Camera Room Thoughts?

Ok, so I asked this question a few years ago when i was in Yap at the Manta Ray and i will ask it again now as i am at a new resort and people's thoughts may have changed.

I am about to start building a new camera room here in Lembeh Strait and would love to hear peoples input about what they would like to see in a camera room.

Some questions, carpet or tiles on the floor? What sort of covering on the camera tables? Hard plastic? rubber matting?

A projector or tv in the room?

Please give any ideas you would like to see implemented

Thanks

Mike

I prefer carpet as is less slippery. For the covering I would use a neoprene cover or rubber. Lots of plugs. Good light.

And:

How about

I was only refering to the fridge!

I was only refering to the fridge!

but I thought beer was a great recommendation!

Mike have a look at the Kasawari Lembeh Resort's camera room. Its certainly the best I have ever seen.

Light, Light and Light. Lots of power outlets. Deep enough for big set-ups. A small shelf above the work area for charging and keeping stuff dry. Large area below where Pelicans and such can be stored. One or two tanks with air nozzles for drying. Towels if possible. Some form of security so I don't feel like I have to drag everything back to my room. Don't know about carpet in a wet, tropical area but maybe some kind of rubberized mat that would drain. Oh and location close to the boats.

All of the above plus padded lockers for storing camera gear overnight, maybe a freshwater tank for testing seals and giving things a good rinse, but that needs to be balanced by having adefinite dry area where no water is allowed (Beer only).

Mike, 2 things that many resorts forget about: voltage regulator/surge protection for the plugs ( especially if your resort is generator run) in the entire room and adaptor plugs for international visitors. Lamps for individual workstations and definitely adequate ventilation (no need for ac but good fan for air circulation is a must). I totally disagree with tanks in an enclosed area. It's too loud for sensitive ears and you are already supplying towels anyways.

The material to line the tables is tough. Neoprene is great and easy to work with but if it gets wet and your room doesn't have good enough ventilation, it will stink. The mesh anti-slip material is nice but can be a pain if you are playing with little screws. As for floor materials, non-slip tile is easiest to clean and safer, albeit slightly more expensive in Indo. Rubber mats can still smell and cheap ones stain.

I do think training the staff to handle camera equipment is the most important thing. That's from boat to rinse tank and how to put the cameras, protect the ports etc.

One or two tanks with air nozzles for drying.

IMO i would rather things like this are kept out of camera rooms.

for me the whole room should be a dry room. no wet clothing, no wet feet, no wet housings. bring them inside once you have rinsed them in a fresh water tank and then air blown/ towel dried the rig. i know some water will get in, but if it is kept to the absolute minimum, then this can only be a better thing. white lamps in the light fittings instead of those orangey ones that are always used abroad. slide out drawers underneath of the working area would also be a good idea, doubling the effective size of the worktops. security in a lot of places is an issue, but hard to control. I would not like to be wide awake at 3 in the morning and try to use the time for sorting out my camera only to find the camera room locked. so padlocking it up wouldnt suit everyone.

just my 2 cents

Some thoughts for you

Carpets in tropical areas get really nasty, tiles are great especially if you can get non skid tiles, you can also use tiles on the tables for the cameras. But it should be a dry room, rinse tanks outside and enough so people dont have to put their cameras in on top of each other, with a table where people can dry off their cameras before bringing them inside to change cards etc.

The voltage regulators and transformers will often please people, depending on how many guests you take, you could make little individual areas which provides plugs, matting (should be a light colour so you can see o rings and of course have no threads), this way though at least people will know where to set up and care for their cameras during their stay. The whole area should be well lit and if possible have some windows for ventilation.

But most of all your friendly personality and knowledge.................................

I agree with the idea of keeping the main room dry; maube a smaller area at the entrance to the room where wet cameras can be set down after dunking, dried (possible a place for the air tank mentioned), and then strict rules that camera owner and gear are dry inside the main room.

The best camera rinse tank I ever used was lined with rubber sheeting.

It does'nt have to be reallarge, just quickdrain/fill ability.

Also a near by place to let rigs drain for a short period.

I agree.... an air drying bench where towels are available....then moving to a completely dry area.

I was also wondering...where can I get a lightweight airgun (that I can take on my travels) which I can connect to a tank? I would like to buy one online...

*Edit* I found one on scuba.com which attaches to the BC inflator LP hose.... I really should have bought one a LONG time ago! sheesh....

Now my 2 cents. Well, most of it has been said before.

1: Let there be Light. That is were most Camera Rooms fail and it is by far the most important issue.

2: A good set of Tools, including a small solder station.

3: Lots of good Towels ( no cats or dogs on them :-) )

4: Place to stowaway the Gear, preferably lockable.

5: Rinse tank with a drying bench, just outside is a good idea. Atleast the drying bench should be under roof.

I personally do not really care about the floor or the benches. I prefer to put a towel on the bench anyway. It makes it soft and small things do not escape.

I am a bit ambigous about the Ventilator. It is a tradeoff between sweating and avoiding particles flying around in the air and "magnetically" landing on the just greased O-rings.

The Security is clearly an issue. A possible solution would be a door key that everybody gets and then a personal key to the locker( or one that does both). That way both the flexibility and the security is solved. However, the problem is to get those keys back. Would cardreaders work in Indonesia? Expensive?

A refrigerator with cold drinks and Beer, now we are talking Camera room . That solves my eternal problem of first Camera then deco beer, finally someone has understood the dilemma :-).

/Erik

Excellent, great info folks thanks for the input. It is all being considered, the voltage converter is definitely something we have planned.

And beer...

650ml bottles

3: Lots of good Towels ( no cats or dogs on them :-) )

I absolutely MUST have dolphins on my towels....my camera won't dry completely without those.....

i'd like a camera room that was bright (hopefully with the tables not back-lit by the sun), well-ventilated, and with some storage for me to lock-up my set. i wouldn't mind paying a small fee for the locker. maybe you can work it such that it's a US$5 fee for the locker for the entire trip. it helps cover the cost of making replacement keys if guests forget to return or lose the keys. can be as easy as something like those big plastic containers with a small padlock on the covers. hopefully it'll help keep clutter manageable in the camera room, and are stackable when not in use. they can also double up as portable rinse tanks on the dive boats

example of the containers on the right

AC or fan-cooled is fine, and in fact i'd prefer fan & natural ventilation since electricity is a little spotty in manado and it doesn't make sense to have the AC running the whole day for an empty room. it'll also help keep the moisture to a comfortable level.

for the flooring, non-slip would be best. how about mixing some sand with non-glossy paint to give you something similar to non-slip matting? that's what they do on some of the dive boats in malaysia. it's easy to clean up and keep dry too, and you can change colours every year. maybe even have a mural painting competition for the locals.

thanks for asking us for our opinions...just curious; which resort are you going to be at? i'm planning a trip to manado next february.

Eskasi:

I actually meant that there should be no dogs or cats laying on top of the Towels, sharing their hair with my O-rings.

I have no issues with Pink Elephants on the Towels as long as I get a Deco Beer in the Camera room

/Erik

and finally a couple of swedish girls to give massages

and not the kind you left behind in Bali, ( well I hope you left them behind )