Customer Reviews

Fuji WP-FXF30 Underwater Housing for Fuji F30 & F31fd Digital Cameras

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The prior reviewer was very wrong with his "15-feet" depth-rating conclusion. Several places (including the web site) state 40 meters.

Additionally, you can generally tell from the photos whether the housings are rated for snorkeling (e.g. 5-20 ft) or scuba diving (80-150 ft) by the beefiness of the seals and plastic. Pricing for the lightweight snorkeling cases are under $100, too. This housing is pretty clearly rated for scuba.

It appears equivalent to the Canon underwater housings both in build and price (which I have used), but you get the added advantage of the superb low-light performance of the F30 inside!

First let me say that the "reviewer" Mark is very wrong. This case is rated at 40M and works excellently. I don't understand how people can write such negative reviews when they haven't even used the equipment - much less owned it.

I purchased this for a trip to the Carribean and used it both for underwater use (scuba and snorkeling) as well as for a protective case on the beach and for general use. It works flawlessly. The only *negative* is that when you use it above water in bright sunlight you must remember that the front lens element is not anti-reflective so you can get a lot of lens flare if you're not careful. Underwater this is of course no problem.

The flash diffuser is also very nice and provides good coverage while removing the housing shadow that is apparent when you use the flash without the diffuser.

Really there's nothing to complain about here. The housing allowed me to get photos I'd never have otherwise.

Perhaps the best thing about the advent of small digital compacts has been the introduction of relatively inexpensive underwater housings for them. I have little to add to what others have said, this is an excellent housing that allows for full control of the camera. I'd add just a few notes to make sure you have the right expectations for underwater photography:

- Underwater photography is pretty hard. You typically have very low light levels and severe color casts. The F30/F31 are excellent cameras to start with since they handle low light well and they have a halfway decent underwater mode. That said, still be prepared for far, far fewer good shots underwater than you get on land.

- Video is easier and more satisfying than stills often. If you find your results frustrating with the still shots, turn on the video mode and give it a try.

- Focusing and tracking is hard. These compacts are all a bit slow in focusing and shutter release and fish are very fast. This makes things quite a challenge. You'll probably want to start with pictures where both you and the subject are not moving.

- People who've done underwater photography will tell you it is not "if" your housing floods but rather "when" will it flood. Follow the directions religously. Minimize the number of times you open the housing, the F30 has amazing battery life and the 1GB cards hold a lot of pictures. If you are going back in the water and don't need a battery charge and still have space on the card then don't open the housing! Just rinse it with fresh water and take in down on your next dive. Everytime you open and reseal a housing (any housing, even one costing thousands of dollars) there is a risk of leak. Always test the seal before going on a dive!

So, with all that in mind, a F30 with this housing is a wonderful way to begin underwater photography, but remember it is much more difficult than shore based photography so be patient and look for articles on the web to help you out.

I took over 500 photos with this camera while vacationing in the USVI. Great results while snorkling and diving. I went as deep as 75 ft with no problems. The built in flash difuser seems to work well. I took some great pictures down 65ft on a night dive. Focused flawlessly, adiquate lighting. Only draw back is the LCD is hard to see. I just aimed and shot and most photos were great. I only erased 35 out of 509 photos. Not BAD! Update 1-28-08 Most recient trip was Roatan, Honduras. Max depth 115 ft. Took over 500 more photos 60 to 115 ft deep. Casing works great. No leaks.

compared to most housings that let you go 10 ft deep this has a nice balance for both snorkling and/or scuba diving since you can go 100 ft down. Nice solid housing but weighs enough even in the ocean that it will sink immediately if you let go of it. Lube inside casing lighty as instructed as to much will get lube all over inside.
Also before you go down dunk housing in water to look for leaks.
Also if you are in and out of water or wait till afternoon to get in water make sure housing is not in sunlight. If Housing gets warm then you go in the ocean you will get fogging from condesation on the inside of the clear part of the housing that will affect pic quality.

The bottons on the housing worked great with F30 but please take time to get comfortable with functions prior to getting in the water

Easy to use and gives clear, colorful underwater pictures with a minimum of fuss. All camera functions are accessable in the underwater housing. Minimal lag time to photograph when exposure button has been depressed halfway and autofocused. Lag time is significant when not autofocused and when flash is recycling. Good results in wide angle and macro.
I also used the underwater housing out of the water, on the beach and while sailing. I do not notice any difference in photo quality with or without the housing.
I have been a certified diver for 10 yrs. The Fuji Finepix F30 with underwater housing is my first underwater camera. I purchased it 2 weeks before going to Barbados and achieved excellent results with very little experience. See photos.

I found this housing amazingly well constructed, particularly considering the very reasonable price. I had no trouble operating the controls while snorkeling. The one downside is that the viewfinder washes out in bright sunlight. So get a large memory card and take lots of pictures; some of them are bound to turn out given the F30's high sensitivity .

The case comes with a few silica gel desiccant packs, and you definitely want to use them. Otherwise, the inside of the case may fog up, which will ruin your photos when the fogging occurs in front of the lens.

This is my first underwater case and I was really blown away by the quality, especially for the price. The thing is superbly crafted and a marvel to hold, it works exactly as expected. Its made exclusively for the Fuji F30. I've taken a number of very nice underwater shots and videos with this case (at least in pools). I intend to take this snorkeling/diving soon enough, I think it would work out fine combined with the Fuji's high sensitivity capabilities.

Only one thing to pay attention to, make sure that you place one or more fresh silicon gel packs inside the case when you are using it. This prevents condensation. The manual refers to this, but I couldn't find any packs that came with the camera. These are tiny little thin packs of silicon beads identical to what they pack into shoe boxes. Get yourself a stack of those and use a fresh one every time you go underwater.

I love the F31d and this housing is the perfect solution for taking underwater snaps. The desiccant packs that are provided are very useful since using the housing in very humid areas will cause some condensation in the case once you move the camera from a warm moist air (when you put the camera in the case) to a cool underwater environment. The functionality of the case is brilliant. The tricky part to the photography is staying steady and making sure you set the camera white balance to underwater. I find that correcting the levels on each of the red, green, blue channels of the image is still necessary to recreate correct underwater colors. Auto levels in Photoshop/Photoshop elements will get you close. I find that the camera gets really hot if you use the case out of the water but, it still takes nice pictures despite the extra glass in front of the lense.

Very well made unit. It has full controls for all camera functions. Double O ring seals. It seems that Fuji thought this one out well to protect their F30 and F31d cameras. It is slightly negative boyant with the camera enclosed. (It sinks) this is nice because you dont want to have to swim to the surface to retrieve it. Nothing I would change about it and I am picky about such things.