Underwater housing lenses suffer the usual problems of dust and lint, but are also susceptible to things like sunscreen (my pet hate), salt residue, sand and other nasties.

Whenever I travel through Cairns, I always stop in to visit the friendly staff at  Digital Diver and pick up cleaning accessories.

Preparation Tips

I follow a set procedure each time for housing preparation:-

1. Remove the main o-ring and use a lint-free cloth to wipe around the o-ring groove, removing any excess silicon, sand or hair that may have lodged in the groove. A piece of hair or sand under the o-ring can cause the housing to leak. (Tip:- use a plastic credit card to remove the o-ring so you do not damage it. I use my cert card as a reminder for me to take it diving).
2. Use a second lint-free lens cleaning cloth on the inside and outside of the underwater housing lens to remove dust, lint or finger marks.
3. Unfortunately cloths can adsorb oils and spread them around. My new favourite cleaning accessory is lens cleaning tissue paper. I had ignored these until recently, as they are normally sold in cheap cleaning packs. One side of the tissue typically has a slightly “waxy” coating, and I discovered purely by accident that this is excellent for removing oils, sun screen and water marks from underwater housing lens. (I read an article recently about using using cigarette papers to cleans lenses, but have not verified this solution yet.)
4. Making sure the camera batteries are charged and lenses cleaned, I insert the camera into the housing with 2 gel packs located on the bottom. The gel packs will absorb any moisture in the housing that forms due to temperature variations and stop fogging. By placing  the packs on the bottom of the housing, they are also a good indicator if the housing has a leak as they will absorb the water and change colour slightly. (Depending on the size of the leak, this may give you just enough time to get the camera back to the surface and save it).
5. Clean the o-ring with fresh running water, and inspect for any damage by running your fingers around it to detect and abnormalities in the surface. The o-rings can collect sand and hair if they are greased, and as mentioned previously in my blog post Canon Powershot G10 Technical Problems, they can also be pinched or collapse.
6. Apply high quality silicon grease to the main o-ring, and insert the o-ring back into its groove on the housing. I recommend using the high grade silicon grease, as low grade grease is not able to absorb into the o-ring correctly.
7. Close the housing. I have found my housing makes a slight “whoosh” sound as it closes, and is a good indication of it being air tight.
8. Submerge the housing in the kitchen sink or a bucket full of water. Check for bubbles that could be an indication of a leak. Press every button and turn every knob 6-8 times to make sure there are no leaks through their o-rings.
9. Also submerge your flash and video lights to make sure they do not have a leak.

The underwater housing is now ready for use. I find the process typically takes around 20 minutes to complete.

Tips on the boat

1. The first thing I do on boarding the boat is put my housing in the camera wash bucket. This allows the temperature of the housing to drop to water temperature, stopping moisture forming on the lens.
2. I prefer to place my camera “lens-down” in the camera wash bucket to minimise scratching from other cameras. On a recent dive trip, I noticed one diver used an old thick sock to protect his lens.
3. Before jumping in for each dive, I use “soft soap” to clean the housing lens. “Soft soap” is great for removing sunscreen. Typically a camera will pick up sunscreen from around the boat, or even in the camera wash bucket which tends to build up a film on the surface.
4. Once in the water, I regularly check for particles stuck to the front of the housing lens. Use a purged regulator to remove the offending material, rather than your fingers that may have sunscreen or other oils on them.

At the end of the day

At the end of the day, I soak the camera in fresh water in the kitchen sink again. I repeat the process of pressing every button and turning every knob 6-8 times to flush out any salt residue.

I remove the main o-ring with my cert card and wash it in fresh water. The housing and o-ring are then stored in a dry area out of the sun.

Summary

Like many things in both photography and diving, success comes from attention to detail.

I hope these tips from my obsessive cleaning behaviour have been useful, and would be interested to hear from others who have any further tips.

