Underwater inspection cameras

Piers said:
I'm after a camera to be able to inspect the underneath of Play d'eau. A 'camera on a stick' to look at, for example, stern gear.

Any recommendations?

Thank you - Piers
Click to expand...
Go onto my favourite site
http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-5...ion-Snake-Tube-Video-Camera-Lens-p-43623.html
This is £10.47 with about two weeks free delivery from Hongkong-or you can pay an extra £4 to get it shipped from UK Warehouse.
HongKong based and in my experience totally reliable
They come with an led light and with various lengths of usb cable.
They are not articulated so you would need to attach to a stick/boat hook or similar and it would need two of you to work it-one manipulating camera and other watching image on laptop.
PS-having read all above threads clearly there are other suppliers out there with better prices.
 
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We have had something similar to the Maplin one shown for several years - rechargeable battery, b and w tv screen, lights on the camera. Used in a marina with one person holding the camera on a pole under the boat (from the pontoon) and the other looking at the screen directing the camera person. Works well well you need it to check anodes or look for prop damage etc.. I think it was about £50.
 
Find a friendly plumber with a drain inspection camera and donate beer in exchange for a look? Works for us...
 
I'm not sure if this post will duplicate, my computer crashed as I was submitting the post.

ffiilll, did you have to pay any import duty or any handling charges on this item?

The camera looks very useful and worth adding to the toolkit.
 
Ian_Edwards said:
ffiilll, did you have to pay any import duty or any handling charges on this item?
Click to expand...

I buy loads of cheap Chinese / Hong Kong stuff on eBay, never yet had to pay duty. The Chinese routinely lie on the customs form on the outside of the parcel to bring the value below the duty threshold.

Pete
 
MERRY_MARY said:
Piers

I've had one of these from Maplin for many years, not exactly Discovery HD TV but certainly good enough for seeing condition of stern gear / finding stuff you dropped overboard at the marina etc.
John
Click to expand...

I bought one of these cameras as a stand alone item from HK a few years ago. The video is played out on our Standard Horizon Chartplotter and the power is provided from the boats 12V.

The lens has fogged after use but I now take the precaution of leaving it on for a while after use to dry it out completely.

Bob
 
For those of you happy to view the video you shoot on your laptop/iPad here's one I took earlier :rolleyes:

http://youtu.be/O39PngLM-Y4

Camera is attached to a piece of wood 2''x1'', probably 5' long. Hole drilled in one end for lanyard.

6'' cut off the other end and reattached using a bolt with a wing nut. Bolt thread in end to attach camera.This allows me to have the camera in a vertical position if I want regardless of being on board or on a pontoon i.e pole could be at anything from 5 degrees to 45 degrees to the vertical.

Took my SIL less than 5 minutes to make.

When I last dried the boat out I used a marker pen to mark the exact positions/angles so that I could film my prop from on board

Video was shot to show the antifoul manufacture how crepe his product was. I did well :) :)
 
I've got one of the Maplin cameras too and it's very good.

No need to tape it to the boat hook, the clip attached to the camera (to hold the weight) is the perfect size to clip around the boat hook.

I just unclipped the weight and clipped the camera straight onto the boat hook pole, voila.

Works a treat. Although I've only used it in anger a couple of times, it was invaluable both times, if only for peace of mind to know what state things are in down there. Excellent value too. And comes with a very long length of lead from the camera to the monitor.
 
Just looked at the banggood camera and its out of stock. For £14 it would be ideal to use with a pole and laptop display. Makes a £140 Maplins or equivalent set up an unnecessarily expensive way of doing it. Can anyone reccomend a similar camera for use with a laptop or iPad?
 
slipknot said:
Just looked at the banggood camera and its out of stock. For £14 it would be ideal to use with a pole and laptop display. Makes a £140 Maplins or equivalent set up an unnecessarily expensive way of doing it. Can anyone reccomend a similar camera for use with a laptop or iPad?
Click to expand...

See post #15?

Or just search on eBay...

.
 
I put the screen on the bathing platform and sit in the dinghy. That allows you to put the boathooked (is that a word?) camera in the water more horizontally than working from the dock or the deck. It's a bit random in terms of directing it but once you get orientated it works fine for anode and prop inspections.

garvellachs said:
We have had something similar to the Maplin one shown for several years - rechargeable battery, b and w tv screen, lights on the camera. Used in a marina with one person holding the camera on a pole under the boat (from the pontoon) and the other looking at the screen directing the camera person. Works well well you need it to check anodes or look for prop damage etc.. I think it was about £50.
Click to expand...
 
I would highly recommend a waterproof USB endoscope attached to a laptop - readily available on eBay / Amazon for under £20.
Bought one earlier this year to investigate noise / issue with folding prop, and got great pictures in action. Much easier to use than camera on stick, as can see and adjust position real time. Also much bigger screen and cheaper than Maplin style combined device.

Search for previous threads on this topic, which includes link to video pictures we took

PS We also have a waterproof camera, ex eBay, but would use endoscope for reference for investigating underwater. Bought a second one for use at house - eg checking wiring and pipe runs under floorboards
 
Aquarella said:
A Gopro Hero with a wifi connection to an ipad should do the trick of monitoring what you see under water. I just couldn't get it to work when I needed it, maybe someone else here has tried with better luck.
Click to expand...
I mounted my Gopro hero on the boat hook and used my iPhone to start/stop filming and playing the video.
Only problem is.. WIFI does not work under water..
So the procedure was
1) Start video
2) Dip camera into water
3) Move camera around
4) Camera out of the water
5) Stop filming
6) Play video

th_null_zps124bbbed.png


Next time I will try mounting light on the pole.
 
Thanks so much for all the info. Really helpful.

Result? I have ordered a camera from Maplins (http://www.maplin.co.uk/20m-underwater-camera-kit-with-7-inch-monitor-223963). Currently out of stock until 7 Nov.

I'm also looking at buying one of the small endoscopes mentioned above. This will be really useful for looking into those awkward places on Play d'eau.

So, thanks so much for the info. Top notch.
 
Aquarella said:
A Gopro Hero with a wifi connection to an ipad should do the trick of monitoring what you see under water. I just couldn't get it to work when I needed it, maybe someone else here has tried with better luck.
Click to expand...
+1

I have been looking into the same thing but each time I think of the £300 and jus put on the wetsuit and jump in
 
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