Photography has taken me on a wild path throughout my life, allowing me to explore places I would have only dreamed of as a child. As my career has evolved as a photographer, I always find myself returning to my passion - the ocean. The number one reason I picked up a camera was in the hope to take it into the water as soon as possible, and so naturally a waterhousing has been by my side ever since my journey began. I started with Liquideye 6 years back, and guess what, I’m still using them. I have put my various housings (three in total so far) through sketchy situations, even with a few hard encounters with reefs. To this day, none of my housings have ever let me down, and I have come to feel incredibly in tune with my Liquideye waterhousing. This blog will share my favorite things and thoughts about Liquideye from my time using them.

It’s been one magical ride ever since I started taking photos in the ocean. Footage by Jordan Godley

Made by surf photographers, for surf photographers

Liquideye was born from Philippe Chevodin, a surf photographer who used to shoot for top European magazines and surf brands from the mid 80’s onwards. He started making waterhousings for people in 1987, which is a testament to the time put into Liquideye ever since. Also, the current manager, Doby, is a highly talented photographer and waterman who has spent many years dedicated to the craft. This shines through in their product. Liquideye is not a ‘bang them out and sell em’ brand. They take time to test new ideas out in the water to make sure their housings are as ergonomic and practical in the water as possible. Every housing is made to order, and highly custom to the camera and users needs. Some other brands (not naming) seem to have gone more mainstream with their design and don’t feel as niche to surf as Liquideye does.

Compact and highly custom to the camera

These housings have become more and more compact over the years. For my Sony a7RIII, which is a very small mirrorless camera, the resulting housing from Liquideye is insanely compact. I remember when I switched from my Nikon setup to the Sony, the whole rig is just so much smaller and more manageable in the water and when traveling. People are always surprised when they see my housing setup, especially when I have my 70-200mm in the housing and it still looks really compact! As the housings are custom to each camera size, there is no wasted extra bulk/space, and the camera fits snug into the housing.

I recently did a one week trip to Sumatra and wanted to travel light, whilst still taking the gear I wanted. I took my Sony A7RIII, 70-200mm, Fisheye lens, Liquideye housing, fisheye port and 70-200mm port. All of this fit into my backpack! No need for a big bulky pelican case, just straight on the plane with everything on my back! This is the way I like to travel, with as little luggage as possible, and having compact gear allows for this.

*My backpack from a recent trip to Sumatra. Everything I need fits in this one bag!*

Every button I could ever need

It’s really important for me to have access to all the buttons I need when shooting in the water. Liquideye has nailed this as I can access any function I require. The way I shoot I like to not be fiddling around with settings too much in the water anyway, but when I do need to change things, it’s really easy. I can change my shutter speed, aperture and ISO pretty much without even having to look at what I’m doing - it’s that intuitive! I also set up my functions so I can move my focus point around when in the water, which has been a game changer.

*With all the controls I need, I can concentrate on getting the shot with confidence. Photo by Jordan Godley*

I like the the screw system!

This is what most people tell me they don’t like about Liquideye - the bolt screw system. I understand this does take more time to setup than the clip system of other brands, but my honest opinion is that I like the screw system. I love how flush the housing is once you screw the backplate on. There’s no bulky clips, just smooth flush edges, and you know that it won’t come undone. I have never had a leak from my backplate (or housing for that matter), and I recommend you to take the time to learn how to put the backplate and screws on properly to avoid any potential issues.

I have had a few friends shooting with clip systems, and they have accidentally knocked a clip off during shooting, which resulted in a flooded housing. This isn’t possible with the screw system. I have knocked my housing hard on reefs, and even chipped the edges, with no problems at all.

Ports, ports and more ports

I don’t know how many ports I have collected over the years, but it is a lot…. I have had many different lenses, and every time Liquideye has been able to accommodate with a neat port that works perfectly with the lens. I love shooting small prime lenses like a 50mm with a small port. The small port feels so natural with the housing and easy to use in the water. Having said that, my favorite setup recently has been with the 70-200mm, and the port for this is epic! The lens is the f4 version, which is smaller than the f2.8, and so the port is also nice and small (for a zoom lens port). I also shoot fisheye now and then, and I also love how compact and small the port is for that. There are options for extension rings, which allow you to use the same port with different lenses sometimes, but I like to have as little extra ‘stuff’ added onto my housing as possible (extension ring means another O-ring, which means another potential leak entry). It costs more, but I prefer to have the native port for the lens.

*My fisheye and 70-200mm lens ports. I have a lot more ports, but these two I have been using a lot recently.*

Pushing what’s possible

Over the years, it’s obvious to see how much work has gone into developing the design and ergonomics of the Liquideye housings. My first ever housing was pretty bulky, had a front loading plate with a fused port on it, and no function controls. It’s pretty obvious to see the progress in terms of design and function over the years. Fast-forward to now and Liquideye are still pushing to improve their housings constantly. They have just launched a bluetooth side grip giving you a two stage shutter button, AF button control, C1 (which you can customise to be movie record/stop) and zoom in and out on Sony PowerZoom lenses. My friend Jordan Godley tried this bluetooth grip and it worked super well for zooming out whilst filming.

It seems there are more new exciting things on the way but for now that’s all pretty hush hush, so watch this space!

Location

This obviously isn’t a plus for everyone, but the location of Liquideye is very handy for me. They are based in Bali, which is where I live. I can easily pop in to the workshop and get my housing serviced and pickup new parts etc. Being able to do this instead of lots of emails and waiting for shipping is a massive bonus for me. I am not saying you should move to Bali for this, but it’s a very nice convenience for me living here!

Please note, this post was not paid for by Liquideye and is my honest feedback.

The Best Surf Waterhousings in the World - Liquideye