Sony has plumbed the depths of underwater photography to create a waterproof camera case that still lets you access the features of a touchscreen snapper.

Sony's Marine Pack lets touchscreens be accessed underwater

The electronic giant’s upcoming Marine Pack case has five levers on the back that, when depressed, push on the touchscreen and allow you to alter camera features, such as image size, smile mode and flash.

The case makes for a bulky camera

On top of Marine Pack there’s a button for depressing the encased camera’s shutter button. A Sony spokesman told Register Hardware that a larger silver arch lever on the case has also been included to make it easier for, say, a snowboarder to take pictures while traversing the slopes.

Picture quality 'not affected'

Marine Pack and camera can operate at depths of up to 40m and is designed for use with Sony’s new T77 and T700 compact cameras.

Regiser Hardware played with Marine Pack at a Sony event in London last night. We found the case very easy to operate and the touchscreen was still clearly visible through the thick plastic case. We could easily cycle through the camera’s functions and, most importantly of all, pictures still came out bright and clear.

Marine pack is expected to wash up in the UK in October and will cost around £180 (€225/$335).