:: 10. Maintenance On The Boat

One of the differences between a digital camera and a film camera is that the body of a digital camera tends to heat up and condensation can form in the waterproof case or on the lens when the humidity in the case is high. You should, therefore, avoid opening the case in humid places, such as on a boat or at a humid beach. Nevertheless, you generally need to replace the battery with each dive or you risk running out of charge. Divers that make several trips in a single day may wish to have spares to hand and become proficient at changing batteries.

When you come out of the water after a dive, have a tub of fresh water on hand to soak the salt off the waterproof case. Then wipe the entire exterior of the case with a dry towel. Wrap the towel around one hand and hold the case with it. Tap the case lightly on all sides against the other hand to shake off any remaining water drops. Now place the case on a table or chair and wrap the towel around your head to prevent water or hairs from your head from falling into the case. Do not lean over the case when servicing it: hold it in front of you.

When you open the waterproof case, service it quickly. Exchange the battery quickly; inspect the O-ring, its groove and the opposite side of the case for foreign matter; insert a silica gel package or two; and close the case again.

Do Not Place the Case Directly Under your Head

Water may drip onto the camera or case if you hold the case underneath your head when performing your maintenance. Service them at arms length whenever possible.

Do Not Place the Case Directly Under your Head	Inspecting the O-Ring
Water may drip onto the camera or case if you hold the case underneath your head when performing your maintenance. Service them at arms length whenever possible.	Do not skip or shorten the O-ring inspection, even when you are in a hurry. A single grain of dirt or sand can lead to a leak.

Inspecting the O-Ring

Do not skip or shorten the O-ring inspection, even when you are in a hurry. A single grain of dirt or sand can lead to a leak.

Turn the camera power off if your model can be turned off while it is in the waterproof case, or on models without this feature, set it to a shooting mode, turn off the LCD monitor and wait until the camera automatically goes into sleep mode.

Perform these procedures as quickly as possible and well before the next dive so that the silica gel packages have time to extract the moisture from the air inside the case.

Before you dive again, perform the pre-dive submersion tests on the case, checking it for only a few seconds the first time and for longer the second time.

Take care to keep the waterproof case out of direct sunlight. Otherwise the case and camera will heat up and be subject to condensation on the boat or underwater

This section has been extracted from Canon Japan on how to prepare your digital investment.

http://www.canon.com/copyright.html