Cleaning and caring for your dive kit is an important part of being a diver. But what about your camera setup? Learning to maintain your underwater camera kit is just as important to keep you shooting photos on every dive with no issues.

When it comes to maintaining your underwater camera kit, many photographers have their own ‘ritual’ that is specific to their setup and how they like their camera to work underwater. This is something that makes underwater photography so exciting. So many different setups are used for different types of dives, capturing different subjects.

After purchasing my first camera and housing I had a little trouble finding information on cleaning and maintaining it. So a lot of my maintenance has been through trial and error as well as chatting with other divers. After all, a camera and housing are big investments, so taking care of them is important to avoid any issues on a dive such as flooding and damaged lenses/ports or lighting.

Having said this, no amount of maintenance can guarantee that your housing will not flood.

There is always that chance and it has happened to every underwater photographer at some point in their diving life (me included). Also wear and tear are to be expected as your kit ages and through continued use, no matter how well it’s cared for. It is always good practice to replace pieces as you see fit.

What Will You Need

A basic maintenance kit will have cleaning cloths, tissues, silicone grease and small tools such as screwdrivers and Allen keys. You can also get little hand air blowers or small camera cleaning brushes which are ideal for removing the tiny pieces from the housing.

Most importantly you’ll want spare o-rings for your housing and lighting. These are a key part of your underwater camera maintenance kit. You can see more of my maintenance kit in my Save A Dive Kit: Underwater Camera TikTok

The next thing to think about is when to care for your camera kit. This is a personal preference, some divers will do it after a dive day so it’s ready to go for whenever they next dive. Personally, the best time for me to do a thorough clean of my housing is during set up.

I usually set my kit up the day before I am planning on diving with it. This way I can ensure that I have everything I need for the day’s diving. This also gives me a day to sort out any issues if they arise. Always starting with batteries. Checking they have not rusted due to water leaks and go on charge ready to be used.

Cleaning The Housing & O-Rings

For the housing, the O ring is the most important part. Looking after these is essential to maintaining your underwater camera kit and preventing leaks. Each housing manufacturer should provide instructions on how to remove the O ring from the housing and which ones should be left alone.

In my Fantasea housing, the black O ring on the door can be removed for cleaning. I start by gently running a tissue around the ring to remove any debris sitting on it.

Follow this by gently feeling the O ring with your hands, looking for any marks, scratches and breaks in the O ring. If you have any it is advisable to replace this O ring as it becomes more liable to leakages. Finally, I will put a little bit of silicone gel on the O ring and carefully rub it over the whole ring.

As the O ring is out of its place it is a good time to gently run a cotton bud or tissue around where the O ring sits in the housing. Remove any hair, silt and sand from the area. Before putting the O ring back in I check over the inside of the housing and gently dust the inside of the housing. This removes any debris from inside the housing which could damage the camera itself or the functionality of the housing. I find using the hand blower or cleaning brush best for this task.

If you are not going to be using your camera/housing for a while, then remove the o-ring completely. O-rings stretch with time and use. Removing it when in storage or travelling prevents any unnecessary stretch or movement. I store mine in a little plastic zip-lock bag ready for the next use.

Lenses and Ports

These are fairly easy to maintain. Those with larger housings will have ports that fit over the specific lens you have chosen to shoot with that dive. Then those with compact cameras are more likely to have a wet lens which screws onto the end of the housing.

The main thing to think about again is dust and dirt. Use the camera brush/hand pump to gently remove any debris from all the attachment points and lens rims. Also, remove any lens shades (if possible) and clean under them too.

Once removing the debris, check over the lens for any scratches. For those with wet lenses check the attachment side lens too. If you do have some light scratches, with some lenses/ports it is possible to polish these out.

However, it is best to check with the manufacturer on this as some lenses have a coating which is made worse through polishing. (My Fantasea wet lenses have this coating, so instead of polishing I can arrange with the distributor/manufacturer to get a replacement lens fitted if I wished).

Transport & Storage

A big part of maintaining your underwater camera kit is storing and transporting it. When storing it at home, you want to keep the kit out of direct sunlight. Apart from that, you are free to store it how you wish.

Some photographers will keep it in a Peli case, others will store it in boxes with their dive kit. I know some photographers who like to display their kits in their homes. Personally, I have a cheaper version of a Peli case in which I store the housing, lenses and lights. Then all extras go in a tub next to it.

When transporting my camera kit, it comes down to where I am diving and whether it is a boat or shore dive. I have both a large trug bucket and a cool bag to choose from when transporting my underwater camera kit on dives.

The advantage to the padded cool bag is you can fill this with water and use it as a rinse tank to keep your camera clean and cool between dives. Also being padded offers more protection and having additional pockets means you have spares, tool kits and snacks available quickly. These are particularly good when boat diving.

There are some shore dive sites where I prefer the trug bucket. Again it can be filled and used as a rinse tank, it’s a little more sturdy and when transported in the car it does not get any water all over the seats.

Post Dive Care

You’ve done all your housing maintenance, set your kit up, had a fantastic dive and are now back on the boat. Once you are de-kitted, it is time to think about maintaining your underwater camera post dive. Firstly pop your camera in the rinse tank. The rinse tank on a dive boat is usually a freshwater tank that you can use to dunk your kit in and wash off any sea salt, sand and grit that you picked up on your dive.

The number 1 rule here is: Do Not Leave Your Camera In The Rinse Tank.

There are too many stories of people’s housing leaking in the rinse tank due to cameras being piled up and left on the tank together. Particularly if you have a smaller set-up, it is easy for a heavier camera kit to cause damage in the tank.

After rinsing, store your camera in the box/bag and cover the set-up with a damp cloth/towel. This will keep it cool for the next dive while preventing any fogging. Keep it in a shaded area if you do not have a bag on the boat to put it in.

Once you get home rinse your underwater camera kit again in freshwater. Make a habit of pushing all the buttons down and turning any dials to get any leftover debris out of the moving parts of the kit. You can even soak your kit for a while to get all the saltwater out.

Bonus Points!

Finally, a couple of bonus points to think about when maintaining your underwater camera kit.

• Take a lens cover on your dive – Put it on before getting back on the boat to prevent damage to the lenses when using the lifts or passing it up the side of the boat.
• Using silica gel to prevent fogging – Helps prevent moisture sitting in the housing which can cause your camera issues in the long run, also stops the lens fogging and spoiling your photos mid-dive.

Keeping your camera kit in tip-top condition allows you to be ready to capture the action on any dive. Once you’re set up head over to my 5 Top Tips For Using A Camera Underwater to get the most out of your underwater photography.

Create yourself a pre-dive camera maintenance ritual and you’ll have more fun taking photos instead of dealing with damaged cameras!