NYCkayaker How Do You Keep Your Cameras Dry?

[Dennis Wiener]

TomBrooklyn wrote:
> The best choice for my Canon A70 seemed to be a dry bag for around $30 plus tax and S&H, but I
> found an underwater housing on eBay and got it for $75. total.  It's a bit pricey.  The camera is
> probably not even quite worth $75 now, but it will enable me to easily use all the buttons on the
> camera so I think that makes it worth it, plus it ought to be bombproof dry.  I'm thinking it
> might float with the camera in it which would be a bonus.  
>
> Thanks for the suggestions and cheers.   
>
> TomBk
>
>   
Canon makes their own housings for their point and shoot cameras. Don't 
know if the ebay one you bought is one of theirs or not. The key to to 
the integrity of UW  housings are their o-rings. Check those for 
scratches and wear, and clean and lubricate them (with silicon grease) 
between uses. When I was using my Nikonos regularly I'd replace the 
o-rings 2x  a year( more if I felt a bad scratch on one) and send it to 
a service center annually to clean it and replace internal o-rings. 
While you probably won't be immersing the housing its a good idea to 
soak it in fresh water between uses to keep the moving parts free of 
salt build up. Housings do tend to have positive bouyancy, but I'd check 
it in a tub or pool to make sure it floats with the camera installed