Film your dives with your phone: how Divevolk housings work

All the photos and videos you see on our website and on our Instagram are filmed with a phone inside a Divevolk housing. Here is how it works and which accessories we use to get the most out of it.

Your phone, turned into an underwater camera

Divevolk makes waterproof housings where you put your own phone to take it underwater. The big difference compared with other housings is its touchscreen: the back has a transparent gel-filled membrane that transmits the pressure of your finger to the screen. So you can use your phone’s camera just like on land: switch from photo to video, zoom, choose slow motion or review what you have filmed.

Diver filming with a phone in a Divevolk housing with a tray and lights, surrounded by a school of yellow snappers — Filming a school of snappers with a phone in a Divevolk housing, tray and two lights.

Down to 60 metres

The most popular model, the SeaTouch 4 Max Plus, is made of polycarbonate and aluminium and is waterproof down to 60 metres, far more than you need on any recreational dive. It fits iPhones and most Android phones: the phone sits on an inner tray, and there are custom adapters for some models. For those who want something more advanced there is also the SeaTouch 4 Max Platinum.

Diver filming next to a reef with a Divevolk housing and red filter — With the housing and the red filter, the phone can be used with one hand.

How to use it

Before the dive: put the phone on its tray, check that the seal is clean and close the lid properly.
Underwater: the screen responds, but you need to press a little more firmly than on land. It doesn’t work with thick gloves; for that Divevolk has a touch finger cover.
Afterwards: rinse it with fresh water and let it dry before opening it.

The accessories that make the difference

The housing alone already gives very good results, but accessories change everything:

Batfish photographed without a filter, with greenish tones, and with a red filter, with its natural colours — The same batfish without and with a red filter: the filter brings back the real colours.

Divevolk housing with the red filter mounted, on a towel on the beach — The red filter sits in front of the camera on a flip mount.

Red and magenta filter (67 mm thread): underwater red disappears and everything looks blue. The red filter brings colours back in blue water, between 5 and 25 metres, which is exactly the Red Sea.
0.6x wide-angle lens: to fit the whole wreck, a coral wall or a school of fish.
+8 close-up lens: for macro, such as nudibranchs, small fish or coral details.
SL20 video light (2,000 lumens): essential on wrecks like the Thistlegorm, on night dives and to bring back colour at depth.
Single or double-handle tray: stabilises your video and lets you mount lights and lenses.
Float arms: offset the weight so the rig is neutrally buoyant and your wrist doesn’t get tired.
Action camera adapter: mount your GoPro, DJI or Insta360 on top of the phone housing.
Coil lanyard: clip the housing to your BCD so you never lose it.
Cover and protective film for the membrane and the glass, and a travel case to carry everything safely.

Pygmy seahorse on a red sea fan, photographed very close up — With the close-up lens you can get close to the tiniest creatures.

Diver with a Divevolk housing, double-handle tray, float arms and two lights on, under a rock arch — Double-handle tray, float arms and two lights: the full rig.

Starter kits

If you don’t want to buy item by item, Divevolk bundles the housing with its accessories in kits: with filters, video kits with a wide-angle lens and double-handle tray, or macro kits with lens, light and arms.

Divevolk Plus waterproof housing with an iPhone inside and its lanyard — Divevolk housing with the phone inside and its safety lanyard.

Divevolk SeaTouch 4 Max housing mounted on a double-handle tray — SeaTouch 4 Max on a double-handle tray, ready for lights.

Our advice

For the Red Sea, the combination that works best for us is the housing with the red filter for walls and reefs during the day, and a light for wrecks and night dives. With that you take home memories with the real colours of the reef.