Opinions on DIVEVOLK for Smartphone Setup

[Quikster]

How heavy is the whole thing underwater with wide lenses and video lights? Do you need a float at all?

like others mentioned, I have no floats on my setup just had a single light I tried using occasionally and no tray, but had the arm with a red filter and wide angle filter. kept it tethered too me on a coiled leash.

 

[Tchau]

I've been happy with it so far, still have lots to learn like panning more slowly, but used it on 6 dives last month in the Dominican Republic

Looks great

 

[Quikster]

Looks great

thanks, hopefully, it'll be even better on my Turks trip in August. My friends all have way more dives and very expensive DSLR setups so figured I'd check out the Divevolk and try my hand at making some short videos of my dives instead.

 

[Rick Brant]

Almost all of the photos on my debris collection Instagram were taken with the DV housing. All but the earliest 20 posts or so. Most with natural light. You can see where I purchased the color-correcting filter pack as my colors got better. Most of these are at 25' or less though.

 

[rmorgan]

I’ve used mine on a tray with a heavy light and added a 6” float to the second ball. I’ve also added a 1” ball to the housing with a smaller light (Sola 3800) and skipped the tray; in this configuration, for smaller stuff, I use a 6” float arm to get the light above or beside the subject. The wide attachment is light, and the newer phones have pretty good built-in wide angle. It’ll really come down to the lights, I think, and it’s small enough you can get an idea in a bathtub.

 

[Diver.Jason]

Mine just arrived today. First time doing any video\photography. Roatan in a little over a week and then Cozumel. Hope to do more in the Bahamas in November.

Question: At what depth should I be looking to add the red filter? First dives around 60 feet. Next dive obviously shallower. Not sure if I should use the filter on the first dive or not.

Appreciate the help.

Jason

 

[RobPNW]

When you take this on a trip, I assume the iPhone is going in and out of the housing quite often. Do you take more of a minimalist phone case with you that's easier to get it in and out of? I usually have a tempered glass screen protector for my phone. I see their website advising against that. Anyone have real world experience with a screen protector?

 

[rmorgan]

At what depth should I be looking to add the red filter? First dives around 60 feet. Next dive obviously shallower. Not sure if I should use the filter on the first dive or not.

The phones are so good at computing what the image "should" look like that I have not found the red filter of much use (plus, I usually mount a video light to the top of the housing, on a tray, or on a hand mount). But to the extent I've found the filter useful at all, it's in the 30-50' range, I'd say. BUT I do keep the filter on the mount, because without the filter holder in place you can't secure the clamp which has the cold shoe on it. Try it a few ways and see what you think--the filter's simple enough to add or subtract that you can do the same scene both ways (and report back).

When you take this on a trip, I assume the iPhone is going in and out of the housing quite often. Do you take more of a minimalist phone case with you that's easier to get it in and out of? I usually have a tempered glass screen protector for my phone. I see their website advising against that. Anyone have real world experience with a screen protector?

I use a regular rubber-like iPhone case, one of the Apple ones now because it was cheapish. It's certainly "minimalist," compared to an Otter or something like that. As to screen protectors, I quit using them awhile back, and don't even think about it now with the Gorilla Glass phones. I've seen references that a screen protector might impair the touch capability of the housing, but I don't know if that's true, but DiveVolk is not equivocal in its recommendation: "the smartphone [with screen protector] could be stuck in the housing or touchscreen failure underwater."

 

[Rick Brant]

I don't use any lighting so I have a color cast at almost any depth. The filters are depth-dependent. I use the magenta filter for depths of less than 20' and it makes a big difference. Without it I have to color-correct every image, with it I normally make no adjustments. I also have the red filter for deeper dives but I have not tried that one. I mostly take photos of debris at depths of 20' or less. My phone is an iPhone 13 Pro.

 

[kimh]

This is expensive, but feature-rich. I'm curious about it.

Huish Outdoors Unveils New Oceanic+ Smart Housing For IPhone - DeeperBlue.com

The folks at Huish Outdoors have introduced a new waterproof housing for iPhones.

www.deeperblue.com