc, damage away any Apple Look Ultra that can presumably furthermore be working the Oceanic+ app (or real the preinstalled Depth app). Bluetooth signals don’t commute well underwater, so it is miles sweet for every to be self sustaining.
The novel depth and no deco time are overlaid in the high handsome, nevertheless you would possibly presumably well furthermore press the keypad to amplify this observe to give you with the complete same design of recordsdata you would possibly presumably well ask from the survey app, at the side of dive time, ascent rate, a compass, and more.
The housing itself in all fairness big and has a elephantine grip, nevertheless you would possibly presumably well furthermore furthermore decide to connect a lanyard or spend one amongst the three mounting threads. Right here is if fact be told necessary, on fable of in my case, the complete setup at the side of the titanium iPhone weighs 1,162g, and sinks to the backside at a gorgeous alarming rate when dropped. Right here is a general flaw of most underwater cell phone housings, nevertheless attaching a buoyant gentle arm or mounting the package on a tray can counter this.
At the same time as you’re performed, photos and videos dash straight into the app alongside the dive log, and you would possibly presumably well furthermore pinpoint precisely for individuals who shot one thing, alongside with your depth and the temperature. They’re also saved to the cell phone’s Photos app.
It’s charge citing that it expenses with a USB-C connector, which made issues if fact be told easy on fable of, with the iPhone 15 Skilled’s novel USB-C connection, I handiest want to carry one cable.
Indulge in diversified dive computers, the Oceanic+ survey app and Dive Housing every spend the Bühlmann ZHL-16 decompression algorithm, which map it is miles going to furthermore unruffled be real as safe as goal-built dive watches.
In phrases of accuracy, I chanced on that the Oceanic+ app on my survey, the app on my cell phone, and the Suunto D5 have been continuously inside 0.1m of every diversified.
My dive with the Oceanic+ Dive Housing
With summer season drawing to an end result in the UK and prerequisites removed from queer, my nearest dive establish at a disused quarry grew to change into the making an attempt out ground for the Dive Housing.
As soon as kitted up, my next step became to spend the iPhone 15 Skilled’s Action button to kick off a routine that I space up the spend of the Shortcuts app. For me, this meant opening the Oceanic+ app, enabling Airplane Mode and Build No longer Disturb as per the app’s requirements, and remotely locking my automobile.
The setup process takes some getting veteran to and involves a pair of on-visual show unit screen steps earlier than the iPhone is at good placed inside the housing. Right here is when the tool creates a vacuum and a 3-minute stress take a look at is performed to substantiate your cell phone is safe earlier than you would possibly presumably well furthermore dive.
I made the error of gloving up earlier than putting in place the cell phone, which meant I needed to rob away the watches from over my gloves in give an explanation for to rob them off so that I would possibly presumably well commence the setup. It became all a chunk of a faff, nevertheless with a chunk prepare – and heaps fancy the complete gearing up process for any dive – it becomes a beautifully choreographed routine.
For the goal of taking photos with the tool, my buddies and I caught shut to to the ground where visibility became sensible and the sunshine had now not faded.
Regardless that I became sporting 5mm gloves all over the dive, I became unruffled in a goal to spend the four-button keypad to interchange digicam modes and take a look at a more detailed observe of my dive. My handiest gripe in regards to the physical interface is that there’s runt feedback from the buttons, so whereas it’s easy ample to press them, it would in most cases be unclear in the event you even have.
As soon as the photo shoot became over, we headed deeper to where the sunshine had nearly faded and visibility became a meter at easiest. On the complete, stipulations fancy these suck the relaxing out of recreational diving, and having any sense of bearing becomes a proper headache.
I chanced on that the iPhone 15 Skilled’s digicam became in a goal to see more than my have eyes would possibly presumably well because the 6.1-bound existing became valid into a tv in entrance of my face. You’ll look from my photos that the stirred-up sediment from diversified assignment in the quarry-became-lake did nothing to assist visibility. Navigating by means of this extra pair of eyes became a refreshing skills, and the on-visual show unit screen compass would possibly presumably well now not have been more welcome.
I’m removed from a qualified photographer, so I ditched the RAW layout and caught to Apple’s HEIF, which enables the tool to automatically coloration-handsome photos and videos. I became happy to be in a goal to spend the iPhone’s corpulent 4K 60fps performance – the upper frame rate enables divers to rob stills of the rest attention-grabbing all over a video with a long way more accuracy. The total time, I caught to the spend of the 12MP 0.5x ultrawide lens, and didn’t behold a significant tumble in imaginative and prescient from the 120-degree discipline of observe in contrast with my DJI Osmo Action 3’s 155-degree discipline of observe.
I did behold that, in shallower waters and where sunlight is namely tough, a reflection can in most cases seem mid-shot since the iPhone’s lenses sit a pair of millimeters away from the outer case of the Dive Housing. On the opposite hand, stipulations have been dejected and even the expert digicam being veteran to photo me with splendid 20,000-lumen lights became struggling. It’s also now not a queer quandary to the Oceanic+ package, and a big selection of various cell phone housings endure from this too. Huish Begin air told me that adjusting the goal of the iPhone would possibly presumably lend a hand eliminate this, namely fascinating it to the left.
Having a real sense of your surroundings, stipulations, and dive parameters at all instances is key to a winning dive, and whereas staring by means of a visual show unit screen is surely now not instructed, having that extra tool in my arms became a sport-changer. A odd underwater digicam or motion digicam would now not be in a goal to build all of this recordsdata in one goal.
Will I proceed to spend the Oceanic+ Dive Housing?
Let’s get the associated price out of the sort, on fable of at almost $500 it’s an extremely costly share of package. Add that to the iPhone 15 Skilled’s $999 / £999 / AU$1,849 designate, and each other $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 in the event you’re after the most up to the moment Apple Look Ultra 2, and it becomes costly in a transient time.
Despite this, I specialize in the Oceanic+ Dive Housing is unruffled real tag for money. That’s on fable of you would possibly presumably well furthermore with out anguish spend over $300 / £300 / AU$500 on a DJI Osmo Action 3 or GoPro Hero 12 earlier than at the side of dive-particular equipment, and that’s a tool that you simply’ll seemingly want to interchange pretty typically as digicam technology improves.
I change my iPhone yearly – or most years – anyway, which map I’m able to have the most up to the moment digicam technology inside the same Dive Housing several years later.
If discovering out about my success with the Oceanic+ Dive Housing has purchased you looking out one, you would possibly presumably well furthermore give an explanation for the tool from $490 in the US, £519 in the UK, and AU$979 in Aus.
