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How and When to Use a GoPro Super Suit Dive Housing

The GoPro Super Suit adds extra protection and lets you take your GoPro much deeper than the built-in waterproof protection. Here's when and how to use it.

GoPro Super Suit Dive Housing

By David Coleman | @havecamerawilltraveldc
Last updated about 4 months ago // Categories: Housings & Cases
Tags: GoPro HERO (2018), GoPro HERO5 Black, GoPro HERO6 Black, GoPro HERO7 Black

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The Super Suit is GoPro’s official waterproof housing for the HERO7 Black, HERO6 Black, HERO5 Black, and HERO (2018). It can withstand much greater depth pressures than the camera body alone and adds an extra layer of protection against bumps and knocks.

Here’s a quick rundown of when it’s useful and how to use it.

Why Use It?

Recent generations of GoPros have been waterproof out of the box without the need for an external housing. Before that–and we’re going back to the HERO4 and earlier models–you needed to put the camera inside a waterproof housing. Starting with the HERO4 Session, and with all of the models since then, the camera body itself has been redesigned to be waterproof.

For many uses, the camera’s built-in protection against the elements is plenty. If you want to take the camera swimming, surfing, snorkeling, kayaking, or just adventuring in damp conditions, there’s no pressing need to add a Super Suit housing into the mix.

But there are three main reasons you might want to put the camera in a Super Suit housing.

  • Because you want to go deeper than 10 meters (33 feet). That would usually be with Scuba diving. The Super Suit is otherwise known as a dive housing. It’s rated down to 60 meters (196 feet), which is well beyond the range of most recreational Scuba diving (40 meters / 120 feet is often regarded as a recommended practical limit for recreational diving).
  • Because you want to use one of the filter systems that are designed to attach to the lens port of the Super Suit. An example that I use regularly is the Backscatter Flip7 system. It won’t attach to the camera’s own lens port and is designed specifically for the Super Suit.
  • Because you want to add an extra layer of expendable protection against knocks and bumps to protect the camera’s own body. A cracked housing is much cheaper, easier, and more convenient to replace than a cracked camera body.
GoPro AADIV-001 Super Suit with Dive Housing for HERO7 /HERO6 /HERO5 ,...
GoPro AADIV-001 Super Suit with Dive Housing for HERO7 /HERO6 /HERO5 ,...
  • Ultimate protection for your HERO6 Black or HERO5 Black during extreme outdoor activities and deep-water...
  • Waterproof to 196ft (60m)
Check Price on Amazon

Compatibility of the Super Suit Dive Housing

The Super Suit is compatible with the HERO7 Black, HERO6 Black, HERO5 Black, and HERO (2018). Those models all share the same body design.

It is not compatible with the other two models in the HERO7 lineup: the Silver and White. GoPro has now released a dedicated housing for those that’s simply called the Protective Housing. It’s conceptually similar, but you don’t have to remove the camera’s lens port to install the camera in the housing (the lens port doesn’t come off on those models). It’s also not rated for quite as deep as the Super Suit; it’s rated to 40 meters (131 feet), which is still more than enough for most recreational Scuba diving.

It’s also not compatible with earlier models of GoPro or the Session series of cube-shaped cameras. For those, you’ll need to pick up a housing that’s specifically designed for those cameras. GoPro used to make them for cameras like the HERO4 Black, but those are harder to find now. I’m not aware of GoPro ever making an official housing for the Session models, but you can find third-party aftermarket versions (just be sure to do your own quality control tests before taking it out for a shoot).

GoPro has released a dedicated protective housing for the new HERO8 Black.

Installation of the Super Suit Housing

Before you put the camera into the SuperSuit housing, you’re first going to need to remove the camera’s lens port cover. If you’ve put the camera in the housing but can’t close the back door, chances are it’s because you haven’t removed the camera’s lens port yet, so it’s not going all the way in.

GoPro Super Suit Dive Housing

The lens should fit flush into the lens port of the housing. If it’s sitting back from the lens port glass, chances are you forgot to remove the camera’s lens port first.

There’s a bit of a trick to that, and the first time you do it you might feel as though you’re going to break something.

It’s a two-part method, first with a pull and then a twist. But by design, it doesn’t just pop off easily. I’ve put together a detailed guide separately, which you can find here.

GoPro HERO5 Black Remove Lens Port Cover Removed

With the lens port removed the camera will now fit snugly into the housing and you can lock the top latch shut securely.

GoPro Super Suit Dive Housing

The latch on top has extra features to make it a more secure close than the regular frame.

