Underwater Camera Case

As I mentioned, Monday was a pretty busy day.  Not only did I have to get my work visa and go to Andrew's party,  but I also had to go to CWB to pick up the 2nd part of my big purchase last week... the waterproof case for my new Canon IXY 75 Camera!

Because of the early dinner, I didn't think it'd be right to go over and pick it up after getting my Visa in Wanchai, so I decided to get it after dinner (the thing I love about HK stores is the fact that unlike Japan, they all stay open pretty late, in this case til 10:30pm).

But since we were doing poker, I had to rush over there right after dinner.  I have always been a fast walker, but the harried pace of HK makes me walk even faster.  The more crowded it gets the harder that is, but its ok, I still manage to make it through, even if I do have to knock the occasional grandmother out of the way on the escalator... :-P

For those of you who are familiar with HK know,  its quite a long walk underground from the CWB MTR platform to Times Square, but I did stop to take a picture of the Haagen Daz ice cream moon cake line phenomenon that I mentioned in my blog on Sunday. 

Line wasn't so long cause it was late in the evening... I should have stopped to get one. :-P

Anyway, I got my case and rushed back to Central in time for the poker game - so I didn't open it til I got home and finished packing for Singapore:

Its actually smaller than I espected,  I guess because all the ones I've seen have been for bigger cameras than mine...   I'm a bit scared to try it,  there's all these instructions on the proper care and preparation for the camera.  For example you have to make sure the o-ring seals properly and test it in a bucket of water before you try taking it down to any kind of depth. A leaky seal can destroy your camera real quick!

The other major concern is that once you jump in and go down into cold water, there may be condensation inside the case.  this means not only fog inside the case's lens, but also possibly moisture ruining the camera too.  Apparently the solution is to load the camera in in an air conditioned room (lower humidity) and also stick a few of those silica gel dessicant packs in the bottom of the case to soak up the moisture in the air inside...  (but where the hell do you buy those things?)

I didn't feel like trying it out in the bathtub,  but I did try taking a few pics inside my apartment just to see how it works out of the water.

wow, pretty good!  Ahmadinajad never looked so clear!

I also learned that my canon actually has a setting for 'underwater',  wow.. a good idea.  it automatically adjusts the white balance (and the color filters I think) to compensate for the light shift that occurs underwater.  cool!

Looks like we're going to get a chance to go diving again on Saturday afternoon after I get back.  should be fun!