Phones Underwater: The New Frontier in Underwater Photography

In this article from The Underwater Photography Show, Alex Mustard and Matthew Sullivan will be diving into the exciting rise of underwater phone photography, and they want to share why they think it's becoming so popular and what you should look for in a phone housing.

Why We're Talking About Phones

This whole discussion was sparked because Underwater Photographer of the Year (UPY) is adding a new category next year for phones. We're using the UPY's huge platform to promote this because the winning pictures get massive mainstream press attraction. We hope that by showing the amazing pictures taken with phones, we can encourage more people to try underwater photography.

If you wind the clock back 15 years, it was easy to get into underwater photography. There were cheap housings and simple, relatively affordable compact cameras. That gateway's been lost a little because compact cameras have been killed by the phone that fits in our pocket. Now, in the last year or so, we've seen a massive proliferation in underwater phone housings. We really feel this is going to become one of the main gateways into underwater photography [1:10].

Why the excitement?

• Quite a few modern phones are naturally waterproof.

• You can dip your toe with a completely basic phone system, even using little waterproof bags for snorkeling.

• Underwater phone housings start in that couple of hundred bucks range, which, as Matthew mentioned, is much, much cheaper than rigging up a whole mirrorless system.

• The R&D the phone companies are putting into photography is truly remarkable. That software is making the cameras incredibly capable.

Matthew was just on a boat in Florida recently, and he said by far the most popular rig he saw was a phone housing. It's understandable why people are looking at this.

What to Consider When Buying a Housing

We aren't "Mr. Phone shooter underwater" , but as experienced underwater photographers, we have a few thoughts on what's important when looking at a housing.

1. Reliability and Keeping the Phone Dry

For me (Alex), my phone has my life on it. The last thing I want is to be on the other side of the world and lose my phone by taking it underwater. For that reason, I think it's crucial to have the reliability of build that you can trust.

• Vacuum Systems: We think that a vacuum system is a big selling point and gives you that extra bit of reassurance.

2. The App and Interface

The other central aspect is the app side of things. Since most housings can't make the touchscreen work through the physical casing, you'll need to use a dedicated app created by the housing's manufacturer.

• Manufacturer's App: Creating these apps is actually one of the major costs. The quality of those apps is as important as the quality of the housing. You need to research who has the best app and a good history of updating it so it works when your phone's operating system upgrades.

• Touchscreen Access: Some brands of housing do give you access to the touchscreen. This allows you to use your phone's native camera app (which has all that R&D poured into it) or even buy third-party camera apps that give you higher control.

As Matthew noted, there's no perfect phone housing because all of them have a compromise. Some have a touchscreen but don't allow a vacuum. Others have great durability and a vacuum but limit you to a Bluetooth-controlled app. You have to decide what's most important to you [5:28].

The Major Brands

Here are the main housing brands we've come up with that are operating in this space:

• The Big Three (and more): Kraken, Weefine, Sea Life, Isotta, and Oceanic are well-known. These are generally similar to the Kraken housing, which requires a Bluetooth app, allows a vacuum system, and does not allow use of the touchscreen. Interestingly, Kraken does allow some third-party apps like "Open Camera" for Samsung or "Google Case Connector" for Pixels, which can give you access to your native camera app.

• DVLK (DiveVolk): This one has risen to fame because it's the housing that allows you to use your touchscreen. Matthew said he'd probably get that one because he likes the idea of using the actual touchscreen. Plus, if you're a dive buddy who isn't a photographer, you can read books or listen to music on safety stops with this housing!

• Others: Ikelite (recently released one), Seafrogs, Joby (who makes tripods), Domemare, and Lanhiem (who makes land phone cases). It's interesting to see accessory companies branching into this, not just the classic underwater housing manufacturers [11:51].

The Future of Phone Photography

Since the image quality and advancements in lenses have been incredible in recent years, especially on the latest devices, we think that if you are truly serious about getting the most out of underwater photography with your phone, taking a newer phone underwater is likely a good idea.

There is one big challenge for still photography underwater: the difficulty of firing an external flash. There are people trying to work on Bluetooth-triggered flash systems, but all the phones are different. If we can solve the flash problem, it would make a massive difference to the photography. We're confident that clever engineers will find solutions to these problems.

It's interesting what will come first: manually controllable phone cameras or a flash system for phones. Some of the third-party apps might already give you some manual control. If manual control comes, you could control your exposures with an external flash. That gap between compact cameras (which have an advantage because you can control them) and phones is shrinking more and more every day.

This is a really interesting new are. If you're our normal audience—the serious underwater photographer enthusiasts—this is an opening frontier. We're very keen to get experienced photographers using phones to show the world what they can do. If you want to give yourself a fun little toy to try on the next trip, this could be a great way to spend some money.

We encourage you to do your research carefully, looking at both the housing side and the software accessory side of it. See what people are saying on forums about the software and how it handles upgrades [15:29].

We're really looking forward to big events like DEMA this year and seeing how big phones are. We think this could be a real breakthrough year for phones!