News

SeaLife Cameras has unveiled the SportDiver, the company’s first underwater housing for the Apple iPhone. The housing, which communicates wirelessly with your phone via Bluetooth Low Energy, is compatible with the latest iPhone 11 and 11 Pro Max, but also models back to the iPhone 7/7 Plus. The housing works in concert with SeaLife’s SportDiver camera app (requires iOS 12 or newer), which can be downloaded for free from the App Store. The app allows you to zoom, adjust exposure compensation, tweak white balance, shoot RAW, and switch between photo and video modes.

Depth-rated to 130 feet, the polycarbonate housing features a large shutter lever, four rear control buttons, a front window made from optical grade glass, a cam-lock sealing latch, and a vacuum valve. A moisture alarm and vacuum pressure alarm ensure that the risk of flooding your precious smartphone is minimized. Power to the housing is supplied by two AAA batteries, which SeaLife says are good for 50 hours of continuous use. The housing ships with a red color-correction filter, which can be attached or removed underwater.

Available in November 2020, the SportDiver will retail for $300. Also available will be the SportDiver Pro 2500 Set, which bundles the housing with tray, grip and Sea Dragon 2500 photo/video light for $650.
 

PRESS RELEASE

SeaLife Launches New Underwater Housing for iPhone®

MOORESTOWN, NJ – SeaLife is introducing a new compact and lightweight underwater housing for Apple’s iPhone. The new SeaLife SportDiver housing will allow divers to take photos and video with their iPhone down to 130 feet, or 40 meters. The SportDiver can encase iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, X, Xr, Xs, Xs Max, 11, 11 Pro Max, and SE (2nd Gen) models. The heavy-duty housing is constructed of polycarbonate, stainless steel, aluminum and optical grade glass. And while the SportDiver housing is “heavy duty”, it is not heavy, weighing less than 1.5 pounds (641 grams), and is lightweight for traveling, and offers almost neutral buoyancy in water, depending on which iPhone model is used.

The SportDiver is easy to hold and use and offers a large shutter lever and rear control buttons for easy operation, even with dive gloves. Snorkelers and divers can get more creative with their photos or video shot by using advanced camera settings. Adjust Zoom, Exposure (EV), Auto/Manual Focus, White Balance, Tint, Lens selection, RAW+JPEG mode, Live Photo and Background Blur (on available iPhone models).

The SportDiver housing includes the free SeaLife SportDiver camera app for iOS 12 and up, and unlike other smartphone housing apps, there are no annoying in-app purchases or ads. You can easily switch between photo and video mode. The SportDiver App uses the iPhone camera technology native to each iPhone® model.

The App Playback mode shows full size photos and videos with vertical thumbnail strip to easily locate your images. Videos start playing automatically when selected. All files are also saved to iPhone Camera Roll. The SportDiver housing automatically connects to your iPhone and the SportDiver app using Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE) 5 wireless technology. No cables or buttons touch the phone and offers ultra-low power consumption for both the phone and the housing, which is powered by two AAA batteries that last over 50 hours of continuous use.

For enhanced imaging results, a removable underwater color-correction filter is included with the SportDiver which restores natural underwater colors. The filter is easily attached or removed underwater and includes a safety tether to prevent loss. The SportDiver housing features triple 1/4-20 tripod mounts for mounting to any light or light tray with standard tripod threads such as SeaLife’s own range of Sea Dragon underwater photo/video lights. SeaLife also offers the SportDiver and Sea Dragon underwater light combined, dubbed the “SportDiver Pro 2500 Set”.

For the phone’s safety and protection, the SportDiver has a sturdy holding spring and rubber grip tabs that securely hold the iPhone® in place and add shock protection. The SportDiver has “Dual Leak Alarms,” an internal moisture alarm and a vacuum pressure alarm, which alert the diver with on-screen warnings, audio and LED signal in the unlikely event the waterproof seal is compromised and there’s a loss of housing pressure or moisture is detected. The door of the SportDiver is sealed with a TPE O-ring and a robust cam-lock sealing latch that easily and securely locks the waterproof door. To prevent interior fogging from residual moisture, the SportDiver uses the anti-fogging agent “Moisture Muncher” capsule, which prevents fogging and internal condensation.

Deliveries of the SportDiver iPhone housing are planned to start in November 2020.