I received the following email enquiry today:-

“Carl, Please counsel with me on a camera purchase. I am putting together an underwater system and wish to use the Canon G10 or G11. I will get the Canon underwater case. Should I get a near new G10 (ie. from Craigslist – approx. $450 US) or get the G11. Please advise. Thanks! Darrell”

Thanks to Darrell for the question.

I am a keen user of the Canon Powershot G Series cameras for underwater photography, and have owned a G10 and G11 camera.

The G10 vs G11

The G10 and G11 are both good cameras and popular with many professional photographers. There are a few new functions in the G11, but the fundamental differences are:-

• G10 has 15MP sensor, G11 has 10 MP sensor.
• G10 has a flat screen back, G11 has a flip screen back.

The smaller sensor on the G11 provides better in-camera noise performance (see my previous post Noise Comparison – Canon Powershot G11 vs G10). I find noise can become an issue underwater, particularly when you are going deeper where there is less natural light.

Using an external flash or video light helps to keep the shutter speeds fast at those deeper depths, reducing noise.

Noise is also becoming less of a problem in post processing. Particularly if you are using Adobe Lightroom 3 with its new software engine, which is doing incredible things with noise reduction. (I have to regularly stop myself going back to old images and improving the noise, as I would never get anything else done.)

I also like the G11 flip screen for taking pictures from different angles, but in the underwater housing it does not make any difference.

Buying Older Cameras

I would suggest caution when purchasing second-hand or near new cameras. The G10 has been around for 18 months now, and cameras can get a lot of use in that time.

Check with the seller to make sure there are no scratches on the lens or the back screen.

Also check  the stock availability of the underwater housing for your camera of choice. You do not want to purchase the camera, only to find the housing is not available.

New Rumoured PowerShot G12

Another option if you are not in a hurry for a camera, is to wait a couple of months for the rumoured Canon G12.

The rumoured Canon Powershot G12

Canon typically releases a new G series camera every year around October/November. The Canon Rumours website reported a week ago on the new G12. It will supposedly have the same still image resolution and flip screen as the G11, but will record 720p High Definition (HD) video.

If you plan on using video as a major part of your workflow, the HD capability will last you for a number of years, and maybe worth the wait.

Two disadvantages with the G12 option will be:-

1. The price. The last couple of  G series cameras seemed to increase $100-200 a year, and the underwater housings also get more expensive. (I am expecting the G12 may even break the $1000AUD mark here in Australia.)
2. It will likely be a new underwater housing, and they tend to lag the camera by a month or so in being released to the market. When they are released it is usually only in small numbers across stores due to popularity.

Conclusion

In summary, provided you can get a camera in good condition, I think either the G10 or G11 will do the job for you. They are both good cameras producing quality pictures.

You may find it harder to locate stock of the WP-DC28 underwater housing for the G10, which could end up forcing you to the G11.

I hope this has been of help, and would be interested in hearing others opinions.

Note: – There are also a number of options from other manufacturers, but I have not commented on them due to Darrell’s focus on the Canon Powershot G series.

Barbados is actually quite well connected. The island is linked to other Eastern Caribbean islands and the rest of the world via undersea fibre optic cable, and satellite systems (such as that pictured).

Telecommunications dish antenna used for transferring signals over satellite.

Television is also delivered to the island via satellite.

Satellite telecom earth station dish antenna

The difficult part of photographing this type of object is the contrast between the bright sky and the underneath of the dish antenna that is in shadow. It can take a bit of fiddling to get the exposure correct, as unfortunately there is no easy way to artificially light the underneath of the antenna.

Telecommunications dish antenna used for transferring telephone calls over satellite

The antenna feed point (in the centre) is extra bright with all the sunlight reflecting from the inside of the antenna, and focusing at that point.

U.S Immigration Forms

After a year and a half of testing, the U.S has finally switched on the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) pre-approval entry system for selected countries. During the testing phase, even if you had completed an ESTA application online, travellers still had to fill out the green visa waiver immigration form and the customs form.

