Customer Reviews

Sony MPK-WD Marine Pack for Select W Series Digital Camera (Clear)

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

 

 

The case is well built, and I have every confidence in its ability to protect my camera even down to 40 meters (the max rating of the housing). It has a nice firm, solid feel to the latch, easy to change o-ring (comes with a tube of o-ring grease and a spare o-ring). It has a diffuser for the flash (so that it isn't obscurred as one reviewer lamented). The buttons are easy to press and give access to all of the camera's normal features. It fits like a glove because it was purpose built for the camera. I couldn't be happier with it.

I bought this product 4 days before leaving for Australia. I wanted a housing to use while snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. It arrived on time and worked wonderfully! No leaks, no worries. All camera functions were fully accessible. The only issue was with the flash not being able to be fully utilized. This wasn't a huge problem during my visit - we were in shallow water during the day... but if it was darker or deeper it may have been an issue.

This under water housing is an inexpensive way to expand your Cybershot camera for underwater use. I have used this enclosure with a Cybershot W170 for about a year in places like Bonaire and Cozumel for scuba diving to 110 ft and it protects and functions flawlessly.

The case allows you access to all the camera controls, comes with everything you need and has a glass lense cover for clarity. The case does block the flash but the included diffuser spreads light adequately for close-up shots even at night. If you want better color saturation definetly get a strobe.

What makes the DSC-W170 such a great match to this this housing is the superior Zeiss optics, 10 mg photos, 5x Optical zoom, movie mode and best of all an underwater mode with several color correction options to reduce the blue or green you typically get in deeper water.

If you want to start taking under water pictures, like the convenience of not having to buy a bulky underwater camera (dual use cameras are usually chunky), all for well under $400 dollars, this duo (DSC-W170/MPK-WD) can't be beat.

Intent from the onset was to get a camera I could use diving. A point and shoot which if met with calamity, I wouldn't have to cry so much over. That said, Sony's latest and greatest 13 megapixel W300 with underwater mode caught my fancy, and after seeing that this marine pack was available for it, I got it.

I then ordered this Marine Pack, and was disappointed on my very first dive. So I'll cover the big con first, and then the pros.

THE CON: The fricken frackin 'wide lens' protective housing blocks the durned flash! What kind of design is that? When taking photos underwater, a flash is a must 90% of the time. You're in an enviornment where the surface and the water itself reflects light, so you need light to bring our color. See Flickr.com/photos/Wagnbat and go to my 'coral gardens at night' pictures to see the W300 with no flash in action at night. Pretty disappointing. I'm going to try and get some day shots... And while they'll be better than night shots of course, I'm sure I'll be lacking the definition I desire without buying an external flash... The cheapest of which is the Sea & Sea YS-17, with an MSRP of $400 before shipping. So if looking at this unit for SCUBA, don't buy it without being sure you're also interested in an underwater strobe kit. And no, it's not cheaper on Ebay (the strobe kits that is), I've been looking.

The pros & everything else:
This case does it's job. It keeps the water out. Took it to 50' on my first dive, for almost an hour and a half, and no issues.

Buttons are easy to get to. You can access ALL features, including spinning the wheel and going from picture to movie mode underwater. Buttons are glove friendly as well.

Movie mode is works well underwater but, as with the strobe, without some sort of bright external light source, don't expect your movies to look fantastic.

I'm giving the case 2 of 5 stars, because a design which would directly impact the quality of taking pictures underwater, exactly what the case was designed for, severely impairs the purpose of the case.

I recently replaced our old Sony Camera with a W300, and bought the Marine Pack for it. We just returned from a cruise, and I was extremely impressed with both camera and case. The case is a little bulky, but very user-friendly--the buttons allow for complete control of the camera. I used the case in the swimming pool on board ship with the kids, and got some great underwater shots of them swimming. I then took it snorkelling and diving, and again got fantastic shots of marine life. The camera was easy to use in the case, and the buttons for zoom/wide-angle, flash, picture review and mode selector were easily accessed even underwater. My only complaint about the unit is that the flared design of the lens housing covers the flash, so the flash is useless with the Marine Pack. If I were to go diving again, I would purchase the separate flash unit to eliminate this problem. A minor flaw in an otherwise well designed, functional case. I would recommend taking care not to scratch the lens cover--I didn't scratch mine, but it looks ilke it could be vulnerable.

Great product for those who like to dive or just to take pictures under water. Good price and great product. I highly recommend it.

Although a bit bulky in terms of size, this underwater casing works beautifully both inside and outside of the water. I strongly recommend using it if you are going to go snorkelling or scuba diving.

This case is perfect for sticking my compact camera into and going diving with. Takes good pictures, now that we've added an external flash to it.

Worked great. It was everything I expected and more. I didn't think that I would be able to run all the camera functions underwater. The pictures that I took turned out well and I suspect that they woud have turned out much better, had the days that I used it underwater been sunny. Both days were extremely cloudy, but I was still happy with the results.
I bought this wanting to achieve better results than a disposable underwater camera, and it did that for me.

this worked great with our camera, bought it as used but seemed brand new everything was there and perfect shape. Anyone wanting to turn their sony camera into an under water camera definatley worth the money, cheeper than buying a new underwater or waterproof camera and worked way better than the cheep disposable cameras, bought it for my wifes camera and she loved it, easy to use under water, all buttons and switches were useable. Used it snorkeling on our cruise in st. thomas and in grand turk. worked out of the water with no problems. Strap was big and easy to hold onto, camera wouldn't float but didnt sink, we took a ton of under water pictures. I put the camera in the case before we got off the boat and didnt take it out of the case until we got back on the boat, so it wouldn't get any humid air in it.