The Camera Bag: James Bond-style photographers will want this submarine camcorder for capturing tricky underwater HD video

 

 

Want to shoot some cool underwater video in a difficult-to-reach location? You can either hire a submarine or just buy one.

Venerable gadget-meisters Hammacher Schlemmer are selling "The Submarine Camcorder," a remote-controlled mini sub with a built-in HD camcorder. The tiny, 19-pound submarine (9" L x 14 1/2" W x 7" H) sends a live video feed from its cockpit to an iPad from up to 100 feet underwater, letting you observe and record marine life.

Here are some more details on the submarine, which is the Aquabotix HydroView Sport, from Hammacher Schlemmer:

"Communicating with the receiver using Wi-Fi, an app installed onto an iPad or laptop remotely controls the sub's electric thrust and lift propellers for forward/backward (5 kts forward; 1 kt reverse), left/right, and up/down movement. A virtual dashboard (an iPad's motion sensors can also steer the sub) includes a joystick, camera controls, and displays depth, heading, battery level, and temperature data received from the sub's built-in sensors. Its marine-grade, hydrodynamic ABS housing provides a watertight seal to protect the included HD video camera, which captures 1280 x 720 resolution footage (1280 x 800 for still images)."

Sounds pretty cool, right? Yes, but it sure ain't cheap, retailing for USD$6,300. If that's too rich for your blood, you might want to check out the much more affordable DiveBot, which is excepted to sell for around USD$1,170.

(Via Shut Up & Take My Money)