Best DSLR Underwater Case for 5DM3

When you say underwater, how deep are you talking?

If you want to shoot a few metres below the surface, a plastic bag type case will do the job, albeit with limited access to controls.

If you want to go deeper (and have access to all your controls while shooting), you'll need a hard case that may cost as much your camera.

I have no idea if the above cases are any good; they're just examples. However, a music video I operated on used a (very cheap) plastic bag case with a 550D for the swimming pool shot at 1:40 with no problems.

I don't know if I'd risk a 5DMkIII. You might want to try an £812 Sea and Sea RDX-600D for your 650D instead (meant for the 600D, but since the control configurations is the same for the two cameras, it will work with the 650D).

If you're going down less than 20m, a £25 soft bag for the 650D may be all you need.

Hope that's helpful,

Bill

Listen to chilipie.

I've shot U/W video (commercially), and am also a certified scuba instructor. Here are my $.02: A soft bag is only safe for work at/near the surface. It may be certified to 20m, this doesn't mean the camera is. As Cinematographers, our camera is a precision instrument and if you are taking it deeper than 3 ft, a proper housing is the only safe solution.

I'd never expose any quality equipment to 20m in a soft bag. The camera body & lens would be directly exposed to 3 BAR (that's 3X more pressure than sea level). Also, all your controls may become useless because some/all of them might be pressed down (at the same time) due to the pressure from the bag, the focus ring also may not turn freely.

There is a danger that while at depth air will migrate into small parts of the camera & electronics. When you surface this air expands and if it cannot escape easily, part of the camera, or a lens element may be forced to shift to allow the air to pass. Of course, you can see the danger here. A Good Example: A fellow instructor/friend had a small cavity he was unaware of. As he ascended, he experienced severe tooth pain that was only relieved when the filling burst out with a loud squeak and a 'pop' (as he heard it).

A rigid housing keeps the camera at sea level pressure (no matter what depth it's at), so the camera can function as expected.


Thomas

I will shoot just under the surfice, maybe a meter, so I will go for the plastic case.
Thank you.