I always loved swimming, and I dreamed of underwater photography since I was little. But when you photography budget is limited, speciality equipment like underwater housing inevitably slip down the list a bit. After all, it was just a toy. I have a Pentax W30, and last year I upgraded it to a WG-3 - and it was fun. But when it came down to it, having shot SLR for decaded I just couldn't accept the limitations of a little toy compact. Particularly, the slow reaction time made me miss shots again and again, and the lighting in an indoor pool simply wasn't enough for the WG-3. Then last year I found thisDiCAPac SLR Pack Waterproof Camera Case (WP-S10) - Digital Camera Warehouse Australia generic casing, which was inexpensive enough to justify. It isn't elegant, it doesn't handle terribly well, and you really haven't got very good options for adjusting the settings - but it allowed me to take my k5 swimming, and that has turned out wonderful!

My youngest is a baby swimmer: We swam since she was 12 weeks old, every week. Now she is two, and she moves like a seal under water. She is completely comfortable, swimming head under most of the time, and just emerging now and again for air! As you can tell in the group shot here, she even has little air bubbles in her nostrils like seals do when they dive! I am so happy I get to keep pictures of this.

[Kerrowdown]

Great fun shots of the family at play on the pool.

The first image reminds me of a Nivana album cover.

[ausmoose]

Nice shots, very rare to see underwater shots, so well done and thanks for sharing.

[slowpez]

Great family portrait. In the group shot she is the only one with her eyes open which makes me think of her as a water nymph.

[monoloco]

That first shot is outstanding, what a great memory you have captured. I would love to have a housing for the K-5.

[Canada_Rockies]

That one child has no fear of open eyes under water. Great series.

[zztopd]

well done!!

[markl62]

That one child has no fear of open eyes under water. Great series.

I was going to say the same. The only one with eyes open. Nice shots

[MetteHHH]

Thanks everyone! She always has her eyes open underwater, and I sometimes wonder what she sees. I suppose it doesn't make sense that she should be able to focus any better than the rest of us, but she definitely turns her head towards objects of interest. I have open eyes myself when I dive, but without goggles, everything is just blurry blobs of colour (which, incidentally, doesn't improve my handling of the camera either. And with goggles, it is hard to get my face near enough to the viewfinder, so there is a big amount of luck involved in framing the shot. More so, because the water magnifies objects, so 18mm under water is a much narrower angle than 18mm above surface!)

Kerrowdown: I tried to do the Nirvana cover (without the bill anyway) with her, when she was a bit younger, but with the WG-3 I was never really satisfied with the result. Now she IS a bit big - more toddler than baby, but yes, I see the ressemblance too. She clings to a coffee cup rather than a dollar bill, which reflects her mums values quite well too...

Slowpez, I have been thinking water nymph too! Our swimming teacher calls her "the mermaid" because she has no fear of water at all. Which is a good skill at the pool, where the only real danger is to panic - but I am a bit anxious about taking her swimming in the ocean this summer: She needs to understand that not having a pool edge to swim to sets new rules of caution!

[MetteHHH]

Great fun shots of the family at play on the pool.

The first image reminds me of a Nivana album cover.

Here's my attempt to do the Nirvana cover from when she was 10 months. I took this one with the WG-3, and its shortcomings next to the K5 are really striking. Also, I missed the timing and got the hand of our swimming teacher in the frame, but it was still the best of a LOT of attempts (and there is a limit to how long you can make your baby dive to get the perfect shot! ) But technical flaws aside, these are good memories.

[Kerrowdown]

Here's my attempt to do the Nirvana cover from when she was 10 months

I thought it was just me then, when no one else commented on this.

[manishved]

Nice shots - I should look at this enclosure....

[MSL]

Well worth the efforts you went to in order to take the camera under water and to get the shot. Glad you shared this

[MetteHHH]

Nice shots - I should look at this enclosure....

It is a lot cheaper than the alternatives, and it does the job. I think I should warn you that it handles a bit like a cheap toy though - bulky, unwieldy, and the "finger tubes" for adjusting settings are barely usable. I don't regret buying it at all, and I plan to use it a lot, and the alternatives were all too expensive for me to consider - but just don't expect a prof-style underwater house at this price.

[KevinE]

Cool! I would like to play around with a waterproof camera, but have not yet at this point.