Underwater case for a condom

This story our reader from Simferopol Alexander Tishchenko sent to our boring photo contest "Accident". Under the terms of the contest, it did not fit (the camera did not receive any visible damage in the picture), but the story turned out to be unusual, so we publish it with the kind permission of Alexander.

One summer or a resurrected drowned man

One summer I went to the sea to rest. He took with him a digital camera and film Canon BF800. A good such a soap tray, but almost no one is taking it off. The thing is almost rarity, it is not a shame to break it. I took this Canon in order to shoot under. water! Everyone knows that water is the enemy of electronics. I knew that. Preparatory fees before leaving for the sea included the creation of a self-made "underwater box" for a film soap box. I took a tight plastic bag, cut it to the size of the camera and made a viewing window for a lens of transparent cellophane (crispy so, the flowers wrapped in it). All carefully sealed with adhesive tape c glue and folded into a bag. After coming to the sea a few days passed. At first I enjoyed the sun and nature, not thinking about anything. And so, on the third day, my wonderful film camera caught my eye! The next morning I took him to the beach. He came to the sea, inserted batteries and charged the film. Packed the camera in the "underwater box" and went to dive. But as soon as I just lowered the camera into the water, he convulsively began to wind the film back into the cassette! At first, the thought flashed through my head that I accidentally touched the rewind button. But looking closer to the transparent case, I saw that the water inside! Salty sea water! This is death to the camera! I came out of the water upset. I disassembled the underwater box, strongly not trying to save it for reuse. I threw down this shapeless piece of polyethylene and looked around the camera. In appearance, only a couple of drops of water were visible, just at the points of the docking ribs of the hull. I took out the batteries and left the camera to dry in the sun. Evening came. I came to the room and after dinner dismantled the camera. It was dry inside. My attention was attracted by the "white stains" on the printed circuit board at the place where the film rewind buttons were soldered. When detailed consideration of these divorces were dried salt of sea water. It is a solution of salt water and closed the contact, rolling me a film. Everything else was intact. I wiped the board with cotton wool and assemble the construction back. I inserted batteries and, oh, a miracle! The camera turned on! It would seem that the problem is solved. But there were two "buts": - homemade "underwater box" was irretrievably and mercilessly lost; - the film was wound up in the factory cassette and the hood fell through. I could get the film out of the cassette without lighting it. To do this, I threw a blanket on my hands and flared the cassette with a knife. He pulled out the edge of the film and rolled the tape back. But with the underwater box was more difficult. In the bank, the camera did not work, the other at hand was nothing. And then I remembered about the product number 1! I went to the nearest store and asked for a Transparent condom. The young girl-seller was slightly embarrassed and said that she does not know the color, because the product is strictly sealed in opaque packaging. We did not check on the spot and I bought several different without looking. On the morning of the next day, the test of the camera-submariner # 2 was assigned! Armed with a condom and photo camera, I came to the beach, where I accidentally met a company of my friends. For a long time without forcing myself to wait I told them about my intention to test the "budget" version of the underwater box. (At that time, costs were less than 1 UAH). I want to say that friends helped to pack the camera into a new "box". After all, pulling a condom on a camera alone would be very problematic (see photo)! They tied a bow and a veil - a tightness of 100%! The tests showed excellent waterproofing! Access to controls is convenient because of the small thickness of the latex. All 24 frames were shot with a bang! Of course, the quality of the images can not be compared with the digital ones, but taking into account the technology and its accessibility - the photos are simply superb :)