Scared to use my new G9 underwater b/c it's new. HELP!

[NicoleSlaw]

I just got a G9 and the Canon underwater housing for it. I leave on a trip to Honduras next week, and I'm trying to get ready and make sure I know how to use it before I go. I've never done any underwater photography before, and I'm scared to death I'm going to do something wrong and flood my camera (which was quite an investment for my budget). It really doesn't help that the instruction manual on the WP-DC21 is really bad!

I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do as far as caring for the O-Ring and silicone grease. Am I supposed to take the O-Ring out and grease it before I use the housing EVERY time? Or is it after I use the camera? Or once every 30 uses? Or once a year? Ha, it's so unclear in how it is written. And the guide says to be very careful when removing the O-Ring so that you don't damage it. How in the world do you even get it out? I can't figure out how to do it to save my life. And I'm scared that if I take it out I'll mess it up or put it back in wrong and destroy my camera. Doesn't taking it out increase the risk that you'll get something caught in it that would flood the housing underwater?
HELP!

Also any other preventitive/use/care tips to prevent flooding??? Or make me less worried.

Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to help me and help ease my fears.

~Nicole

 

[chewie]

for a new housing it is recommended that you dive with the housing only to check for leaks and all. make sure that you set the o-ring right on its groove. an imporperly set o-ring will cause leaks as well. don't forget to apply a thin coating of silicone grease on the o-ring evenly. Make sure that nothing is caught between the o-ring & housing, be it a strand of hair or other debris. as a general rule, u have to grease it up everytime you open the housing.

to get out the o-ring, simply push a part of it together & carefully yank it out, inspecting for debris & cracks. the housing must have it's own manual, don't mind the model number, canon housings are generally the same.

 

[alcina]

Nicole -

Welcome to ScubaBoard and to the happy world of underwater photography!

First off, you need to just breathe and relax Although bad things can happen, in the majority of uses, they don't. And user care is the number one factor, so let's set you up.

I do not grease my orings every time. Other people do. This is a matter of personal preference and need. I do visually inspect my orings every single time the housing is opened. Sometimes that means removing it, sometimes I can do this with the oring in place. I also use a tactile check by feeling the oring gently with my finger. Do both in very good light and in the driest, cleanest environment you can. If you've removed your oring, check the groove and sealing surface; if you've left your oring in, check the sealing side.

Grease should be apply lightly. You're looking for a little sheen, no goopies.

Let's not concern ourselves with long term oring maintenance now - we can do that when you get back. It's pretty simple and will depend on how often you are going to use your housing.

To remove the Canon orings I simply gently squeeze and push the two long sides towards a short side. This does take a bit of practice, but as long as you are reasonably gentle you won't wreck your oring, so apply some pressure to make it happen. This will pooch out the oring from its groove and you can gently roll it off.

Some people use a guitar pick or something similar to dislodge the oring. This works but be very careful that the edge isn't sharp.

Practice doing these things without your camera in and then submerge your housing in a bucket/sink of water. That will show you that you've made a correct seal. Do it a couple of times just to get comfortable.

This really isn't that hard, though it can be a bit nerve-wracking the first few times. That's ok. Just remember, take it slow, inspect very carefully and thoroughly, double check everything before closing. I also double check my seals all look ok from the outside right before I enter the water. And again when I enter the water and receive my camera from the deck crew, before descending.

You're going to be fine and you're going to have a great time!

 

[spt29970]

If you are really scared to use your camera underwater, take out insurance on your rig. It isn't that expensive and it will take the worry out of diving with your camera. Remember, this is supposed to be fun! If you flood the camera, it will hurt, but at least you will be able to replace it. There are three viable options. 1. Home owners scheduled property rider. 2. DAN equipment plan, and 3. DEP insurance.

I use option 1, but some people swear by 2 and 3.

 

[Hammerhead]

spt29970 - do you know if DAN is now availble outside US for camera insurance (been too busy to check...)

 

[alcina]

Last I checked, no, DAN is only available to US people.

DEPP is what I use, no problems on this end with claims etc.

Insurance is a good idea if you are unwilling to assume the financial cost of replacing lost or damaged gear and if the cost of the insurance and deductible is less than that of replacing it

 

[solisti]

I have a Canon housing for A95 and in the beginning I was worrying about the o-ring too. I remove it always before a dive and wipe the old grease away, remove any dirt from the groove it goes to, add new grease (very small amount of grease on my thumb and forefinger and pull the o-ring between them a couple of rounds) and replace the o-ring. Make sure there is no dirt or hairs visible after closing the housing. And off you go! I have learned to trust the o-ring to the extent that I no longer do the leak test before diving (so I probably will flood my camera one of these days... oh well..)

 

[Blox]

Lubing the o-ring is best done by squeezing a modest amount of grease into a small zip lock bag. Zip the bag, and squeeze and rub the zip lock bag with the grease inside between your two hands (or just in one, if you have big hands ), until it's pretty well distributed in the bag (sorry, don't know how to describe that any better, but I hope you get the drift. The goal is to distibute the grease as evenly as possible in the bag, basically just greasing the entire interior of the bag with a thin film). Open bag, put o-ring in, and do the squeeze/rub again. This should apply a thin layer of grease to the o-ring, which you can subsequently re-insert into the housing. Close zip lock bag again, with as little air inside as possible, and the remaining grease will stay "fresh" for another round of greasing in the future.

 

[NTSilver]

Nicole
I know how you feel. I was petrified the first time I took my camera underwater. However, I did test it with no camera is the case the first time. I was also on a liveaboard and took some photography lessons from the ship's captain. Since I knew NOTHING about photography in general, he started from Step 1 - setting up the rig. Will you be on a liveaboard or diving from the shore? Since my first trip, there have always been other photographers on my trips who are more than willing to share their experience. Most of the time it was very good information. You may also want to check with your LDS and take a basic photography class before your trip.

I must be very lucky because I do not inspect my o-ring every time I open the camera, and I have only ever greased it before I went on my next trip. Looks like other photogs do this a bit more often than I do.

Here are some other basic lessons I have learned (through experience):
1. Change the camcer / strobe batteries between dives. I can't tell you how many times I missed good shots because the batteries died during a dive. I found that in the beginning I was taking lots of pictures of everything and it was using a lot of battery power. Now I can usually go two dives without changing, but never more than two dives.
2. NEVER change the view from "camera" mode to "view" mode underwater, especially with the Canon housing. For some reason, I don't know whether it's pressure or whatever if you change to "view" mode underwater, you probably won't be able to get it back to "camera" mode.
3. Turn the camera ON before you hit the water just to make sure you haven't accidently left it in "view" mode.
4. Put the wrist strap on before you get in the water.

Once you get the hang of it you will have a blast and will not be able to wait to get back in the water.

Good Luck! Nonie

 

[RoyN]

I'm kinda iffy to bring expensive cameras too especially I just went through my 12th camera, at least the last one sucessfully went into a hand of someone willing to use it.