DIVEVOLK

DIVEVOLK in South Africa

DIVEVOLK makes phone housings for divers and snorkellers. In its own words, it was founded to develop "an unprecedented underwater touchscreen smartphone housing", and that's what SeaTouch is: the phone sits behind a liquid-filled membrane, so the touchscreen, every camera lens and any camera app keep working. The brand also makes the SeaTouch 6 Pro and a SeaLink signal transmitter; what we carry is the SeaTouch 4 Max Plus system.

Housing or kit

The SeaTouch 4 Max Plus Housing is the base. DIVEVOLK rates the body to 60 m and the touch response to 30 m, which covers most recreational diving. Four trays for the common iPhone 12 to 17 sizes come in the box. Any Android phone, or an iPhone outside those four trays, needs the SeaTouch Customised Phone Adapter, 3D printed to order for your model. It's also how you move to a new phone later without buying a new housing. Check the phone checker on the housing page before you order.

If you already know what you want to shoot, a kit saves piecing it together. The Ocean Kit adds a 67 mm red filter and the 0.6x wide-angle wet lens for reefs, wrecks and big animals, all in one travel case. The Macro Kit adds the +8 close-up lens for nudibranchs, shrimps and other small subjects.

Lenses and the expansion clamp

The housing has no lens thread of its own. The SeaTouch 4 Max Plus Expansion Clamp adds an M67 adapter on an arm that lines up over whichever phone camera you use, plus M6 holes, 1/4 inch threads and a cold shoe. Fit it first, then choose a lens. The 0.6X Wide-Angle Wet Lens widens the view that a flat port narrows and weighs about 5 g in water. The +8 Close-Up Wet Lens shortens the focus distance for small subjects; on an iPhone, switch off the phone's own Macro setting first. Both come off underwater and also fit compact camera housings with a 67 mm thread.

Tray, shutter and mounts

The Dual Handle Tray gives the rig two grips with a ball head on each for lights or float arms, and the handles slide from 23 to 28.5 cm apart. A SeaTouch housing mounts to it through the expansion clamp. With both hands on the handles your thumb can't reach the screen, which is where the SeaTouch 4 Max External Shutter comes in: a Bluetooth button that clips to the housing or the tray. It has to sit within about 1.5 cm of the housing in seawater. The Cold Shoe to Action Camera Adapter puts a GoPro, DJI Action or Insta360 on top of the rig for wide video while the phone takes stills.

Protecting the housing

The SeaTouch Camouflage Protective Cover wraps the housing in EVA foam with a polycarbonate plate over the membrane, for the dive bag and the boat bench, in camo blue or camo pink. The SeaTouch 4 Max Glass Protective Film is a pack of two films for the housing glass, worth fitting before a shore dive over a gravel beach. See the full range in underwater photography.