WP-DC70 housing (for Canon SD500)

I've recently purchased the WP-DC70 underwater housing for my Canon SD500.

I'm leaving in about a week for Mexico (I plan to use it mostly for snorkeling, I'm not a diver) so this will be my first time using the housing. I'm a bit nervous because I don't really know what to expect. I know there is quite a bit of maintenance needed to ensure that the case doesn't get damaged or leak. ( greesing o-ring, soaking etc)

Since I will be staying at a resort, I'll be in and out of the water all day, so not sure what to do with the housing between snorkeling. (rinse it off, and soak it at the end of the day??)

I was wondering, could anyone offer up some helpful tips, about this specific model, or any other housing?? Any shooting tips? Anything I should know??

Thanks!

Hi Fab,

This is a very simple housing and camera setup. It won't allow you to change many settings underwater - basically all you will do is zoom and press the shutter. I would set it so that the flash always fires and try to get CLOSE to your subjects - less than a foot.

As for maintenance, every time you come out of the water, you MUST dunk your housing in freshwater. Else, salt crystals will form and they can cut the o-rings and seals. After you dunk it and swish it around, just dry it off and then you can remove the camera.

When you put the camera back in just be careful that the main ring is not pinched. If you have problems in the water with the housing fogging up, you will want to use some silica dessicant packs, or similar.

James

Thanks for the info James.

A few questions:

My camera came with an flash difusser attachment. I'm assuming I keep this on

at all times when using the flash underwater?

Do I have to remove the camera,..even if I'm going back in the water 1 hour later?

So,...for example: Could I keep the camera inside the housing and soak it in fresh water for a bit, dry it, and store it in my bag, go for lunch, and return to the water for another snorkel??

What if I'm on a day trip, and can't soak the camera for a long period of time, before I can get home and do the "full" soak??? Just worried about not having any fresh water around, if I'm in the middle of no where.

Also, do I need to get weights for the housing to cut down on the bouyancy, even though I'm snorkeling and not diving.

So many questions!

Hopefully I'm making some sense.

Thanks!

Elisabeth

Hi Elisabeth - let me have a go...

My camera came with an  flash difusser attachment. I'm assuming I keep this on

at all times when using the flash underwater?

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Yes, but as James said - you'll need to be very close to your subject for the flash to have any chance of illuminating it.

Do I  have to remove the camera,..even if I'm going back in the water 1 hour later?

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The only reason you'd want to remove the camera would be to charge the batteries or download the card. If you don't need to do either of these things (eg. you only took 10 shots on a snorkel) then no, you don't need to remove the camera.

So,...for example: Could I keep the camera inside the housing and soak it in fresh water for a bit, dry it, and store it in my bag, go for lunch, and return to the water for another snorkel??

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You could do that, or you could just leave the camera in the water from before lunch until you are ready to go back in again in the arvo. The important thing is to minimise salt crystalisation.

What if I'm on a day trip, and can't soak the camera for a long period of time, before I can get home and do the "full" soak??? Just worried about not having any fresh water around, if I'm in the middle of no where.

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If you can't get access to fresh water, the best thing to do is just keep the camera wet. It'll happily last for weeks floating around in salty water, provided you keep the whole housing wet. With such a bouyant housing, you may need to weight it down to keep all the seals damp. So no, you don't need fresh water until you are ready to dry the camera, in which case you need to give it a fresh soak and drying prior to opening.

Also, do I need to get weights for the housing  to cut down on the bouyancy, even though I'm snorkeling and not diving.

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Depends on how difficult you normally find it to get UW while snorkelling. I wouldn't really consider a housing buoyant enough to warrant much extra weighting. I guess you could add some fishing "sinkers" or something.

HTH

Anthony answer almost all.

My 2 cents: Don't add weights, this camera/housing it's relative small so there is no real problem of too much buoyancy, also since you are snorkeling and not diving its a good thing for the camera to stay floating on the surface in case you leave it for some reason.

Its also a good idea to get some strap to tie the housing to your hand while snorkeling (some housing comes with that and for some need to improvised something)

Thanks guys.

GREAT!!! Thanks for your help everyone. You have no idea how much this helps.

I really appreciate your knowledge for this subject.

Thanks again for answering every question!!

When I go diving and don't think there will be a good source of water or a bucket, I take along a dry bag [like you use for paddling, etc.] and fill it with water [yes I know that is opposite of its intended use ]. I have a clear one that I got at REI that lets me see the camera/housing/etc while soaking. You can use it for salt water or to fill with fresh if you have the option.

Have fun in Mexico

Good suggestions octopus! I like it.

Hmmm..that is a good idea. I wonder, would a large hefty ziplock bag do the trick? I don't think I can get a hold of a dry bag anytime soon.

You can also put some piece of wet cloth around the housing and put in some simple plastic bag, the moisture inside won't let the housing to dry.

See, this information you don't find in the manual.

The manual didn't tell me much,...really. I felt "empty" after reading it.

I found it to be a bit unclear.

Thanks again everyone.