Back Door

You’ll then need to do decide which of the two types of back door you want to use. Most of the time the answer will be obvious: the solid door that comes already attached. Something to know is that this door isn’t compatible with the camera’s touchscreen. It’s transparent, so you can still see the screen as normal, but touch controls won’t work. So you can’t use the camera’s menu system with the door closed, but it also saves you the weird inputs you sometimes get when water splashes directly onto the touchscreen.

There’s a spare one of these doors included that’s labeled for use with a Floaty, a self-adhesive foam brick that attaches to the back. The door itself is identical to the default one. They provide it because once you attach a Floaty, the adhesive is not designed to be removed. Something to know is that the Floaty will completely cover the back screen, so you won’t be able to see it either.

The Super Suit also a skeleton back door with holes in it. It doesn’t make sense to use that underwater for obvious reasons. Its purpose is primarily for allowing sound to better reach the onboard microphones (although the onboard sound recording isn’t great at the best of times; a much better, but less convenient, option is an external microphone if sound quality is important to what you’re filming). The skeleton door also provides direct access to the back touchscreen.

Switching out the doors is pretty straightforward. They just snap on and off at the hinge. Open the door slightly and pull it off in the direction of the gap in the hinge slots.

Prevent Fogging

If you want to minimize the risk of fogging in the housing, try to install the camera in dry air. I try to do this in an air-conditioned hotel room or ship’s berth when practical. If you get much humid air trapped inside the housing, it can fog when you subject the camera to temperature changes such as when you dive down into cooler water.

You can also use anti-fogging inserts that slot in between the camera and the housing. They’re just silica pouches, but their slim design lets them fit in the limited space that’s left in the housing.

CamKix Anti-Fog Inserts compatible with Hero 4 Black, Silver, 3+, 3, 2, 1...
CamKix Anti-Fog Inserts compatible with Hero 4 Black, Silver, 3+, 3, 2, 1...
  • PREVENTS FOGGING: Use in cold or humid climates to avoid excess moisture building up on your lens and...
  • REUSABLE: Inserts can be used multiple times. To remove the absorbed moisture simply bake in an oven at...
Check Price on Amazon

Shooting With the Super Suit

There’s no special trick to shooting with the Super Suit housing on. The mechanical spring buttons will be spongier than you’re used to. And if you’re using sound feedback, it will be more muffled.

GoPro Super Suit Dive Housing

The buttons are on mechanical springs that pass the input to the camera itself. They’re a bit spongier than the naked buttons.

Other than that, you can just shoot as normal. The housing is designed in such a way that it doesn’t add any lens vignetting, and while adding extra layers of glass inevitably does impact image quality in a technical sense, the housing uses good quality glass over the lens, so that’s more of a theoretical than practical concern. And the flat lens means that it will work both above and below the water.

Other Alternatives

At $49.99, the SuperSuit isn’t exorbitantly priced. But you also have a couple of alternatives available. One is to sign up for the paid subscription GoPro PLUS plan ($4.99/month) that gives you 50 percent off many GoPro accessories (among other useful benefits), the Super Suit included.

Another option is to go with a housing made by a third-party aftermarket brand. They can often be priced lower, but quality control can also vary widely. So it’s a good idea to do your own waterproof test without the camera before you use it with the camera (well, that’s good practice regardless of which housing you use, for that matter). Putting a tissue in the housing, sealing it up, and submerging it is a good way to quickly spot any leaks–they show up well on the tissue.

GoPro AADIV-001 Super Suit with Dive Housing for HERO7 /HERO6 /HERO5 ,...
GoPro AADIV-001 Super Suit with Dive Housing for HERO7 /HERO6 /HERO5 ,...
  • Ultimate protection for your HERO6 Black or HERO5 Black during extreme outdoor activities and deep-water...
  • Waterproof to 196ft (60m)
Check Price on Amazon

Images and product information from Amazon PA-API were last updated on 2020-11-13 at 20:08. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon Site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.

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By David Coleman
Instagram: @havecamerawilltraveldc

Last updated on September 12, 2020

Categories: Housings & Cases
Tags: GoPro HERO (2018), GoPro HERO5 Black, GoPro HERO6 Black, GoPro HERO7 Black

I may earn a commission for purchases using links on this page. Learn more.

GoPro News & Deals

New Smart Remote GoPro will be announcing the new Smart Remote for the HERO9 Black on December 17, 2020. The HERO9 Black isn’t compatible with the previous version of the Smart Remote.

HERO8 Black firmware v2.0 now available. Enables webcam mode; enables Display Mod compatibility; expands HyperSmooth 2.0 High and Boost availability to more video settings; general bug fixes. Update through the mobile app or manually.