With ETSA now fully active, the green immigration form is no longer needed, so visitors on the visa waiver program only complete the customs form.

Barbados Visa Changes

Citizens of several countries (e.g China) visiting Barbados have until recently been able to buy a visa at the point of entry. This has changed and they now require a visa before travel. Unfortunately this is not documented on the Barbados Immigration website or other travel sites yet.

I was travelling to Barbados with a colleague from China. All the websites and travel agents had said he could purchase a visa on entry. When he turned up for the flight at Miami airport,  the airline computer system said he needed a visa to travel, and they would not let him on the plane. He went down to the Barbados consulate in Miami and was told it would be two weeks to process. They also informed him the changes had not been documented on the official website yet.

Change to MIA Admirals Lounge

The Admirals lounge on Miami airport’s E Concourse will be closing down in September, and relocating to the newly finished American Airlines area, originally known as A or B  course. Currently there is also the larger Admirals lounge on D concourse.

Hilton Hotel Travel Deals

I stayed a night at a Hilton hotel, and on checkout received a piece of paper saying Hilton hotels are  running a summer promotion over August and September with selected U.S hotels offering 20% off the best available rate when you book in advance. See the Hilton website for details.

In his book, Martin describes an occasion when he and a group of other divers came across some dolphins. Starting to think about exposure and other settings, Martin decided there was no time, and chose to keep the subject in focus and let the camera do the work. He was able to get the shot while others were still playing with their cameras.

In underwater photography, you often have time to set-up your camera to create a shot. However, sometimes you see something and with no time to choose the appropriate settings, just have go with what you have to get the shot.

This is exactly what happened during a dive on Friday at Agincourt Reef  on the Great Barrier Reef with Quicksilver’s Silversonic.

We entered the water for our third dive of the day. I had just reached the bottom with the other divers of our group still on the way down. Checking my camera housing to make sure there were no leaks, I spotted a Cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) out the corner of my eye.

My camera housing still had bubbles around it, and struggling to read the screen settings, I managed to get it into video mode. I started thinking white balance, lighting, etc …. and decided I had no time.

Getting the Cuttlefish in the screen, I hit the record button, hoping the camera would have the correct focus. Cuttlefish are able to rapidly change colours to blend in with their surroundings, and this can often confuse the camera focusing system.

Trying to keep the subject in the screen, we got more than expected with the following video.

Fighting Cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) – Viewable on Vimeo and Youtube

The Cuttlefish made its way towards another one, changed colour from light grey to black, and attacked the second one. They then separated and went opposite directions…. something you don’t see ever day, and a great example of their ability to change color.

Forty seconds from touching the bottom, and the whole event was over.  Had I been deciding between stills and video, or been messing around with settings or lighting, I would have missed to whole thing.

Sometimes to get the shot, you just have to keep the subject in focus, cross your fingers and let the camera do the work.

I was reading Underwater Photography Magazine (No 55 Jul/Aug 2010), and a review of the Canon Powershot G11 by Lawrence Alex Wu describes a key shortcut that allows the photographer access to the Control Dial functionality while underwater.

Out of the housing, rotating the G11 Control Dial next to the screen allows you to adjust settings that include:-

• Aperture size in Aperture Priority Mode (AV)
• Shutter speed in Shutter Priority Mode (Tv)
• Metering Modes
• Manual Focus
• Brightness Exposure Compensation
• Auto Exposure Bracketing

I often use the Canon WP-DC34 underwater housing with my G11 camera, but the problem is that once you close the housing you no longer have access to the control dial…. or so I thought….

Now thanks to Lawrence’s article I have all the functionality back while underwater….. the secret ????…..

The secret is the “S”-button …. the what button??  you ask …..

The S (Short Cut) button that sits quietly in the top left hand corner of your cameras back, and is normally used to quickly access a stored function, or print an image.

