Avast Marine Works Porthole XL

Avast Porthole XL mounted on Nikon D3200 with 85mm VR Micro

One of the coolest things about having an aquarium is photographing the life within. Sometimes, however, getting the pic through the glass of the aquarium is difficult, or the angle you want isn't from the side. Instead you want to shoot from above. Or better yet, within the water.


Truly waterproof DSLRs are expensive and even getting a housing for your body/lens combo is pricy. Avast Marine Works has created a simple tool to help. With the AMW Porthole (available here), you can submerge the lens of the camera without getting it wet, allowing you to make the best photograph possible from above.

Blastomussa wellsi photographed with the above Porthole and D3200 combo in my small aquarium.

This Porthole is easy to use, attaching like a Christmas tree stand with 3 plastic screws that fit snugly onto any lens. As you can see, I can get some great images with this that I just couldn't get otherwise.

I only have one Con to all these Pros, however. The glass is difficult to reach to clean. It arrived with dust and water spots inside. I rinsed with water then used a microfiber towel to dry. I think I may have introduced some scuffing on the inside of the clear acrylic. It would be much better, I think, if I could remove the acrylic to clean it, rather than trying to reach my fat hands down inside. I would gladly pay an additional $10-20 for a threaded option.

Even with my little gripe, this device is WELL worth the money if you have an aquarium and want to get more than the usual side-on photographs.