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Point and shoot under water

Nikon gets a new look with waterproof casings

Candace Lombardi
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.
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Candace Lombardi

There must be something in the air today. Or, to be more accurate, the water.

Earlier, I posted an item about a waterproof USB storage device. Now, we get news about underwater casings produced by Fantasea (pronounced "fantasy") for several Nikon Coolpix cameras.

The casings, which form a watertight seal around the camera, enable photographers to take pictures underwater, while protecting the camera itself from damage. All the of the casings for the Nikon Coolpix cameras are priced at $200, can withstand a depth of up to 130, and allow photographers to use zoom, macro, exposure, mode, menu, review, flash, delete and video controls.

While casings for digital SLRs, flash equipment and corresponding accessories have been around for a while, the idea is fairly new to mainstream photographers using point-and-shoot cameras. Available October 15, Fantasea has the FL-3 for the Coolpix L2 and L3, and the FL-4 for the Coolpix L4. The FS-5 and FS-6 Fantasea housings will be available October 20. The FS-5 fits the Coolpix S5 and S8, while the FS-6 fits the Coolpix S6, S7 and S7c.

(Photo: Fantasea)