5 replies to this topic

[Moose]

Here is the situation…

You are diving on the Galapagos Islands. You come up after your safety stop and you are waiting for the boat to pick you up. You look over to the rocks and you see a few penguins sitting on the rocks, waiting to get their pictures taken.

The problem, with a wet lens, you will get water spots all over the shot.

The question…

Is there a way I can remove a camera from the water and still take a picture without having to remove it from the housing? Is there a coating to put on the housing lens (RainX, etc)?

Thanks in advance.

[Houston Squid]

Travel with a second inexpensive digital camera.

When I bought my G-10 I was upgrading my SD500. The SD500 is a great camera for those kind of moments.

Just leave your second camera out on the camera table so it is already neutralized to the environment. If you ran in the boat to get it the A/C would fog you out for a while.

I thought the same thing you did this past weekend on the M/V Spree when we pulled up to the Fort. I noticed my "case" lens was all messed up after I had just taken some of the greatest sunrise pics of all time (hehe).

[Scubatooth]

In general rain x and products of the like aren't reccomended as they can fog acrylic permenately. What I would do I take a chammy cloth and wipe off as much of the water as you can (they work even wet) then take the shot. Your nit going to be able to get them all but it should get most.

As for removing the camera from the housing I wouldn't do that as if your shooting that low to the water your likely to drown it.

[secretsea18]

Here is the situation…

You are diving on the Galapagos Islands. You come up after your safety stop and you are waiting for the boat to pick you up. You look over to the rocks and you see a few penguins sitting on the rocks, waiting to get their pictures taken.

The problem, with a wet lens, you will get water spots all over the shot.

The question…

Is there a way I can remove a camera from the water and still take a picture without having to remove it from the housing? Is there a coating to put on the housing lens (RainX, etc)?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Eric!!!

OK this is an easy problem to fix, but you must be prepared. Yes, you will have water spots all over your port when you lift your camera out of the water.

The way to fix this is to have a little bottle of either baby shampoo or mask defog (non abrasive kind) in your BC pocket. When you are waiting for the boat to arrive, take the little bottle of baby shampoo out of the pocket, and rub a little bit on the port, and gently rinse the excess off in the water. Carefully dip and then raise the camera port out of the water, and you will have a few seconds where there is a smooth layer of water on the port. Compose and capture your image!!! If and when the port gets spots of water on it again, re-apply the baby shampoo again and keep going as required. This is also a technique to use on dome ports for the "above and below" shots, as they are very difficult to do and keep water off the port until you want to capture the image.

I don't think that you would want to take the camera out of the housing while you are still in the water waiting for the panga to come pick you up! You are guaranteed a flood (may be a little, but likely will be a lot! )

This also will work in fresh or sea water.

Robin

[Moose]

Hi Eric!!!

OK this is an easy problem to fix, but you must be prepared. Yes, you will have water spots all over your port when you lift your camera out of the water.

The way to fix this is to have a little bottle of either baby shampoo or mask defog (non abrasive kind) in your BC pocket. When you are waiting for the boat to arrive, take the little bottle of baby shampoo out of the pocket, and rub a little bit on the port, and gently rinse the excess off in the water. Carefully dip and then raise the camera port out of the water, and you will have a few seconds where there is a smooth layer of water on the port. Compose and capture your image!!! If and when the port gets spots of water on it again, re-apply the baby shampoo again and keep going as required. This is also a technique to use on dome ports for the "above and below" shots, as they are very difficult to do and keep water off the port until you want to capture the image.

I don't think that you would want to take the camera out of the housing while you are still in the water waiting for the panga to come pick you up! You are guaranteed a flood (may be a little, but likely will be a lot! )

This also will work in fresh or sea water.

Robin

Thanks for the tip, Robin...
So, how have you been? Are you still doing the UW photo thing?

If so, have you gotten pretty advanced with it? Would you want to get together to go over some shots I have to see what I'm doing wrong? I'll buy dinner. I could use the help.

Moose. (BTW, your PM is turned off, so I had to send this to you here.)

Edited by Moose, 15 September 2009 - 05:31 PM.

[secretsea18]

Thanks for the tip, Robin...
So, how have you been? Are you still doing the UW photo thing?

If so, have you gotten pretty advanced with it? Would you want to get together to go over some shots I have to see what I'm doing wrong? I'll buy dinner. I could use the help.

Moose. (BTW, your PM is turned off, so I had to send this to you here.)

Hi Eric,

I don't have PM anymore here. So no problem replying here.
Yes, I still take UW photos. In fact, just returned from a dive trip to Philippines on Thursday. I would be happy to share with you what I know about taking UW images. I use a SLR/dSLR system for 10 years now, and am fairly knowledgeable about taking pictures. I don't have your # anymore, but we can meet up. Let me know when you might want to meet. My # is the same if you still have it.
Robin