bluce
Registered
I was told by someone at a camera shop that digital cameras can get quite warm during use and when enclosed in a underwater camera housing might be damaged. Anyone ever hear this before?? Thanks...Bob
can digital cameras overheat?
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Scubaroo
Contributor
Sounds like someone's blowing smoke up your housing. 
Bob, we have a housed digital. We've neither experienced nor heard of this type of problem. I suspect the person in the shop really doesn't know about this type of equipment.
A possible "problem" with housed cameras in cooler water can be condensation inside the housing. However, this is easily prevented by having a small packet of dessicant inside the housing.
~SubMariner~
A possible "problem" with housed cameras in cooler water can be condensation inside the housing. However, this is easily prevented by having a small packet of dessicant inside the housing.
~SubMariner~
uwdigital
Guest
Bob,
Submariner is absolutely correct. I have been shooting digital for quite a while now and I have never experienced digicam overhaeting inside the housing.
submariner quote "A possible "problem" with housed cameras in cooler water can be condensation inside the housing. However, this is easily prevented by having a small packet of dessicant inside the housing"
Here are some tips to prevent condensation.
1. When you assemble your setup in an air conditioned room, wrap it with a wet towel before you head out to the boat.
Condensation normally occurs when you exposed your setup from cold temperature [air conditioned room] to hot and humid temperature.
2. When you get on the boat, see if the boat comes with rinse buckets for UW Photography equipment. If the boat has one, put your setup in the rinse bucket and leave it there until you get to your dive site. If not, then leave the towel and put your setup under a shade.
I hope this helps.
Allan
underwater digital
Submariner is absolutely correct. I have been shooting digital for quite a while now and I have never experienced digicam overhaeting inside the housing.
submariner quote "A possible "problem" with housed cameras in cooler water can be condensation inside the housing. However, this is easily prevented by having a small packet of dessicant inside the housing"
Here are some tips to prevent condensation.
1. When you assemble your setup in an air conditioned room, wrap it with a wet towel before you head out to the boat.
Condensation normally occurs when you exposed your setup from cold temperature [air conditioned room] to hot and humid temperature.
2. When you get on the boat, see if the boat comes with rinse buckets for UW Photography equipment. If the boat has one, put your setup in the rinse bucket and leave it there until you get to your dive site. If not, then leave the towel and put your setup under a shade.
I hope this helps.
Allan
underwater digital
ScubaBurt
Contributor
Hello Allen,
Glad you decided to join our group. I'm sure I will be talking to you more after I receive my housing. Keep me posted on the YS90DX situation. Looking forward to the learning curve of the U/W Digital World. Thanks for all your help with the purchase of the PT-010 package for the Olympus C-4040.
Glad you decided to join our group. I'm sure I will be talking to you more after I receive my housing. Keep me posted on the YS90DX situation. Looking forward to the learning curve of the U/W Digital World. Thanks for all your help with the purchase of the PT-010 package for the Olympus C-4040.
uwdigital
Guest
Hi Burt,
I'll definitely keep you posted about the YS90DX strobe. FYI, your housing is on it's way and you should get it tomorrow.
Feel free to call or drop me an email if you have any questions.
Allan
http://www.underwaterdigital.net
I'll definitely keep you posted about the YS90DX strobe. FYI, your housing is on it's way and you should get it tomorrow.
Feel free to call or drop me an email if you have any questions.
Allan
http://www.underwaterdigital.net
divetheworld
Registered
A CCD camera uses a small, rectangular piece of silicon rather than a piece of film to receive incoming light. This is a special piece of silicon called a charge-coupled device (CCD). This silicon wafer is a solid-state electronic component which has been micro-manufactured and segmented into an array of individual light-sensitive cells called "photosites." Each photosite is one element of the whole picture that is formed, thus it is called a picture element, or "pixel." The more common CCDs found in camcorders and other retail devices have a pixel array that is a few hundred photosites high by a few hundred photosites wide (e.g., 500x300, or 320x200), yielding tens of thousands of pixels. Since most CCDs are only about 1/4" or 1/3" square, each of the many thousands of pixels are only about 10 millionths of a meter (about 4 ten-thousandths of an inch) wide!
I have worked with various CCD cameras in ambient temperatures from -5 C. to 30 C. My conclusion from both my own experience and from technical information supplied by various manufacturers is that while there are some problems with operating in warmer temperatures they are easily overcome.
Unfortunately, there is some basis for your worries. The first problem is noise. The pictures taken within the cooler temperatures are better. But it is not a dramatic difference. You can still take good images in a hot ambient temperature. The biggest effect from the hotter temperature is that the dark current is higher. some units have a procedure to remove this noise. The dark frame subtraction does do a very good job in removing the noise. But since the noise level is higher with the hotter temperatures, more of the noise leaks through.
CCD cameras often use thermal electric coolers (TEC's) to lower the imaging chip temperature which is very useful in reducing thermal noise. Unfortunately, as you reduce the chip temperature, you encourage any moisture inside the camera to condense on the cold imaging chip. Cooled CCD cameras use a desiccant that has a propensity to absorb moisture and provide a dry atmosphere that minimizes the possibility of moisture condensing directly on the CCD chip or optical window.
Uncontrolled heat generation on the CCD will cause a failure on that CCD, this is in the form of increased noise and blank/white spots.
summary-
Charge Coupled Device (CCD) A solid state device in which a series of capacitors store a charge and pass it from one to another. CCDs are used in camcorders to convert light into electrical energy. Chips like these create heat like in your computers processor. The camera is designed to be operated within a reasonable temerature range. Fit your camera in a housing and put it in the sun and you are looking at white spots and CCD failure in the future. There is no evedence that this is the case when diving. The fact that the housing is in the water has a cooling effect enough to ensure a reasonable ambient temperature.
Failure of the CCD due to heat does not mean complete failure.
I have worked with various CCD cameras in ambient temperatures from -5 C. to 30 C. My conclusion from both my own experience and from technical information supplied by various manufacturers is that while there are some problems with operating in warmer temperatures they are easily overcome.
Unfortunately, there is some basis for your worries. The first problem is noise. The pictures taken within the cooler temperatures are better. But it is not a dramatic difference. You can still take good images in a hot ambient temperature. The biggest effect from the hotter temperature is that the dark current is higher. some units have a procedure to remove this noise. The dark frame subtraction does do a very good job in removing the noise. But since the noise level is higher with the hotter temperatures, more of the noise leaks through.
CCD cameras often use thermal electric coolers (TEC's) to lower the imaging chip temperature which is very useful in reducing thermal noise. Unfortunately, as you reduce the chip temperature, you encourage any moisture inside the camera to condense on the cold imaging chip. Cooled CCD cameras use a desiccant that has a propensity to absorb moisture and provide a dry atmosphere that minimizes the possibility of moisture condensing directly on the CCD chip or optical window.
Uncontrolled heat generation on the CCD will cause a failure on that CCD, this is in the form of increased noise and blank/white spots.
summary-
Charge Coupled Device (CCD) A solid state device in which a series of capacitors store a charge and pass it from one to another. CCDs are used in camcorders to convert light into electrical energy. Chips like these create heat like in your computers processor. The camera is designed to be operated within a reasonable temerature range. Fit your camera in a housing and put it in the sun and you are looking at white spots and CCD failure in the future. There is no evedence that this is the case when diving. The fact that the housing is in the water has a cooling effect enough to ensure a reasonable ambient temperature.
Failure of the CCD due to heat does not mean complete failure.
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