Canon Launches Underwater Housings For Camcorders

Fans of both Scuba diving and Canon's HD camcorders are in for a treat, with the camera company announcing the WP-V1 waterproof housing for their HF20 and HF200 HD camcorders.



The housing, which still doesn't have an RRP confirmed, will launch in May and let you take your camera up to 40m underwater, without adding too much bulk or weight to your camcorder. Weighing just 845g, it also has button controls to make it easy to control underwater, has a tripod socket (which I assume is crucial for deep sea dives), and also has a mounting ring for accessories.

When I took a handful of waterproof cameras on my honeymoon in Fiji last year, one of the things I lamented was the lack of a real HD option, which this addresses perfectly.

Combined with their recently announced waterproof point and shoot it looks like Canon are making a strong play into the underwater camera segment, an area that typically has been dominated by Olympus in recent years. If nothing else, this should offer us geeks a chance to get away from our computers and visit the beach... if it weren't moving into Winter, that is.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/04/canon_launches_underwater_housings_for_camcorders.html