Can anyone give a general best practice for handling your camera, such as opening and closing your housing during the day and to avoid condensation? My reasons:
I had a G9 that just stopped working on the first night dive of my liveaboard trip (about 4 dives into the trip). There was no leak, but it appeared that it heated up a lot and then moisture appeared causing it to die while I was taking a movie (I had a lot of desiccant in the Canon housing). Actually I didnt know if a problem with the battery caused the problem because the camera felt hot.
A Canon service centre gave me a repair estimate that would have cost more than a new camera, so, since I still had the housing, I bought a used G9 to replace it. On my next liveaboard trip, it worked beautifully - lots of great shots, movies - the whole package. I hadn't done anything different (that I know of) so I thought the first camera or battery was faulty. Then, on the following trip it stopped working on the first day again on the night dive - again no leak - but definite moisture inside the housing even though I had lots of moisture munchers! I didnt notice if I had done something differently in preparing the camera, but maybe I did. Now the camera is worthless and I still have the housing (and an Ikelite AF35 strobe).
I only dive about once a year and I am going on another liveaboard trip shortly. I think I am going to make a fresh start with a S95 or a G12 (dont know which yet). However, I dont want another first day total camera failure.
I don't know what went wrong or if I did something wrong. Any best practice tips for how to handle the camera? Always (or never) change battery in air-conditioned room ? Keep LCD turned off when not using? Any tips would be welcome.
Thanks in advance
I had a G9 that just stopped working on the first night dive of my liveaboard trip (about 4 dives into the trip). There was no leak, but it appeared that it heated up a lot and then moisture appeared causing it to die while I was taking a movie (I had a lot of desiccant in the Canon housing). Actually I didnt know if a problem with the battery caused the problem because the camera felt hot.
A Canon service centre gave me a repair estimate that would have cost more than a new camera, so, since I still had the housing, I bought a used G9 to replace it. On my next liveaboard trip, it worked beautifully - lots of great shots, movies - the whole package. I hadn't done anything different (that I know of) so I thought the first camera or battery was faulty. Then, on the following trip it stopped working on the first day again on the night dive - again no leak - but definite moisture inside the housing even though I had lots of moisture munchers! I didnt notice if I had done something differently in preparing the camera, but maybe I did. Now the camera is worthless and I still have the housing (and an Ikelite AF35 strobe).
I only dive about once a year and I am going on another liveaboard trip shortly. I think I am going to make a fresh start with a S95 or a G12 (dont know which yet). However, I dont want another first day total camera failure.
I don't know what went wrong or if I did something wrong. Any best practice tips for how to handle the camera? Always (or never) change battery in air-conditioned room ? Keep LCD turned off when not using? Any tips would be welcome.
Thanks in advance