Mobile Mondays: Taking the iPhone underwater for photography - Photofocus

Underwater photography with the iPhone?

It doesn’t look that agelong agone that we tried to revive bedewed smartphones by sticking them successful a container of atom and hoping for the best.

Now, astir modern smartphones are “water-resistant.” If h2o gets into them, they won’t beryllium destroyed, similar successful years past. Still, we’re not expected to dunk them successful the water. But effort telling that to kids.

Underwater iPhone images

My person Alex called maine recently, excited astir the underwater shots his daughters were getting connected the iPhone. He was right, the footage and photos were incredible. But the thought of putting a bare iPhone into the h2o struck maine arsenic a little, well, scary. A fewer years agone my iPhone wouldn’t complaint owed to “water damage” successful the charging port. So I’d beryllium wary astir putting a $1,000 instrumentality that runs my beingness into the h2o for an extended play of time.

Alex and his 13-year-old girl Zadie had nary specified qualms, and conscionable happened to beryllium “staycationing” adjacent maine astatine a section resort. So, I stopped by to chat with Zadie astir it precocious and gave her 1 of my aged phones to get footage with. You tin ticker the interrogation by clicking connected this YouTube link oregon listening to the implicit chat connected the latest occurrence of the iPhone Photo Show podcast.

Underwater photography “shows the benignant of pictures that you can’t usually instrumentality but you’d similar to instrumentality erstwhile you’re having fun,” Zadie tells me.

It brings you to an underworld wherever the entity is usually ever blue. Sometimes determination are bubbles and it’s ever dreamlike. Yup, it’s conscionable excessively overmuch fun.

But is your iPhone safe?

I person had fun shooting videos and photos with the iPhone successful the rain. While the shots were great, the LCD surface became wholly nonresponsive. I had to adust it retired to get it to respond to my commands. Zadie agreed that the LCD surface doesn’t similar water. To get astir this, Zadie said she utilized the measurement fastener to drawback the shutter alternatively of the on-screen button. For video, she started it earlier the telephone went into the water.

And what happened aft Zadie took my aged telephone for a swim? Did it halt recharging? Did the surface get ruined? Were determination immoderate problems? None.

However, Apple doesn’t approve. The Apple website says that in nary uncertain presumption are we to instrumentality the telephone into the drink.

“To forestall liquid damage, debar these:

• Swimming oregon bathing with your iPhone
• Using your iPhone successful a sauna oregon steam room
• Intentionally submerging your iPhone successful water.”

Samsung is little sanguine about going underwater with caller Galaxy devices than Apple, saying they are rated IP68, which means they tin beryllium submerged for up to 30 minutes nary much than 1.5 meters. The iPhones person the aforesaid rating, conscionable a antithetic informing to customers.

Results underwater

There’s nary question that Zadie got fantastic results from the underwater iPhone. But astatine specified a hefty terms for the device, 1 that galore of america usage to tally our businesses and idiosyncratic lives, I inactive don’t deliberation the imaginable hazard is worthy it. I bash person a solution, however.

When my lad was increasing up, I utilized to fork implicit $20 for a Kodak one-time-use cardboard camera that could beryllium taken underwater, and past walk different $20 connected processing the film. In different words, each sprout outgo $50 oregon so. They didn’t sprout video, and you lone got 24 shots per camera.

Thankfully, we each unrecorded successful the integer age. So if the kids oregon spouse is comfy with the iPhone, wherefore not bargain a utilized iPhone for the exclusive usage of the excavation and rainfall shots? You don’t request a top-of-the-line exemplary either, arsenic you won’t beryllium making usage of aggregate lenses. A large wide changeable nether the h2o is each you need.

Costs

A utilized iPhone SE tin beryllium picked up for nether $250. Good caller Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones are besides disposable successful the aforesaid terms range. If they messiness up, owed to each the h2o play, you’re not retired that much.

Or walk $200 oregon truthful connected a waterproof point-and-shoot, oregon better, $200 to $300 connected a utilized GoPro, which tin bash treble duty, with a swimming excavation and water footage.

Keep the costly telephone for the important stuff, and the secondary phone, (sans wireless service, of course, wherefore wage for that?) arsenic the bedewed phone.

Last resort: bargain a waterproof lawsuit for the iPhone, similar the Hitcase. Its lawsuit is some “drop-proof” and waterproof up to 10 feet, and with protection, you could perchance instrumentality it into the ocean. However, I’d inactive beryllium wary of putting my work/life telephone into the heavy bluish sea, and would alternatively bash it with the SE. How astir you?