Opening housing between dives - battery changes

[Mikael]

I do love my S95 and I am slowly getting into underwater photography / video.

However its not uncommon that some point during dive 2 I can run into a low battery situation and then it runs out meaning that I am now hauling a useless lump with me. This has frustratingly happened a few times just before I see a great subject.

I was under the impression that it is best to try not to open the housing between dives but I do have a spare battery so considering it to avoid the above situation. TDFers, what are your thoughts / tips on this front?

Cheers,

[Stew W]

Buy a new battery

[Tunicates]

I'm happy opening a housing between dives if I have to. I'm slightly careful where I do it and have changed lenses and ports on a rib happily if there's not any slop. Just take care of who/what's moving around you and you should be fine.

[jb2cool]

I change mind on a Red Sea holiday, I do dry the housing with a microfiber towel and then mop up the drips before closing it up.

[Divemouse]

Dunk it in some fresh water if you can, or pour a bottle over it. then dry off a bit.

[AndrewRawlingson]

On the basis of the three underwater cameras I've owned, I would have thought that the battery would last longer. I'm with Stew, buy a new battery. Simple fact, the more times you open and close a housing, the more likely it is to leak. No hard and fast rules, just keep opening to a minimum.

[Tim Digger]

On the basis of the three underwater cameras I've owned, I would have thought that the battery would last longer. I'm with Stew, buy a new battery. Simple fact, the more times you open and close a housing, the more likely it is to leak. No hard and fast rules, just keep opening to a minimum.

+1 It should last longer, unless you are reviewing every shot between first and second dives or shooting a lot of video. I am assuming the battery is fully charged just before putting in case. Are you using flash to trigger strobes by fibre I'm believe this can eat batteries , is there a setting to minimise in camera flash power output. But even so you should get 150 shots out of a charge at least.
If you regularly open housing between dives sooner or later you will get a drop of water inside and then fogging of the housing on the second dive.

[Pete Bullen]

I try to never open a housing outside. I want dry, windless, clean and preferably dehumidified area to open it but sometimes I have to in which case I am super careful, inspect the seals very carefully and if I have a spare cylinder around I try to position it to blow clean dry air into the housing so avoiding/reducing the risk of condensation. I have a huge dome port on my bigger camera so a lot of warm air can get trapped in there and condense when it hits cooler water. Main thing is battery should be in top condition, I'd expect a good battery to last 400 plus shots but a lot depends on how much flash power, if any, you are using. If you have an oncamera flash and use that to trigger strobes then it can drain the battery fast if you have it on full power all the time.

[Tunicates]

Using an air gun to blow water away from the seal will help, but remember it's cooold, so use it carefully.

I loved my S95, but didnt like the battery life. It's a lot of camera for the size of the thing, and consequently there's not a lot of room for battery, and the thing is tiny. Like you I'd typically get a dive and a half from it, even with the flash power dialled down.

On the S95 there's only so much you can dial the flash power down sadly.

One thing that might help if you decide you have to open the housing each dive, is to use KY/jollop instead of grease on the o-ring.
The idea being that silicon grease is sticky and it attracts sand and fluff as soon as you look at it, and needs careful preperation and checking. Using a new o-ring and a water based lube, you can rinse it easily in any source of water (not the sea) and jollop is always at hand. It gets rinsed away from the outside once you're in the water, but the only purpose for making the o-ring slippery is to allow it to slide freely as you open and close the housing, and you'll have enough left on there to allow opening. It's worth a thought.