Tuesday Tips & Techniques from Photo Pro Sascha Janson #7

On select Tuesdays, Cameras@Lembeh (the first and only Photo & Video Center in Lembeh Strait) will feature Tips and Techniques by Photo Pro Sascha Janson. Sascha will offer up a range of information, you never know what piece of wisdom he will impart.

Sascha says: Avoid fogging!

Smaller plastic point and shoot cameras often have problems with fogging.

This is caused by the camera heating up the moist air inside the housing (if you shoot a lot) or from the camera’s flash. The condensation usually forms on the glass of the housing, because it cools faster than the plastic.

You can use air from a scuba tank to exchange the moist air with the dry air from the tank (the air inside a scuba tank contains no moisture). Doing this for about 5 seconds and then closing the housing immediately to trap the dry air inside will prevent your housing from fogging and you can concentrate on the shooting! If there’s no moisture inside the housing in the first place, the will be no condensation!

Many dive centers have air-guns available for blowing water off your camera housing after the dive. If there’s no air-gun available, using a small air nozzle with a fitting to connect to your low pressure inflator hose works great!

You can also use silica gel dessicant to absorb the moisture inside the housing, but be careful where you place them – I  have seen them cause a housing to flood by touching the o-ring!

Stay tuned for more Tuesday Tips & Techniques