If you hold down the Shortcut button and click the left (macro) button , you will get the same effect as moving the Control Dial in the counter-clockwise direction. Likewise, holding the down the Shortcut button and clicking the right (flash) button will give you the same effect as moving the Control Dial in the clockwise direction.

I applaud the designer who came up with this function.

There is not a lot of information about this type of shortcut, and I and not sure if it’s available on other G series camera such as the G9 or G10, so if you have any other info, it would be great if you could share it with a comment below.

This year will see the screening of the Winners of the 36th World Festival of Underwater Films direct from Marseille, France. Considered as the benchmark of underwater films, the International Festival in Marseille, France attracts more than 25 000 general public visitors during 4 days of exhibitions and viewings and includes 900 competitors from over 50 nations. It is the most prestigious celebration of underwater art, movies, videos, photos, slideshows, music, paintings, drawings, books etc….

The full Cairns Festival program includes 8 short & medium length award winning movies from 6 different nations as well as 3 local Far North Qld producers, plus the general public’s favourite “Moken, Enigmatic Sea Nomads” a 50 minutes rarely seen documentary on one of the last surviving sea tribes in Burma.

The Winners of the Cairns Underwater Photo Competition will also be announced on Saturday night, August 7.

The show will run for over 2 hours (including a 20 min intermission).

Venue: Cairns Civic Theatre, Florence Street
Date: Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 August 2010 at 7:30 pm
Price: Adults $25, Children $12.5, Family (2 adult & 2 kids) $60, Pension $20

Booking recommended with TicketLink (1 300 855 835), www.ticketlink.com.au

The visibility was a little low the other day when diving at Agincourt Reef with Quicksilver’s Silversonic . The boat dropped us off at the end of the reef for a drift dive, and I noticed a coral trout at 15m sitting over an anemone on the sandy bottom with his mouth open.

Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes Holthuisi) – Viewable on Vimeo or Youtube.

I descended down with the aim of getting a photo of the coral trout, but it swam off when I got close. I looked down and noticed the anemone was loaded with anemone shrimp. Most times you will only see one or two shrimp, but this one was loaded with more than twenty. It was obviously a cleaning station, but at the time this did not register with me.

It is a great lesson in the more you know and understand a subject, the better you can anticipate events, the better experience you will have, and the more you will see.  I will be keeping a lookout for more of these in the future.

ANZAC Day is commemorated by Australia and New Zealand on 25 April every year.

Initially honouring members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I, the day has expanded to include other conflicts such as World War 2, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan.

2010 Cairns ANZAC Parade

The images can be viewed in my archive, or at my ANZAC Day Images photography project site.

The last few years have been smaller parades. I am hoping to photograph the larger Melbourne parade in 2011, and expand the coverage to include things that occur around the parade like the traditional AFL game between Collingwood and Essendon football clubs.

The ANZAC Centenary Celebrations

The National Commission on the Commemoration of the ANZAC Centenary is seeking submissions on how the Australian community can be a part of the centenary commemorations between 2014 and 2018.

Submissions are being accepted until 17 September 2010.

These cod are really friendly, and popular with the visitors. Normally once the divers get down and play with the fish, the visibility decreases as the sand is sturred up. On this occasion the rest of the diving group were a bit slow getting organized, so I went down ahead of the group, and spent some time photographing the smaller cod.

Camouflage Cod or Grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion)

I am always careful were I put my hands with these fish, with scars on one hand from having to professionally feed a couple of cod at the Cod Hole off Lizard Island a few years ago. They have rows and rows of small sharp teeth, and get a little aggressive if they are regularly feed.

Camouflage Cod or Grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion)

The smaller cod was  a lot more passive and even allowed me to get some good video of him.

Camouflage Cod (Epinephelus polyphekadion) – Viewable on Vimeo or Youtube.

More fish and underwater images can be viewed as part of my Great Barrier Reef Photography collection.