Our New Travel Buddy

Photos are a fun part of any outdoor adventure, but outdoor adventures are often hard on cameras. Digital cameras are not cheap. In fact, getting one is an investment one has to think about over and over again. That is why i am always apprehensive whenever i bring the camera near the water. a single drop of water can ruin the intricate mechanisms inside. But then as an avid memory keeper (aka shutterbug) i often take the risk of ruining the camera just to take those special, memorable shots of family outings and get togethers.

That's why when hubby and i planned our vacation this year, i was really bent on finding some sort of protection for our digital camera. We wanted to go to the beach, so i was not only scared of water getting into the camera, but sand as well.

We scoured greenhills looking for something, and much to my happiness, we found this:

Actually we found two brands, the other looked more sturdy and their stocks come in sizes, unfortunately, they didn't have size that would fit our camera, a sony cybershot w80. this brand, mobile wonders, has only one size, but then you get to choose between two models. one is just basically a waterproof pouch, while the other one has a hard plastic cover specifically for the zoom lens. although, the one with the zoom lens is a little bit more expensive (P750.00), we chose that one because we thought it can provide more protection and take clearer shots. According to the package, it is designed with ultra-clear optical quality water lens for excellent photos, submersible up to 3m / 9 ft, and it keeps out the dust and sand. perfect!

Before actually using the waterproof case, it is important to do the bubble test, to make sure that the case is indeed water proof. Insert a piece of paper inside the waterproof pouch then seal the opening. Submerge the waterproof pouch in a basin full of water. If you squeeze the pouch and see a stream of bubbles, then there may be a problem with the item.

We went to Sunset Cove, Morong Bataan last weekend and was able to test it, it worked wonderfully! just make sure that the zoom lens is exactly on the slot alloted for it before turning on the camera, other wise, you'll have to turn it off and then on again to make it work, plus it will put some strain on the zoom mechanisms.

Initially my shots were not centered and the lens case can be seen in some photos, but then i eventually got the hang of it. (anyway i can alway crop the unwated parts of the pic) It is easy to squeeze the buttons when taking the shot, i found it hard though, to turn the knob of the camera as i was trying to shift from taking pics to recording some videos. when i uploaded the videos to my laptop, i was pleasantly surprised that it was able to record the sounds too. =)

ahhh! perfect...