Issues with Shooting in Hot Springs

We are shooting a feature film in Iceland in June and have a couple of scenes in hot springs.

Has anyone shot in those conditions? I am concerned about the effect of the heat on the housing and camera.

At a minimum, I expect to deal with some fogging. My biggest concerns are the heat compromising the housing seals and the camera producing record artifacts as the sensor heats up inside.

Thanks,

Doug

Fogging should not be a problem. Your strobes may not cool efficiently, so take your time between shots. If you are in a spring with a high tannic acid content, it can discolor the bright-work on your housing. Give it a good soak after use because the solutes in hot springs can cause issues if not rinsed thoroughly. If you have a vacuum leak detector, it may give you a false alarm. Do not remove any o-ring until it has had a chance to cool down. If going in a really hot spring for an extended time period, I would check with the manufacturer. I have used an Aquatica housing in 104 degree water for up to 45 minutes (max depth was about 20 feet).

I spent about 20 minutes shooting video of the hot water pouring out of an undersea vent near a volcano in the Banda Sea. Because the hot vent water was mixing with sea water, I can't tell you how hot it was. But it was so hot that I could not put any part of my body directly into the vent water. About every few minutes, I moved away from the vent, more to let me cool down rather than the camera.

The camera, housing and lights were fine.

As always, I had a large pack of silica gel inside the housing so fogging was not a problem.

Regards

Peter

DiverDoug1 & Peterbkk - Thanks for the insight. It is very much appreciated. The housing is a loaner, so the potential for discoloration is a great note.

I fried a Canon IXUS in a Taiwan hotspring some years ago, the flash never worked again after I used it.

If this is a video housing and allows you should install a couple of heat sinks as those used to cool down CPUs or electronics as there is a chance you will fry the equipment

Interceptor121
where should the heat sinks go?

doughdalton:
What camera in what housing?
A acrylic (Ikelite) or the new Hugyfot housings made of Delrin may retard the heat-up inside the housing and isolate the o-rings longer from the heat
POM (Delrin and its other comercial names) have a high melting point of 162-173° celsius while PMMA (acrylic glass or plexiglass) the melting point is slightly lower (160° celsius)

Fogging will occur when you get out of the hot water in the cold iclandic air or in cold water to cool down everything.
Bringing there enough quantities of fresh and sealed silicia gel bags and loading the housing in a a/c room can retard the fogging.

Chris

I would put it close to the battery compartment which is where most of the energy comes from. This is a small device made by a fan and a heat sink you also have to find a way to power it either through the camera or with a battery pack. I mentioned a video housing as a normal snug housing for a DSLR of new generation will have 0 space for this