Scuba Diving club, Southern California

Sea Sabres

Underwater Camera Care

Nice shot, but can you land it? Or will the sea come flooding into your camera before you make it back to the dive boat? Mark Webster leaves no stone unturned in an attempt to cover all the angles on maintaining underwater photo equipment: we're talking water baths and strip-downs, TLC for the TTL, silicone grease for the O-ring, elbow grease for the scratched port...

At that crucial moment when you find yourself eye to eye with a whale shark, it's nice to know that your camera system won't let you down.
But to be that confident, you have to work at it. Water, particularly salt water, is a hostile environment for mechanical equipment.
Amphibious cameras, housings and flashguns are designed to operate under these harsh conditions, but they will go on doing so only with regular TLC - tender loving care.
The same principles apply to mechanical cameras and housings as to the latest autofocus models, although for the latter even a minor flood is far more dangerous. Water and electronics do not mix.
Establish good basic procedures for every-dive maintenance, backed up by regular servicing, precautions in transit and on-site, and your system should last a lifetime.

Before the dive
More cameras and flashguns are flooded by inadequate or rushed preparation than by any O-ring or structural failure. Even the experts flood their equipment, usually because something has been overlooked in their haste to get wet.
Always allow time for preparations. Find a clean area, decide what lens and film combination to use, then run through a set of routine steps:

• Remove the main O-rings from the backplate (on an amphibious camera or housing) and lens or port. Clean their seats thoroughly with a cotton bud or the edge of a paper kitchen towel. Clean each O-ring by wiping with the kitchen towel, and re-grease. Do not assume that more silicone grease will produce a better seal - it will only attract more dirt and debris. Lubricate the O-ring lightly until it shines, by putting a dab of grease between thumb and forefinger and gripping it as you pull it through. Replace the O-rings and, if using a housing, install the camera and connect the hot shoe.
• Prepare your flashgun or flash housing in the same way, fitting fresh batteries if necessary.
• Before loading a film, clean and grease the connector O-ring on your flashgun, connect and test-fire it. This way, if you have a malfunction you will not waste film as you test the system. If you have a Tm flash system, check at this point that it is working correctly. Set the flash and camera to Tm, the lens to a medium aperture (say f8 or f11) and point the gun straight into the lens from 15-20cm. The Tm indicator on the gun or in the viewfinder should confirm that the shot was OK, and that Tm has functioned correctly. The flash should recycle almost immediately, indicating that it has not fired on full power and Tm control has worked.
• Load your film, check that it is advancing correctly and confirm that the correct film speed has been selected on the camera. Close the camera back or fit the backplate of your housing, with a final check that the O-ring is clean and seats properly as you close up and latch.
• Assemble the remainder of the system. Connect flash arms, base plates and aiming torches and check their functions. Give the lens or port one final polish.

After the dive
This is when some of the worst damage can occur. As the water evaporates it leaves salt crystals that can cause corrosion, dry out O-rings and eventually result in leaks.
In tropical waters with high salinity, such as the Red Sea, the water evaporates quickly, leaving especially large, invasive crystals.
Soak the system in lukewarm fresh water for a while, then work the controls to ensure that all the salt is flushed out. Finish with a general rinse under running water before leaving to dry.
If immediate soaking is not practical, a quick rinse under running water should suffice until later.
If you are on an extended trip, going through this operation after each dive, it is still worth re-soaking all your gear when you return home. Water in rinse-buckets at dive centres or on live-aboards soon becomes contaminated with salt from other equipment.

THE O-RING RITUALS

When removing an O-ring try to squeeze it out rather than using a tool to dig it out of the seat. If you do need to use a to, make sure it is blunt so you don't damage the ring.
Make sure that O-ring seats are cleaned regularly. Cotton buds are ideal for the purpose.
Use only a small amount of silicone grease to lubricate an O-ring. Too much will attract grit, hairs and dust. Place between thumb and finger...
...then run the ring through the dab of grease.

Regular care
Many photographers use their equipment in intensive bursts, such as a week's live-aboard trip, or for a few months during summer. During these periods, pre- and post-dive maintenance is normally sufficient to keep systems up to scratch.
However, when you come to store the equipment away, or if it has been used regularly for some time, it is worth extending your maintenance procedures to ensure that everything works when next required:

• If you are storing your system for any length of time and leave the O-rings in place with the camera or housing closed, they will become squashed and deformed. This could have disastrous consequences, so remove them all, using a blunt instrument to ease out those that are difficult to access with fingers. Never use a knifepoint or pin. Clean, grease and store the O-rings in a zip-lock plastic bag, clearly labelled if they are similar.
• Do the same for all leads and connectors, then clean and grease threaded shafts, locking catches, baseplate attachments and so on. A silicone spray or grease will ensure that items do not seize during storage. Electrical contacts can be cleaned with a pencil eraser or, if inaccessible, with a proprietary electrical spray cleaner.
• Remove all batteries in case of leakage. Flashgun capacitors are best stored charged, so turn on your flash to let it charge up before removing the batteries, without firing. If you use ni-cad batteries, fully discharging and then fully charging them will help them retain their "memory" of being charged during storage.
• If your ports are perspex you can polish out any scratches using T-Cut (abrasive car polish) or Brasso, finishing off with toothpaste for a really smooth finish. If you have a glass port that is scratched there is little you can do. Small scratches will fill with water on dives and often not show up in your pictures, but deep scratches call for replacement of the port.
• Clean lenses with a lens cloth or cleaning fluid and remove dust from inside the camera body, especially around the film transport mechanism and pressure plate. Use a camera blower-brush or one of the canned compressed-air products from photo shops.
• Store your system in a dry, dust-free environment, such as a cupboard or camera case.

