It is frustrating when you think you got a good shot only to find “the blurry spot” when you look later. When using an underwater camera above water you must make sure the lens port is free of beads or blotches of water. I have developed a few strategies for dealing with this. In most cases you can use rainex on the glass to help prevent water from sticking to the lens, in salt water you will need to reapply after every use. A curved lens port glass works great for keeping water blurs away, the curvature makes it difficult for the water to stick. In some cases like my current housing rainex seems to be inaffective so I make sure to clean the port every day with a cleaner and cloth. If you let salt water dry on the port or any residue (finger grease) or oil is on the glass it will encourage water to stick to the lens. Avoid rubbing the lens to remove the water spots while in the water this only leads to more annoying water blotches, the best thing to do is dip the lens in the water to capture the water patches and try till they all roll off clean (can be difficult in waves or wind). Blowing on the lens doesn’t really work when you are in the water because you are just blowing more water blotches on the lens. Another effective way to deal with minor water blotches is by zooming as tight at your lens can go, it will cut down the effective area of the port used and the way the focus/zoom works the blotches will be minimized, I use this if I know I can not remove every blotch, or just to make sure. Any questions feel free to comment.
Aloha.
-Aaron-
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