Got in email ad from Harbor Freight - underwater video camera with B&W monitor on sale for $99. No doubt this is nowhere near pro quality, but it could be a cheap way to see what's up from a rowboat in the depths of a quarry.

dave

Cool.

I'm a big fan of Harbor Freight. A lot of their stuff is crap, but quite often, you can by the same items that you can get at a more traditional store for half the price. And even the crap has it's place. A lot of our tool room at the museum has HF tools. Much easier to live with when some of the less than responsible volunteers leave the tools in the ballast at the end of the day. :-)

Here is the camera in question.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/D ... mber=91309

Greg

Yeah, I bought two grinders on sale at $9.99 and a cordless drill at $19.99 for the Gainesville project figuring I would use them up and toss them, but they are surprising me by not giving out.

dave

I'm no photography expert, so I can't tell the quality of the picture you might get, or what it would look like on a larger color monitor. I'm not sure how you aim the camaera, so you may need a diver to help. If it will show colors, then a large waterproof light will help to bring them out at depth.

Don't expect high resolution picture quality- if this is the unit I think it is it has a ring of infrared leds that provide light around the lens. Think in terms of being able to differentiate between merde and shinola, but not which brand.

Echo the Harbor Freight sentiments- sometimes they ARE the right tool for the job, especially when the use is a one-off situation. You do have to inspect what you get carefully- and think about whether a cheap tool can result in more busted knucks in your particular project.