Ewa Marine bag on a Nikon CoolPix: a report
Phil Stripling
fit. Although I gave it every effort, the camera would not fit in far
enough for the lens to be covered by the port. The folks at the American
importer's office said that happened once in awhile, and all I could do was
return it for a refund. So I did. Then I bought another one, and it fits,
albeit very snugly. The lens port is glass with a metal ring which bonds
the glass to the plastic bag. I have to really push and stretch to get the
metal ring over the lens of the camera, and the glass port is scored where
it is contacted by the metal surrounding the camera's lens. This has no
apparent effect on sharpness, as the scoring is not over the lens itself,
just the metal lens frame.
I had used the bag first at Burning Man as protection from the dust storms,
and it did that job. However, I found that the off-center lens port covers
the optical viewfinder, making it necessary to use the LCD for framing.
This was a problem in sunny weather, as the plastic bag really reflected
and refracted the light and also made it impossible to use a lens hood.
This problem is exacerbated underwater. If you have the sun above and
behind you while underwater (sound like a common scenario?), the water and
the plastic both refract the light, making the LCD very difficult to
read. The bag itself if shiny, so with the sun behind me, I had to fight
the glare off the bag just to see the LCD. The bag is wrinkled, and it
refracted the light from the LCD, further obscuring the view. And with the
light behind me, just seeing the LCD was an issue. I found that I usually
had to settle for estimating where the darker or lighter body of the
subject was on the screen in contrast with the background. If the model was
highlighted by the sun and the background was blue water, it was pretty
easy to get the model in the picture. Accurate framing was not possible;
getting just a torso or head and shoulders was often impossible, so I just
took as many shots as possible to see what worked out. If the subject did
not stand out in sharp relief from the background, it was often not worth
even trying a shot.
When the LCD was not in direct sunlight, the plastic still kept me from
seeing the screen well, but it was such a relief I don't really want to
complain. All in all, it's not really a satisfactory solution to taking my
CoolPix underwater, but it's all I've got. The bag holds enough air that
it floats with the camera, which I'm happy about -- if it gets loose, it
doesn't sink to the bottom 20 or 30 feet down where I can see it but not
snorkel down to get. The controls are operable through the thick plastic,
but it takes some getting used to. Turning the camera on and off takes a
little practice, as you have to position some slack in the bag so that you
can twist the on/off knob. Although I have every confidence in the bag
being well-sealed by the metal sealing device, I do have some concern about
wearing through the bag at the point where the camera is turned on and off
and from auto to manual. The bag is certainly sturdy enough for my
snorkeling needs, but any hole in the bag under seawater is a disaster.
I'm used to using a Nikonos which is focused by guessing the distance and
using zone focusing. The exposure is aperture priority, which lets me have
some slack in depth of field. Since the camera is made to be used with a
mask, viewing and framing are excellent. With the CoolPix optical
viewfinder obscured by the lens port, I am stuck with trying to use the
LCD, which is unsatisfactory except in lighting conditions I don't prefer:
the light in front of me.
The Ewa Marine is the only thing I was willing to pay for to use the camera
underwater. I don't think I'll buy another, though -- I'm going to consider
whether it's worth the big bucks to use a plexiglass or similar container.
Anyone know where they're available for rent? I'd like to try before I buy.
--
Philip Stripling | email to the replyto address is presumed
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Robert Anderson
N950. I had the same problem with the optical viewfinder being blocked by
the ring around the glass port. The LCD was not visible in sunlight. The
best solution I have found was to heat up the bag very slowly and carefully
with the camera inside, pushed tightly towards one end. In this way I was
able to stretch the bag enough to get most of the viewfinder inside the
glass port. This made the bag thinner at one end. I still have to look
through the plastic at the back of the viewfinder, but it is much better
than it was before. I have considered adding a plexiglass window to the
back of the bag in that area.
So far the bag has been completely watertight. I take it on my whitewater
kayaking trips and carry it stuffed in my lifejacket. I have had to swim
with it twice and the camera did not get wet.
I do't turn the camera off. I let it time out and shut down automatically so
that I do not have to operate the switch.
Phil Stripling <phil_st...@cieux.zzn.com> wrote in message
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ajacobs2
Ewa Marine bag for Nikon not the best idea.
Phil Stripling
> I also purchased an Ewa Marine bag for my Nikon digital camera. Mine is an
> N950. I had the same problem with the optical viewfinder being blocked by
> the ring around the glass port. The LCD was not visible in sunlight. The
> best solution I have found was to heat up the bag very slowly and carefully
> with the camera inside, pushed tightly towards one end. In this way I was
> able to stretch the bag enough to get most of the viewfinder inside the
> glass port. This made the bag thinner at one end.
Yikes! Since I use the bag under seawater, I think I'll pass on that. I'm
glad it worked for you, but my fear of having the bag weakened to the point
of leaking underwater and ruining an expensive camera overrides my desire
to use the optical viewfinder.
>SNIP<
> I do't turn the camera off. I let it time out and shut down automatically so
> that I do not have to operate the switch.
Good point; I should have mentioned that I have the manual position set to
do video clips, and I switch from A to M to go from digital still images to
video. Letting the camera time out solves the problem vis-a-vis just
shooting stills. (By the way, I don't kayak, but if it's possible sometime,
do a video of your capsize and righting -- I have video clips of people
starting above the surface, then diving and coming back up [15 seconds or
so, no major deal], and it's quite a treat to watch when people seeing the
clip don't know what's going to happen and the camera just goes underwater
with the subject.)