Saltwater and the HPX

W

walnutcrunch

Well-known member
Our camera spends a lot of time on the water and in marine areas. We've got it wrapped in one of those KATA soft cases, which is great for those random splashes, but is there any kind of regular maintenance we should be doing on the camera?

Also on that note, saltwater is a pain in the butt on the lens. It's difficult to clean, especially on the fly (i.e. riding on the bow of a boat as dolphins repeatedly blow herring snot water on the lens at 15 knots).

What do people recommend for fast and thorough lens cleaning? Those little kim wipes got the droplets off, but had difficulty with the saltwater haze.
 
Good question. I did a shoot out on the Atlantic last year and the mist alone when traveling at higher speeds had me pretty freaked out. I know that salt mist had to of penetrated the camera somewhere.
 
I always rent when the cameras have to go to sea. There's really nothing you can do short of an underwater housing that will keep salt out of your camera. Even then it has to come out f the case sometime. Short of a fire there's probably no worse environment for cameras.

I think internal condensation in salt water environment is even worse. When we shoot in Carribean we always take hair dryers along to dry out the inside of the cameras.
Nothing freaks a producer out more then popping the side of the camera and dumping the water out! Unless it's four cameras outside the hotel room with ac's attacking them with hairdryers.

When buying used equipment I also tend to cast a jaundiced eye on any gear from the coasts.
 
walnutcrunch said:
What do people recommend for fast and thorough lens cleaning? Those little kim wipes got the droplets off, but had difficulty with the saltwater haze.
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how about having several UV or sky filters on hand so if one gets slimed, you can pull it off and screw on/drop in a clean one. have your ac clean the slimy one and have it ready for the next sliming.
 
cheezweezl said:
how about having several UV or sky filters on hand so if one gets slimed, you can pull it off and screw on/drop in a clean one. have your ac clean the slimy one and have it ready for the next sliming.
Click to expand...

AC? What is this AC you speak of?

Actually that would be a good idea as the filters are pretty cheap, but there is not a lot of room on those boats, and when things go off, you shoot and you don't stop shooting because you don't know when it is going to end. So, for this particular shoot, I was a one man crew, crouching on the bow of the boat without a rail, camera on shoulder, going 15 knots in open ocean, while trying to clean a lens. Also, being a small boat, taking the filter off just means you're going to get gunk on your actual lens instead of just the filter.

What I really need is something I can quickly grab out of a pocket and clean with pretty quick, but I'm not sure what is safe for photographic lenses and filters.
 
ya know, dirt bike riders have those tear-off things on their goggles for when they get too muddy. maybe someone should make them for cameras.... hmmmmmm.........


EDIT: i've got it. just screw on like 10 uv filters then just take them off one by one as they get dirty.... lol...
 
Oh I didn't mention we were going to shoot Biggest Catch with your gear? Sorry man. I'm sure it'll fine when it drys out.

Just don't turn it on for week ok. ;]
 
So you are saying these coastal images would make you nervous about the camera?

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