Housing that are dry glove friendly?

I just had my first weekend in 40-degree water, tying to take photos with my Sea & Sea point-and-shoot. I discovered that dry gloves and button clusters do not mix.

I am looking into moving up to an SLR, now realize that I really need a housing and flash that I can manipulate with dry gloves.

My Sea & Sea point-and-shoot requires two hands to adjust manual exposure, so I had to shoot on automatic. The only buttons I could operate with dry gloves were the flash power knob and the camera shutter button. Everything else was like trying to play the piano with a tennis racquet.

This question hasn't been asked in a few years. Any recommendations for an SLR camera/housing and flash that are user-friendly with dry gloves?

I have first hand experience with Subal and Aquatica using dry gloves, both work well. S&S strobes are ok as they have larger adjustment knobs. Inons need extensions if you're using dry gloves

Stu

I just had my first weekend in 40-degree water, tying to take photos with my Sea & Sea point-and-shoot. I discovered that dry gloves and button clusters do not mix.

 

 

This question hasn't been asked in a few years. Any recommendations for an SLR camera/housing and flash that are user-friendly with dry gloves?

The Aquatica housings have big controls and easy to deal with (I shoot with Aquatica now) - the main controls are very easy (rollers, shutter release) and the buttons are spaced far enough that using my finger tips is workable. The Ikelite strobes have the larger rotation knobs that are also easy to deal with, though the lock/unlock can be a bit tricky so I unlock them ahead of time (DS-125s).

I have used Aquatica A90, and A70 housings with dive concept 2mm dry gloves. They both work well. The problem I have is with the strobes, I still use SB 105's. Small controls.

Jack

I'm using a Subal and it works pretty well with dry gloves.

I have had no issues with any housing with dry gloves.

If you have add-on rings that attach to the wrist seal, like DC/Viking/SiTech, here's what I do:

Put insulating glove on first, then insert hand into arm of dry suit. This way the wrist seal is over the insulating glove.

After zipping up suit, and getting into my rig, snapping on the outer dry glove is one of the last things I do.

This allows slow migration of air into the glove, by holding the glove above my shoulder; I'll do this when I'm cold. Or, extending the hand well below me, the glove will promptly shrink wrap, and it becomes easy to do detailed stuff like writing on wetnotes, play with obscure little buttons on cameras, and re-thread line back through the guide slot on a reel...

All the best, James

Thanks James.

That's exactly what I did, but it didn't give me enough dexterity. The buttons are too close together on my camera.

I have had no issues with any housing with dry gloves.

 

If you have add-on rings that attach to the wrist seal, like DC/Viking/SiTech, here's what I do:

 

Put insulating glove on first, then insert hand into arm of dry suit. This way the wrist seal is over the insulating glove.

 

After zipping up suit, and getting into my rig, snapping on the outer dry glove is one of the last things I do.

 

This allows slow migration of air into the glove, by holding the glove above my shoulder; I'll do this when I'm cold. Or, extending the hand well below me, the glove will promptly shrink wrap, and it becomes easy to do detailed stuff like writing on wetnotes, play with obscure little buttons on cameras, and re-thread line back through the guide slot on a reel...

 

 

All the best, James

The buttons are too close together on my camera.

Hi Harry,

You may want to try using one of those stylus pens made for touchscreen phones. They have a soft silicone tip. They are cheap on E-bay and should attach via a lanyard easily to your camera or wrist. I operate my Droid with it since my fingers are too thick

Bo