Inexpensive water resistant cases for boating?

Well, it's always hard choice. I'm also a kayaker and had similar problems. There are 3 solutions generally (excluding mobile phone cameras):

1) dedicated waterproof/underwater camera = compact

2) waterproof case/bag for compact/mirroless/DSLR

3) waterproof storage box/bag onboard

I've tried personally 1) and 2) in reverese order. 3) is quite convinient, as You operate Your camera normally, just hiding it for safety after use. Some risk of flooding equipment is still here, but many people uses their precious DSLRs on kayak trips this way. Definitely not recommended for white water or so. But maybe excellent on bigger boats (sailing?).

2) The most compact and failure free solution is a hard case. But they are very expensive and not universal in the sense they usually fit one particular camera model and nothing else. More affordable are soft camera bags of the type You have linked from Amazon. They can be tricky though. First, they are bulky, holding camera is difficult, also operating controls and zoom (in system cameras). Not all of them have a trully reliable closing. Long time ago I used Eva-Marine for my first digital compact and it was almost O.K. but the stupid small inflating valve, that tended to open spontanously.  Equipment was very bulky in this bag, problematic on a small boat (sometimes I used very small inflatable kayak).

1) This solution I've chosen when I switched to mirrorless from compact as my main photo equipment. Waterproof bag for it would be too bulky to my taste and I didn't want to risk on water quite expensive camera. So currently for water trips I have old Panasonic FT4 (waterproof). Quality of the pictures is much worse than from my mft cameras (E-PL1, E-M10II), but probably not worse than from expensive smartphone models. Other problems is the lack of zoom to photograph effectively birds on water from usual distance. Usually these "tough" compacts have no more than 4-5x zoom. But camera is 100% safe on water, doesn't occupy too much space and is always ready to use. Note, there are currently better underwater compacts that You can use for boating. I would look for Oly TG series. Some models here can even accept dedicated front teleconverter, increasing tele - zoom range significantly. This would be definitely of value for a boater.

Btw, these soft bags from Aquapac in Amazon You've linked look quite well. They definitely improved closing. Many years ago  a I saw similar models of that brand, but closed with Velcro, pure recipe for disaster... So if You accept some inconvinience of bulky bag it can be quite good or perfect solution for You. Especially if  You're not limited to extremaly small inflatable boat You have to sometimes carry by yourself with the rest of the stuff. Just chek the bag before use if it is really fail proof.

In the end, yet another general opinion: on a small boat, that can always capsize in some circumstances, any protecting cover for camera or camera itself, or camera storage have to be 100% waterproof, fully submersible. Otherways, You don't need to protect your camera at all. Binary situation: it wil be O.K. or die just depending on the boat's fate (capsizing) or dropping it overboard. So no raincovers or so...

Regards,

-J.

how stable do you feel?

if your intent is to shoot bird, you probably want a very long lens, and the prior post's option 3 (water bag) is probably your only game.   No one is building a housing/port to fill a 400mm lens, and it would weigh a ton anyway.    UW housings are vaguely close to neutral in water, but oppressively heavy above water.

I have a semi rigid inflatable kayak, which is pretty stable, and I've taking a 7d with a 100-400mm lens out on Lake Tahoe to shoot eagles' nests.   This might be a bit tougher on a faster fiberglass type.   Ideally you'd want an outrigger.

I would highly recommend the Olympus TG-6 camera currently on sale at Costco with a floatie strap.  Such a great camera for MANY types of shots but I take my out on my jetski everytime.

Great just to have in my pocket for hiking.  During this hike, I actually had a full packpack of DSLR equipment but the TG-6 took most of the shots like this.

Sure, an Iphone could take this shot, but, just so easy to pull out of my cockpit and shoot.

Good detail from this PNS smaller camera.

just only slight corrections in LR.

The fast 2.0 lens does great.

Ok, you get the point.  This is a great camera.

I am using a skout carrier cotton while kayakking, with my g9+100-400. So it is attached to me. There is a rain cover which will fit snugly when i set the lens at 300mm. You have to take the rock of the kajak into account so shoot at high shutter (ibis wont work).

Dont tip over. 🙂

SirHarry wrote:

I am using a skout carrier cotton while kayakking, with my g9+100-400. So it is attached to me. There is a rain cover which will fit snugly when i set the lens at 300mm. You have to take the rock of the kajak into account so shoot at high shutter (ibis wont work).

