Comments on: Waterproof USB for underwater cameras

By: scuba gear diver

scuba gear diver — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:35:48 +0000

Another awesome idea from hack-a-day. Wireless, even if configured is always so slow unless you have wifi. This is something I can do on the cheap. Time to go diving!

By: Matt Segal

Matt Segal — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:09:34 +0000

Hi all -

I wrote the original article a few years ago, and after some testing, re-wired the setup and posted an update (with photo) on my site: http://www.carbonos.com/reports/usbconnect.htm - it works great now, and the setup is much slimmer.

The wireless Eyefi, aside from not being available back then, is much, much too slow for large data transfer, and it drains battery power. Memory cards are much, much cheaper (and of higher capacity) now than they were, so it's not quite as much as issue to require the USB unless you really do wish to grab images after every dive (rather than waiting until the end of the day).

I've since upgraded camera setups, but I may look more thoroughly into taking this conversion a step further - fashioning a longer waterproof cable and tethering it to a laptop or similar for remote triggering. The concept would be more successfully applied to one of the newer models of camera with LiveView (or similar) - you could view the underwater scene without getting wet.

Thanks for the link, Hack a Day, and for everyone's comments :-).

By: threepointone

threepointone — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:48:15 +0000

I’m pretty sure I’ve come across a couple of waterproof connectors for USB ports on mouser/digikey. If you don’t have a cheap port available to hack, you could go for those–they actually comply with USB spec (and have the right shape) and probably would allow for faster transfer because of better signal quality

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:02:44 +0000

@2: wireless usb? Isn’t that what bluetooth is for? The wheel has already been invented.

By: miked

miked — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:47:34 +0000

i approve of this hack

By: tz

tz — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:46:03 +0000

They might not be good for underwater or at depth, but for outside rain, I use the 4 pin microphone connectors you can get at almost any Radio Shack. Polarized with collar you can use to lock the plug into the socket. Common, inexpensive, and big enough to handle a fair amount of current.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:38:02 +0000

A neat hack indeed. I don’t know how many dSLR’s offer it, but a camera with built-in WiFi would be perfect for a situation like this.

By: TravisD

TravisD — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:28:11 +0000

The WiFi thing is actually sort of sorted already — the EyeFi card gives you an SD card with embedded WiFi. I haven’t played with mine in a while to remember if it will “self empty” or not when it connects. Another limitation is that it won’t currently connect to an AdHoc network, so you need to plan to have some sort of real AP for it to connect to.

I’ve been real tempted, but sadly to real broke to house my D80 for underwater use.

Wonder if Ikelite can come up with some sort of multi-pin universal bulkhead connector – maybe 6-8 pins, with pre-assembled internal and external pigtails to handle USB, power, etc.

By: adam

adam — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:27:59 +0000

this is a genuinely cool hack. might even build for pro-am photog brother. only thing better would be wireless usb.

By: Hal Hockersmith

Hal Hockersmith — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:22:46 +0000

YeeGods. Got enough electrical tape up there. Three simple words: heat shrink tubing.

Other then that this hack is purely practical. Makes you wonder if the company wont start doing this themselves.