Jethroish:
jsut got the camera yesterday (factory refurbished) and the water proof case today.
I have been playing with the camera to make sure everything is ok. So far it works great.
Any tips for when I take it Cozumel in January?
Others have posted about learning to use your camera, practice beforehand. I can't agree more. Mainly this is so you can get good shots down below, but also because you need to focus on diving safely first, and you don't want the distraction of trying to figure out what control does what when diving. It's got to be practiced.
I'd hate your enjoyment to be lessened by a flooded camera, so here are some tips about that. I've heard too many stories about cameras flooding not to give some suggestions about that.
Most people never figure out why a camera flooded, but I have some guesses. The first is simply grit on the O-rings, from the typical dive environment. The second is hair on the O-rings, from your own head, or fiber from clothes. The third is salt crystals, developing gradually under the O-ring.
So, I really suggest not opening your camera during the day diving, just at night in a clean hotel room. This implies a good battery, fully charged, and a memory card that will hold a day's shooting. Before you open the housing, it should have been soaked and rinsed in fresh water to remove brine, which will otherwise dry to salt crust in hard to clean places. Once it has dried, salt is much harder to remove, so just do this. Dry your camera. Then open your camera with the opening down, so contaminants are less likely to drop into it. Remove your camera and close the case, to prevent contaminants entering.
When you are setting up to dive, of course start with fresh batteries and a blank memory of good size. There is something of a religion about cleaning and inspecting O-rings, but what I do is inspect them carefully but handle them as little as possible. I don't clean and lube them every day, contrary to conventional wisdom. My reasoning is that "less is more" when it comes to handling O-rings. The chance of nicking them when removing is always there. The chance of leaving a hair or bit of cloth fiber under one is always there. Again, try to open the housing so the O-ring is on the bottom or the side, not the top, since that is when the hair and fiber drops on the O-ring. Yes, if there is visible grit they have to be cleaned, but I try to keep my gear out of that to begin with. I find that using very little silicone grease on them reduces the amount of crud that sticks to them, so that is my rule too. The role of the grease is only to help them seat as you close the case, and it takes almost no grease to do that.
Every few days, I do a detailed cleaning of the O-ring groove and the O-ring. This is contrary to the usual advice of cleaning every day, but it works for me. I use a Q tip for cleaning the hard to reach contact areas, probably not the best thing because there is risk of getting fibers in the groove, but you need something to get in there. Then I carefully inspect the O-ring seating area for absolute cleanliness. Finally, just a wipe of the O-ring to clean it, and application of a tiny amount of grease, just enough to make it shine. Of course, inspect for nicks, damage and little grit or fiber stuck to it very carefully. Then re-install the O-ring, and your loaded camera.
May you take many great photos. Go dive.
