d750 overheating in Aquatech housing

For the past year, I have shot with the Nikon d750 & Aquatech Elite housing combo. Prior to that, I was shooting with a Sony RX100iv & Ikelite housing combo underwater.

Since switching to the Aquatech setup, I've noticed that my d750 heats up quite noticeably when in the housing. When not in the water (between shots) it's kept shaded and is never left in the sun. This was never an issue with my old Sony & Ikelite combo

Has anyone else had experience with this? Words of advice? Suggestions to address it?

Thanks, in advance.

Are you using the in-built flash to trigger strobes, Gina? That might do it if you are firing the strobes rapidly.

If you are using the built in flash did you go into Menu Flash Settings on the camera to lower Flash Power to 1/20th or lower?

That's all you need for optical triggers, and it will reduce heat and battery drain.

The aquatech housing are made of polyurethane that is one of the best insulators on the market

So whatever heat the camera generate will stay in the housing or go through the glass port potentially generating condensation . I suppose you need to use LCD instead of the viewfinder and this makes the whole thing even warmer.

I would keep manual flash to a minimum as other have suggested and also put some silica gel packets as with such material you may experience fogging in colder waters.

I think this is a ‘feature’ of your housing be careful as li-ion batteries are damaged easily when operating at too high temperature

The sony rx100 iv had an overheat sensor preventing sensor and battery damage

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm sorry but heat does not generate fogging. The housing is waterproof so no water gets in or out, it's purely the water contained within the housing, if the temperature of any part falls below the dewpoint of the air trapped in the housing it will condense on the cold part. What can happen to give this impression is if there is a drop of water which has managed to get inside, which could then vapourise in the heat, this could happen if you open the housing, you often see water drops on the o-ring when the housing is opened and if they get inside then you have a problem. The key is to not trap any water in the housing or very humid air.

Polyurethane foam has very good insulating properties, due to being foamed, thermoplastic polyurethane though has very similar conductivity to polycarbonate as used in ikelite housings, I have not seen an aquatech housing in the flesh, however in photos don't look like they are made of any type of foam. For the housing to feel warm on the outside it would need to be a reasonable conductor of heat. I suspect what is happening is the the Nikon just generates more heat. Is the camera left on when out of the water? How hot does it get?

I'm sorry but heat does not generate fogging. The housing is waterproof so no water gets in or out, it's purely the water contained within the housing, if the temperature of any part falls below the dewpoint of the air trapped in the housing it will condense on the cold part. What can happen to give this impression is if there is a drop of water which has managed to get inside, which could then vapourise in the heat, this could happen if you open the housing, you often see water drops on the o-ring when the housing is opened and if they get inside then you have a problem. The key is to not trap any water in the housing or very humid air.

 

Polyurethane foam has very good insulating properties, due to being foamed, thermoplastic polyurethane though has very similar conductivity to polycarbonate as used in ikelite housings, I have not seen an aquatech housing in the flesh, however in photos don't look like they are made of any type of foam. For the housing to feel warm on the outside it would need to be a reasonable conductor of heat. I suspect what is happening is the the Nikon just generates more heat. Is the camera left on when out of the water? How hot does it get?

Heat actually reduces humidity however the residual one you have moves towards the material that conducts more in this case glass of the port. In that area the temperature is lower as exposed to water and this is how condensation forms.

Any object will have residual humidity trapped inside when the battery and the sensor heat up the particles start moving and end up fogging up.

If the housing is made of metal the condensation happens on the metal because it conducts heat more if plastic it tends to go on the glass.

A camera in a plastic housing will always be hotter after a dive than if it was in a metal case

Hence the suggestion of the silica packets. A camera does not generate heat being left simply on. Typically the parts that get hot are the battery, the sensor, the lcd screen. Even the flash doesn’t really get hot in comparison.

Either way the plastic housing will trap the heat

The RX100 in ikelite housing has a lot of volume around whilst the aquatech housing are snug so there is less gas to dissipate heat into

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think also the aquatech is only rated for 10m so has thinner walls, probably you can feel the heat more through those walls than the thick walls of the ikelite. Whether the heat is a problem or not depends on how hot it is getting, but I doubt you can do much about it apart from maybe bringing a cooler on board to keep it in water in your own personal rinse tank. I wouldn't recommend leaving it in the boat's rinse tank, that's asking for trouble as other gear gets dumped in on top.