Camera Housings

A housing is what stands between your camera and the water, and it is built for one body only. We stock Marelux housings for full-frame Sony, Canon and Nikon mirrorless, Fantasea for Sony compacts and vacuum-sealed bodies, and smartphone housings from Divevolk and Oceanic. Everyone here dives. Tell us what you shoot and we will tell you what fits.

  • Expert diving advice
  • UK delivery
  • Multi-award-winning PADI dive centre
  • Secure checkout
14 products
Read the full buying guide

What you are actually buying

A camera housing is a pressure vessel with controls. The seals keep water out, and the buttons and dials have to line up exactly with the ones on your camera so you can still change settings with cold hands and gloves on.

That precision is why housings are made per model rather than per brand, and why our Marelux range is listed one camera at a time rather than as a single product with a drop-down.

Matching a housing to your camera

Smartphone housings

If the camera you already own is your phone, start here. The Oceanic+ Dive Housing turns an iPhone into an underwater camera and, through the Oceanic+ app, a dive computer as well; Oceanic list it as certified to EN13319, the standard for scuba diving gauges. The Divevolk SeaTouch 4 Max Platinum takes a different approach, using an aluminium shell that keeps the phone's own touchscreen working underwater, with an adapter arm for wide-angle and macro lenses. Note that the phone adapter for the Divevolk is bought separately.

Compact and vacuum-sealed housings

Fantasea sits in the middle of the range. The FRX100-MKV takes the Sony RX100 MKIII, MKIV and MKV compacts, which are small enough to travel with and capable enough to shoot properly. The FA6500 V2 and the FA6400 are vacuum housings, which let you confirm the seal is holding before the camera ever gets wet.

Full-frame mirrorless housings

Marelux is the premium end of what we stock, and the range is broad: MX-A1 for the Sony Alpha 1, MX-A7IV, MX-A7RIII and MX-A7RIV across the Sony A7 series, MX-FX3 for the Sony FX3 cinema camera, MX-R5 and MX-R6 for the Canon R5 and R6, and MX-Z6II/Z7II for the Nikon Z6II and Z7II. The MX-A7RIII is offered in several finishes.

Leaks, and how not to have one

Almost every flood is a maintenance failure rather than a housing failure: a hair across the O-ring, a grain of sand, a seal that was never greased. Rinse and dry the housing after every dive, inspect the O-ring before every dive, and close it somewhere clean and dry rather than on a wet deck.

A vacuum system, like the one the Fantasea vacuum housings are built around, moves that check onto dry land. You pump the air out and watch whether the seal holds. If it does not, you have found out on the boat instead of at depth.

Getting the colour back

Water absorbs red long before it absorbs anything else, so an uncorrected underwater photo drifts blue-grey no matter how good the housing is. There are two fixes: filter the light that is already there, or bring your own.

Divevolk's colour correction filters for the SeaTouch 4 Max cover both common cases, with a red filter for blue tropical water and a magenta one for the green water you get in lakes, rivers and around our own coast. Go deeper or dive at night and you want a video light instead. Our camera accessories and video lights collections carry the rest of the rig.

Frequently asked questions

Which camera housing brands does Oyster Diving stock?

Four: Marelux, Fantasea, Divevolk and Oceanic. Marelux covers full-frame mirrorless bodies from Sony, Canon and Nikon. Fantasea handles Sony compacts and vacuum housings. Divevolk and Oceanic make smartphone housings. If you shoot a camera we do not list a housing for, ask us before you assume it cannot be done.

Will a housing fit my camera?

Only if it was built for that exact body. Housings are model-specific, which is why our Marelux range is listed camera by camera - MX-R5 for the Canon R5, MX-Z6II/Z7II for the Nikon Z6II and Z7II, MX-A7IV for the Sony A7IV, and so on. The controls line up with one body and one body only. Smartphone housings are the exception: the Divevolk SeaTouch 4 Max takes a range of phones, though it needs the correct adapter for yours.

What is a vacuum housing, and do I need one?

You pump the air out of the sealed housing before the dive and watch for the pressure to hold. If it holds, the seals are good. If it does not, you have found the problem on the boat rather than at depth. Two of our Fantasea housings are built around this - the FA6500 V2 Vacuum Housing and the FA6400 Vacuum Housing. It is not essential, but once you have carried a flooded camera back up the shot line you tend to want it.

Can I just use my phone instead of a dedicated camera?

Increasingly, yes. The Oceanic+ Dive Housing puts an iPhone to work as both an underwater camera and a dive computer through the Oceanic+ app, and Oceanic state it is certified to EN13319, the standard for scuba diving gauges. The Divevolk SeaTouch 4 Max Platinum takes a different route - an aluminium body that keeps the phone touchscreen working underwater, with an adapter arm for wide-angle or macro lenses. Neither replaces a full-frame rig, but both shoot far better than most divers expect.

What else do I need besides the housing?

Water strips colour out of an image long before it strips out light, so a filter or a light is usually the first addition. Divevolk make colour correction filters for the SeaTouch 4 Max - a red filter for blue tropical water and a magenta one for the green water you get in lakes, rivers and around our own coast. Beyond that, look at ports and lenses for your specific housing, and at video lights if you shoot deeper or at night. Check the housing listing carefully too: some, like the Fantasea FA6400, are sold as the housing only.

Related categories