While many people love to scuba dive, getting up close and personal to some tropical fish, some of us may find the idea of breathing underwater to be incredibly uncomfortable and panic-inducing. If you consider yourself a part of the latter group, you might be thrilled to learn that you don't actually have to put a wetsuit on to dive underwater — you can have the Submarine Camcorder do it for you.
Drop this remote operated underwater camcorder off the dock and enjoy the live video from your laptop or iPad via the app, which connects wirelessly to the receiver. The app's virtual dashboard enables you to "control the sub's electric thrust and lift propellers for forward/backward (5 kts forward; 1 kt reverse), left-right, and up/down movement." The dashboard also features a joystick, camera controls, and displays the depth, battery level (which will last up to two hours on a 16-hour charge), heading, and temperature sent from the submarine's built-in sensors. This little piece of tech has auto and manual focus control, as well as an internal timer, that allows you to take pictures at set intervals while you worry about getting the right angle.
If the video looks a bit dark, simply manipulate the eight adjustable-intensity LEDs that will light the water up for you. Retailer Hammacher Schlemmer promises that the Submarine Camcorder has a marine-grade hydrodynamic ABS housing that keeps it sealed tight against the water so the internal HD camera (with 1,280 x 720 resolution for video and 1,280 x 800 for stills) doesn't get damaged. Your videos will be saved on the internal 32GB memory card, while the images save directly to your laptop or iPad.
The only real drawback is that the orange sub's attached cable only allows it to go 100 feet deep. Well, that and it also seems to be a bit overpriced at $6,300...but that may end up being cheaper than all the scuba gear and lessons you'd have to buy otherwise.