underwater Photo Course :: (2) Equipment Guide :: Underwater Camera Housings :: Underwater Camera Maintenance

The main requirements for effective field maintenance are...

• Space and lots of it, to lay your disassembled equipment out so you can go over it methodically.
• Time mistakes happen when you are rushed.
• Peace and quiet mistakes happen when you are distracted.
• A clean environment Beware drips of water trapped under o-rings or behind the film advance lever.
• Good light to see what you are doing.

Photo equipment is even more susceptible to ingress of water and needs regular maintenance to ensure the integrity of pressure seals. The same basic principles apply to photographic equipment as you were taught about your diving equipment, only more so

Soak - Dry - Store

The increased level of salinity found in most tropical locations can eat your camera alive. Ideally you should soak your gear in fresh water as soon as you leave the water. Flushing is not enough; you should soak for half an hour minimum, overnight if possible, and operate all the controls in the rinse tank to ensure fresh water gets behind all the levers too. Never use a pressure hose.

You should never allow cameras to dry out before freshwater soaking. Abrasive salt crystals will be left deposited on any part of your equipment allowed to dry out and this can be especially harmful to hidden o-rings the next time you operate the shaft they protect. So, keeping your housingA casing or box with waterproof seals designed to contain a camera or other equipment in such a way that it can be used underwater. damp, even with seawater if that is all that is immediately available, is desirable.

One school of thought says leave flash plugs intact, and only break components apart at the end of an assignment. However, plugs can weld themselves firmly in if left unmaintained (due to electrolytic action between the two different metals). As mentioned previously, salt crystals can dry out and abrade moving parts.

You can do a complete maintenance cycle after every dive but it is a much more accepted procedure to get into the habit of breaking down your underwater camera at the end of every working day. This is a good philosophy if limited to those parts that MUST be opened. True, if you check everything, any plugs that have worked loose for instance are automatically put right, but you also risk introducing foreign material that could potentially bridge O-ringThe rubber ring that seals underwater camera equipment. seals.

In extreme cases where equipment refuses to come apart, soak in a mild acidic solution such as vinegar, operate controls. Resort to force, such as Stilson wrenches, only as a last resort. Most parts can be worked free with repeated manipulation.

When on location, check the function of shutter release every now and then, by looking through the back whilst open and firing the shutter on bulb. Flash sync can also be tested in a similar manner.

Remember - 'If it ain't broke - don't fix it.'