GoPro Launches New Live Streaming Service for GoPro PLUS. GoPro has launched their own live-streaming platform for PLUS subscribers. It’s a pretty bare-bones offering for now, with livestreams shared with a dedicated URL. This is alongside their efforts to make the HERO8 Black useful as a webcam when connected to a computer (via USB plug-in-play, not requiring the Media Mod accessory with HDMI out). New firmware adds that functionality for Mac users, and the Windows version is in Beta.

New GoPro Zeus Mini Video Light. GoPro has released released a new video LED light designed to complement their GoPro cameras. It’s tiny, waterproof, and has a built-in magnetic swiveling clip. It’s waterproof down to 33 feet (10 meters), has four levels of brightness, and includes a diffuser to cool the color temperature to 5000K. GoPro claims that the built-in battery lasts up to 6 hours (presumably at the lowest brightness setting, although they don’t specify). It’s available now and priced at $69.99.

DJI Osmo Action firmware update adds live streaming. DJI has released a firmware update for the Osmo Action (v. 01.08.00.10) that adds live streaming support, so you can upload directly to platforms like Facebook and YouTube (it goes through the DJI Mimo mobile app). They’ve also improved the in-camera video stabilization. You can find the new firmware here.

New Underwater Housing for GoPro HERO8 Black from Isotta. Isotta, an Italian brand specializing in underwater housings, has announced a new high-quality underwater housing for the HERO8 Black. It’s an aluminum housing depth-rated to 650 feet (200 meters), has a one-handed open/close switch, double o-rings, and can be used with filters. There’s also a dual-handled tray to go along with it. And like all their housings, it’s in their distinctive red. Priced at $450, it’s only for those who need a highly specialized piece of underwater kit. It’s available for preorder from underwater specialists Backscatter.

Light Mod Now Shipping The Light Mod, one of the three new GoPro accessories, is now shipping. It’s a standalone light that is waterproof, rechargeable and compatible with all GoPro mounts. It was originally announced along with the HERO8 Black, but it hasn’t been available until now. It’s priced at $49.99, and you can find them at GoPro.com.

GoPro MAX Now Shipping. The new 360° camera, the MAX, is now shipping.

GoPro HERO8 Black and Max Unveiled. The new GoPro cameras and accessories have been unveiled. I have a rundown of the highlights of the HERO8 Black here.

DJI Osmo Action vs GoPro HERO7 Black. I’ve posted my detailed hands-on comparison of the Osmo Action and the HERO7 Black. There’s a lot similar between the models, but once you start digging down into the details there are differences that can help in choosing between them. And each has strengths the other doesn’t have. You can find my review here.

GoPro HyperSmooth vs DJI RockSteady. The new DJI Osmo Action also has built-in electronic stabilization to smooth out video. They’re calling it RockSteady (GoPro has HyperSmooth). I’ve been out testing them side-by-side. You can see the results here.

GoPro Deals page. I’ve put together a dedicated page on GoPro deals. So if you’re looking for cheap GoPro deals, check it out.

DJI Osmo action 4K Camera. Best known for their camera drones, DJI has released a new 4K action cam that’s taking direct aim at the GoPro HERO7 Black. It shoots up to 4K60 video and 12MP stills, includes electronic stabilization, has high-dynamic range video at 4K30, voice commands, a touchscreen on the back and another smaller live view screen on the front, and is waterproof down to 36 feet (11 meters). It’s priced at $349, and they’re now available at B&H Photo.

Comments

  1. Lester Washburn says

    October 12, 2019 at 11:08 pm

    Thanks for the information. I recently purchased a GoPro Hero 7, with the Super Suit, GoPole Triad tray and Sandmarc filters. My question here is, why does GoPro equip the Super Suit with the “skeleton door”? I will alway be likely to descend past the 10m mark. Plus, the meager documentation says that I have “two waterproof back doors”. With said skeleton door, one gains access to the touch screeen, but the housing is not actually water tight below the recommended depth.
    Cheers.

    Reply
    • David says

      October 13, 2019 at 2:35 pm

      Many users use the Super Suit for its extra protection topside because it’s cheaper to replace a smashed housing than a smashed camera. In their latest versions, they’ve moved away from the dive housing label and now just call them protective housings for that reason. You should have one hard door attached and a spare in the box (in addition to skeleton door). That’s primarily so that you can attach the adhesive Floaty to one if you wish.

      Reply

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About Me

I’m a professional travel & location photographer based in Washington DC and traveling all over. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between.

I’ve owned and used every GoPro since the HD HERO and particularly like finding new and different ways to use them to capture photos, video, and time-lapse.

You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com.

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