Fantasea FA6500 Housing for Sony a6500 and a6300

Before every dive, open the housing somewhere clean and dry, inspect and wipe the main o-ring and its groove, and close it with nothing trapped in the seal, because a single hair or grain of sand is enough to flood it. Confirm every latch is fully closed and that any vacuum or leak alarm reads correctly. Where you can, soak the sealed housing in a rinse tank or hang at the surface before descending, so a leak shows up before depth.

Remove the main o-ring regularly with a plastic tool rather than anything metal, which can nick the groove, and clean both the o-ring and the groove with a lint-free cloth. Apply a thin film of the silicone grease the manufacturer specifies, since grease helps the o-ring seat and slide rather than sealing by itself, and a thick coat only collects grit. Replace o-rings on the schedule in the manual, or sooner if they look flattened, cut, or dry.

A moisture alarm is a sensor inside the housing that beeps or flashes when it detects water, giving you a chance to abort the dive before the camera is ruined. Desiccant packs absorb humidity in the air sealed inside the housing, which prevents the port fogging as you descend into cooler water. Neither replaces a proper seal check, since they provide early warning and fog control rather than leak prevention.

Only as deep as its rated depth, which the manufacturer sets and publishes in the specifications, and it should never be exceeded even briefly. Depth ratings assume a housing in good condition with intact seals, so worn o-rings or a damaged port reduce the real margin. If your diving might take you deeper, choose a housing rated comfortably beyond your planned maximum depth.

Only if the housing is specifically rated for the depth you plan to dive, because many phone cases are splash- or snorkel-rated rather than scuba-rated. Touchscreens generally do not respond underwater, so a diving phone housing needs mechanical buttons or another control method. A phone's own water-resistance rating is not a substitute for a housing, and any housing still needs seal checks and o-ring care.

Soak the closed, sealed housing in fresh water and work every button and dial while it is submerged so salt does not dry inside the control shafts. Let it dry completely, especially around latches and seams, before you open it, since opening a wet housing drips water straight onto the camera. Avoid opening a housing on a wet, moving boat deck whenever you have the option to wait.

Get the housing out of the water and open it somewhere dry, then immediately remove the camera's battery and memory card, because leaving a battery in a wet camera does more damage than the water itself. Do not power the camera on to check whether it still works. Dry everything gently away from direct heat, get salt-water-exposed equipment to a repair technician promptly, and inspect the housing to find which seal failed before you dive it again.

This FA6500 housing has a standalone moisture detector and alarm installed inside, with a vacuum valve available only as an optional M16-port accessory. The newer FA6500 V2 adds Fantasea's Hybrid Vacuum Safety System built in, which combines a pre-dive vacuum check with an on-dive moisture and leak alarm. Shared dimensions, weight, depth rating, and materials are the same between both versions.

No, the FA6500 housing does not include a lens port. It uses Fantasea's FML interchangeable lens port system, so you select and purchase the specific lens port separately to match the lens you plan to use underwater.

Yes. The housing ships configured for the Sony a6500 but includes an a6300 conversion kit with the parts and instructions needed to fit the a6300 body. If you would rather not do the conversion yourself, an authorized Fantasea dealer or service center can perform it for you.

The housing includes a protective body cap, two Nano fiber optic plug adapters, a hand lanyard, extended shutter release, anti-glare LCD hood, A6300 conversion kit, flash sticker, FML1 lens port opening tool, screwdriver, silica gel packs, silicone grease, O-ring remover, spare backdoor O-ring seal, lens cloth, and owner's manual.