Dont tip over. 🙂

Well, You may tip over on calmest water in the world. So rain cover is just a rain cover, no matter land or river/lake. For me only two general solutions give acceptable level of risk on a small boat which can capsize:

-Watertight camera/camera housing -90% foolproof, especially if You remeber to tie it to yourself/boat or to a piece of flotation - they just sink without it, You know

-Shoot&hide strategy = camera stored in 100% waterproof bag or box onboard between photo opportunities; not totaly safe and needs some care&caution, but certainly very low level risk on flat waters

Regards,

-J.

P.S. My friend has just  managed to save his camera on the river after his kayak was tipped over and flooded by the current  at the obstacle.  He did it by periscope method

He was just in the water (shallow one, anyway) with his hand  raised vertically above surface and own head

Yar1971 wrote:

SirHarry wrote:

I am using a skout carrier cotton while kayakking, with my g9+100-400. So it is attached to me. There is a rain cover which will fit snugly when i set the lens at 300mm. You have to take the rock of the kajak into account so shoot at high shutter (ibis wont work).

Dont tip over. 🙂

Well, You may tip over on calmest water in the world. So rain cover is just a rain cover, no matter land or river/lake. For me only two general solutions give acceptable level of risk on a small boat which can capsize:

-Watertight camera/camera housing -90% foolproof, especially if You remeber to tie it to yourself/boat or to a piece of flotation - they just sink without it, You know

Yeah you fit that 800mm ff eq lens in camera housing. 😂

-Shoot&hide strategy = camera stored in 100% waterproof bag or box onboard between photo opportunities; not totaly safe and needs some care&caution, but certainly very low level risk on flat water

Wont work. You are simply too late with that heron flying towards your kajak. With the skout carrier you simply rotate 90 degrees and you can lift your camera out of the socket. Ready to shoot in 1 second.

Regards,

-J.

P.S. My friend has just managed to save his camera on the river after his kayak was tipped over and flooded by the current at the obstacle. He did it by periscope method

He was just in the water (shallow one, anyway) with his hand raised vertically above surface and own head

😂

SirHarry wrote:

Yar1971 wrote:

-Watertight camera/camera housing -90% foolproof, especially if You remeber to tie it to yourself/boat or to a piece of flotation - they just sink without it, You know

Yeah you fit that 800mm ff eq lens in camera housing. 😂

Unfortunately You're right in this particular aspect: longer zoom + watertight solutions = pain or just zero... However, I will probably change my w-proof Pana FT4 for Oly TG series as they accept add-on front teleconverters. It's all about compromises, You know...

SirHarry wrote:

Yar1971 wrote:

-Shoot&hide strategy = camera stored in 100% waterproof bag or box onboard between photo opportunities; not totaly safe and needs some care&caution, but certainly very low level risk on flat water

Wont work. You are simply too late with that heron flying towards your kajak. With the skout carrier you simply rotate 90 degrees and you can lift your camera out of the socket. Ready to shoot in 1 second.

On realy calm water You can have Your camera at hand large part of the time. Just remember to hide it quickly when You need to manouver or aproaching possible obstacles. Should work, but some residual risk is unavoidable. This guy saving camera just wanted to catch a photo of historic mill remains. They were aproaching a bridge with some rapid below and surprising turn behind.

In that aspect hard box is the best -it may be open/closed imediately, in one second. Some people just fix them to the deck of the kayak or in the cockpit. Rolled bags are not so quick...

However, we all need is some luck anyway, with birds on water: my friend  with her DSLR caught a hoopoe that unexpectedly passed by in just two seconds. She was ready just trying to get a kingfisher that was constantly jumping from left bank to right and back. I had no time to even rise my compact from my knees

Sometimes we have open field of observation on water, sometimes a heron is just escaping several meters from You when You've just appeared from behind the turn...

Regards,

-J.

Thanks for the link, rolled WP bag, saw it. But You know, that guy is slightly cheating    

I mean,  he uses his "pro" camera only from land, not onboard (the topic of this tread). The WP bag is here solely for safe water transport.

It's quite reasonable though, because many/most of the White Water scenes can be probably best  filmed from the shore (You know better than me as You're WW kayaker, definitely quite opposite to me).

In the film there are of course some moments filmed from the water. But I'm deadly sure they're not made with that big Panasonic. Just a sport camera (waterproof, on helmet or fixed onboard) I think. The proof is that these actions were filmed from a short, 1 person WW kayak while in rapids. It's 100% imposible for kayaker in rapids to stop paddling and operate camera (waterproof or not)  even with a single hand for just a second...

Regards,

-J.

P.S. I fully agree a hard case is more safe and reliable storage for "big" camera onboard, especially if one wants to use the camera on (calm) water. Quick access, but more space needed though, all true.