On an upcoming trip a few of us are going to be concentrating on photogrpahy. We are doing all shore dives. My friend asked...what do you do with your cameras and equipment between dives (i.e. take along bottled water and rinse the camera gear off, take a cooler full of water and put the equipment in there, nothing, etc).

Any previous tips would be greatly appreciated.

Jeff

Jeff, I just leave my camera wrapped up with the wet dive gear. It should not dry off for the short trip back to the resort. There you can rinse it properly. I have the advantage that my camera is small and fits in a BCD pocket for the trip. A bigger rig might be more of a problem. A quick rinse with a bottle does not seem sufficient to me.

I have never liked the idea of my camera banging around in water during a trip. I know many photographers that do this. It seemed to me that dried on seawater is less damaging that the hydraulic shocks in water.

I started out our recent trip with a large zip lock bag filled with water. At the end of the dive I put the camera in. I only used that one day, though it worked fine. At that time I noticed that the maid at Eden beach was using a recycled bucket (from some cleaning powder I think) and I asked her if she had any other buckets that she didn't need. She gave me one that I then used for the rest of the time.

I use the "bigger rig" and I don't rinse the system til I'm at the dive center, where I rinse all the other stuff. If I need to change film or memory card I just wipe the back plate with a towel and open it. Just be sure to clean the o-ring from sand, dust and salt, before you close it again.

Keep the camera wet between dives, and afterwards until you can get it rinsed and clean. You do not want salt water to dry on your camera and leave sharp-edged salt crystals on your o-rings or down in small crevices where it is hard to get them dissolved later. You can stick it in a bucket, wrap it in a wet towel, whatever. The best scheme I've seen is a "soft cooler," one of those collapsible things. Even if it has salt water in it instead of fresh water, it still is better for your camera.

From the Sea and Sea site:
The first thing you do after a dive is rinse your system in fresh water. Salt is your system's number one enemy. Salt water can dry and form crystals within 10 minutes after you surface. Submerge the system and let it soak for at least 30 minutes. While the system is soaking, agitate gently and work all the controls at least once. This will help flush out any salt residue.

From the British Society of Underwater Photographer site:
However, it is after the dive some of the greatest potential damage can occur as the water evaporates and leaves behind salt crystals which will cause corrosion, dry out "0" rings and eventually cause leaks if not properly washed off. This is particularly important if you are diving in tropical water with a high salinity, such as the Red Sea, where the water will evaporate quickly leaving large crystals which are especially invasive.

Etc.

- Mel

Two approaches:

Buy a wash tub from Kooyman (sp?) to keep it wet (the key is not to let the camera dry out). Another approach is to wrap it in a wetsuit or wet t-shirt.

I don't think you can get a decent rinse by pouring bottled water on the camera.

I've always carried two solar showers (5 gal each). In 20+ years diving Bonaire, I've never had one stolen (knock, knock).

The kids who dive with me usually bring a couple more, so we have enough hot water for an entire--6 dive--day in the park or just toddling around.

I have brought the trash can from our room, filled it with water & used that to put the camera in. Bonaire Superstore (just east of the circle) & Tung Fong (on Kaya Corona) both sell trash cans & other plastic containers for cheap. coolers, on the other hand, are really expensive here.

Take some extra water and rinse the camera and then rinse it again. Cover the camera with a towel. Direct sunlight and blowing sand and dust are very bad on photography equipment also. Never leave the camera equipment unattended, it only takes a minute to lose (have stolen) dive gear or photo equipment. Some dive sites are worse than others. Look around the parking area of the site; broken glass on the ground is a good clue. RWhitt

I take a large baggie with a very wet T-shirt in it to the dive site. First thing after the dive I wrap the camera in the t-shirt and put it all back in the baggie until I can get to a rinse tank. To avoid excess heating,keep the bag out of the sun, I keep mine under a towel.

My cameral fits nicely into the case that my mask came in. I fill it with water, plop the camera in and the top snaps into place snugly. Some of the water sloshes out while driving around, but enough always remains to keep the camera wet until I can get back to the room and give it a proper rinse. After soaking it in water each evening I also work each of the controls. I have about 100-150 dives on my current camera setup with no leaks so far . . . part if this can be attributed to proper o-ring cleaning & maintenance, part to luck.

Rinsing with fresh water really does not remove salt deposits (Have you taken a just-fresh-water shower after diving in salt water?? Remember your still sticky skin??? Or looked for salt remaining after you rinsed your gear even in a clean rinse tank??)

A better solution to salt removal is Salt-X ( http://www.saltx.com/forthe2.htm ). Don't mind the jazzy web page: the stuff works. Just be careful to observe the 5 minute soaking time recommendations. Leaving equipment in a long time 'to make sure' of desalting can fog clear plastic.

I have no monetary connection to Salt-X. I am just a satisfied user.

As is Underwater Photo-Tech in Derry, NH ( http://www.uwphoto.com/ ). They soak every camera and case that comes in for repair in the recommended dilute solution for 5 minutes. It is the only product they know which removes (chemically) salt deposits from down in control shaft holes (as well as the outside surfaces), as in Nikonos cameras and in housings. That is the salt that crystalizes as the case dries out between trips and cuts the o-rings when you test operate the dry camera/case.

Some dive shops carry Salt-X. It works it's magic on all scuba gear. 'Try it; you'll like it'.