dome cover water entry from boat

I am new to the D-SLR u/w world. As with everyone, never want my dome scratched.

I always have my camera rig handed to me/taken from me when entering water from a boat. Did with P/S and will continue with DSLR.

Do you have your dome covered or uncovered when doing the boat exit/entry? I find myself worried that the person getting my camera will not be as careful as I might want/need.

All my diving lately has been shore diving so I always have mine on during entry/exit. A recent shore dive on the wild side in Bonaire tossed me around pretty good and all thought about was that I was glad I had the cover on and turned the camera port towards my body. I do rinse the cover/dome after a exit to make sure there is no sand sediment caught between them.

Jeff

I never use the cover on entries. I believe it is likely that some sand get stuck in the cover and thus scratch the dome. I haven´t got a scratch due to the lack of cover on entries yet (have got some on other ocassions though!).

Regards

Bent C

When I used to live in Brazil I used to refurbish/repair scratched dome ports.

The most common type of scratches are the ones so called "hairline".

They occur mainly on acrylic domes and although they are inevitable and easy to polish (it's a less than 1h job) the use of the cover in (or dirty with) sea water makes your dome much more susceptible to them.

I still don't have enough experience with glass domes (I have used mine for less than a year) but generally the only way to fix them is with a Credit Card (and a good one...).

On the other hand they might protect from bigger damages on entering/exiting the water.

One other thing that I have mixed feelings is when people rely on dome covers and BC clips to hold their domes.

I have seen (people contacting me for repairs) many an irreparable domes due to it hitting things while the owner was unaware of them (other divers tanks are my personal favorite) when it is clipped to a BC and covered... I feel that when you hold them it might be more work to do, but it is safer because you are always aware of their position.

Good Luck

I usually cover for entry and cover again before exit, particularly for rocky/coral shoreline or when I don't trust the boat crew to be careful.

If it happened I could maybe do something about a sand scratch but a big ding would totally can the trip. Who has the space for a spare 8" dome in their flight bag.

I always cover mine. I would rather run the risk of a few fine scratches from the cover than have a huge gouge from it being miss handled by the boat crew or getting banged around in the rinse tank.

Mike

Always use the cover, minimises some of the bigger / deeper type of scratches.

Also keep it on when doing wreck penetration as I learnt the hard way.

Reel/Line, Tourch and Camera is hard work inside a wreck.

Cheers,

Richard B.

Keeping it on will minimise scratches but you may miss a great shot when you surface. Well, it is a matter of luck.

My cover is always on, especially in rinse tanks, but I remove it *before* getting into the water as I don't like having one more piece of **** to carry around Cover gets back to port as soon as I get back on the boat.

Have you tried putting one of these covers on while wearing dry gloves? It's not easy. I gave up when after I tried putting in on before a shore re-entry and managed to let in a few drops of water in the process.

Two reasons my cover stays on the boat. The first I learned from our friend Alex. The first thing upon entry I submerge the housing dome down and look for water as I start to descend. If I take the time to remove the cover under the water, it might be too late to avoid a damaging flood. (OK so I'm a little paranoid) The second reason I like to leave it off is the salt and other ocean bits that will invariably collect between the cover and the dome surface. Salt crystals will do a great job of putting microscopic scratches in the acrylic. A hard cover would alleviate this but then you'd have to carry it around. Not sure there is a good answer here.

Cheers,

Steve

I know a photographer who regularly dives with stills and video rigs - and he always keeps the dome covers on in the water, when he is not actually shooting. This is so the system that it clipped to him is protected, should he misjudge things. Which he very rarely does - he is very used to this way of shooting and manages both systems very well.

Alex

Some interesting points coming out of this thread. Seems the rule is - There is no rule.

Be aware of the relative risks of each dive and make your call.

I often leave my port cover in the hotel room actually. Quite happy to take my (glass) dome on the boat without a cover. I often think an uncovered dome makes people more careful around your camera, than if it is covered in neoprene. But then, if it is a small boat, loaded wit lots of camera, I will take my port cover.

Alex

I leave the cover on the boat. I love that sense of sheer terror watching the camera waving around on a lanyard as its being lowered down 6' from deck level to me after my giant stride, wondering if it's going to smash dome-first into a crusty, rusty hull. Gives me an excuse for excessive air consumption.

Seriously though, on very small boats I have left the dome on, toss it up over the side to the boat crew before I do my descent, on bigger liveaboards it comes off up top. I don't usually put it back on for the rinse tank either, because I'd rather just do a quick dip and button-push than let the camera sit in the dip tank anyway. Would be worried about someone else tangling their rig in the little lanyard and 'yanking' on my dome as a result when they took their camera out.