Turn any camera into underwater camera with this $10 DIY periscope

If you want to take some underwater shots and buying a professional housing would exceed your budget, is Alex of I did a thing has some good news for you. He has built a simple periscope that not only costs around $10 to make, but it also requires almost no time. So if you’re looking for a simple, quick and super-cheap DIY project, take a look at this one.

You will need:

• A piece of PVC pipe that fits around your camera lens
• A PVC elbow joint
• A picture frame (you only need the glass)
• A round mirror
• Epoxy glue, silicone, PVC cement

How to make

Just like the list of “ingredients,” the building process is pretty simple, too.

Start by placing the mirror into the elbow joint at a 45 degree angle. Use epoxy to put it all together and to make sure that the mirror stays in place.

Then, use silicone to glue the glass to the elbow joint. And finally, use PVC cement to connect the elbow joint to the pipe. And that’s it, you’re done!

When you want to shoot, just put your camera lens inside the PVC pipe and submerge the other end into the water, and you’ve got yourself a periscope that lets you see and shoot underwater. Okay, it’s not something that lets you dive with your camera, but you can place it in the shallow water like Alex did and see what’s going on under surface. Here are a couple of screenshots so you can see how it turned out for Alex, and make sure to watch the video for more examples.

If you want to make a dome port underwater housing, take a look at this one. And in case you want to submerge a smartphone or a compact camera underwater, take a look at this quirky (but effective) solution.

[How to Film Underwater with any Camera | I did a thing]