Long-term care
If you use your camera system only occasionally, say for an annual overseas trip, you can probably restrict service intervals to 18 months or even two years. If you use it more frequently, an annual service is advisable.
Whether you have an amphibious camera or housed system, the objective is the same - to dismantle, clean and grease the O-rings and control shafts that are inaccessible during routine maintenance. If this is not done these areas will gradually dry out, or a build-up of salt crystals on shafts or under controls will eventually work past a seal and cause a flood.
Amateurs with reasonable manual skills, the correct tools and a handbook can strip and service equipment themselves, if they have the courage.
Handbooks tend to be written by independent photographers who have developed their own procedures, rather than by the manufacturers. Several excellent publications with procedures supported by illustrations and photographs are available for Nikonos and Sea & Sea amphibious camera-owners, and servicing kits are available from the manufacturer and specialist dealers. A Manual of Underwater Photography (De-Couet and Green), the Nikonos Book series (Jim and Cathy Church) and How To Use Sea & Sea (Joe Liburdi and Cara Sherman) all provide sufficient guidance.
If you own a housing, the prospect of a full strip-down and service is less daunting. Controls, shafts and O-rings are larger and more accessible, although you must take care not to break components while dismantling the housing.
Whether stripping a camera or housing, be methodical. As you strip a component, note all spring positions and the orientation of controls on shafts. Place parts into individual containers (ice-cube trays are ideal). Replace all accessible O-rings and clean and grease those that cannot be removed by coating the cleaned control shaft with grease and running it back and forth through the seal.
Occasionally you will encounter seized controls or attachments, especially where stainless steel or brass is mixed with aluminium. Freeing these by force will inevitably cause damage, but soaking parts in warm water with a little vinegar normally helps dissolve corrosion deposits. Apply WD40 or Plus Gas and let it penetrate.
A last resort is to apply a heatgun gently and try to free the parts as they expand. Don't try this anywhere near plastic parts or very fine control rods!
If the prospect of all this effort and responsibility fills you with horror, pack your kit and send it to a specialist service centre or dealer. A full service might seem expensive, but if it saves you from a flood it is money well spent.
Most service agents return the equipment pressure-tested and with a short-term guarantee that gives you time to test it before your next trip.

In transit
All your efforts will be wasted if your equipment is damaged in transit to that exotic location you have saved for months to afford. Use strong equipment cases with plenty of internal foam padding.
Injection-moulded resin cases, like those made by Pelican and Underwater Kinetics, are among the hardiest but aluminium and plastic are also suitable.
Wrap fragile items such as lenses individually in foam or felt to stop them chafing against other gear.
On aircraft it is best to carry expensive camera equipment as cabin baggage, but if size and weight regulations force you to consign it to the rigours of the hold, you cannot have enough padding around individual items.
Lock or padlock each case and add a luggage strap to each in case a hinge or latch should fail. Stickers identifying baggage as containing photographic equipment are not a good idea!
Whether your equipment travels in cabin or hold, never forget to remove at least one main O-ring from each camera, housing or flash gun. Even the cabin pressure will be slightly less than atmospheric pressure at sea level, and unless this differential is allowed to equalise in your equipment, small O-rings can be displaced by the now-higher pressure in your equipment.
Many photographers have thought their equipment cases "pressure-proof" because they had an O-ring in the lid, only to find their camera or flash flooding on the first dive as an unseen O-ring dislodges on a cable gland or control shaft.

On location
Whether on your one-day dive excursion or that long-awaited live-aboard trip, you are likely to be joining a group with mixed interests, perhaps assisted by a crew with little appreciation of the fragility of your expensive camera equipment. Here are a few tips for a happy trip:

• Ensure that anyone likely to handle your camera system, crew or diver, knows how to lift and hold it correctly. More than once I have seen camera gear being hauled in by the flash lead! If you use the flash arm to lift the system at the beginning or end of the dive, make sure it is attached securely - if it parts company, the camera hits the deck!
• If you are diving from a small boat, carry your system in a brightly coloured plastic storage box with foam padding, and find space for it at the stern, where there is less slamming movement. Make sure everybody knows it is there, and that the system should be placed in the box immediately after being handed back into the boat after a dive. That way you might avoid damage from errant feet, or even a weightbelt or cylinder.
• On a live-aboard, find a safe storage area that will not allow your equipment to hit the deck if the boat rolls. Many provide cubby-holes with charging points for photographers, which is very convenient until items begin to roll out - make sure everything is chocked. Often the best place for your system between dives is on your bunk, well supported by blankets and towels.
• Don't leave your system in direct sunlight - cover it with a towel on deck. Internal pressure in cameras and housings can rise rapidly. This could cause condensation on lens elements or ports when you enter the cooler water or, worse, a flood from a popped O-ring seal.

On a safari-style trip, such as those popular in the Red Sea, you must take extra precautions. There is almost always a breeze on the coast that will carry fine sand particles, so prepare your equipment inside your vehicle or a tent, on a clean surface.
Washing your equipment after a dive is even more important when you have sand as well as salt with which to contend. Fresh water is often at a premium on these trips, so make sure that there is sufficient allowance for photographers when you book.

Appeared in DIVER - May 1999

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Posted January 30, 2004