Not RainX, but mild surfactant.
I read the same thing about rainX. http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/654919
Saliva or mild surfactant like Johnson’s baby shampoo, then rinse, is said to help. Though maybe better on the inside against fogging than on the outside against water drops. The saliva application certainly works on the inside of diving masks.
Brainstorming is good though. The best ideas will bubble to the top.
Paul
bilge sponge
wring it out and it absorbs
Just so that bilge sponge hasn’t picked
up grease and grunge.
Chamois and certain chamois-like stuff like Sham-Wow might be cut down and carried in a PFD pocket for wiping duty. But my bilge sponge gets too dirty for wiping lenses (we’re talking about an optically coated lens here) after the first trip. I do use the sponge for making the paddle shaft less slippery.
rainx
RainX is not intended to be used on plastic, it’ll eventually cloud the material to the point you can’t see thru it.
Bill H.
I do the same as g2.
I dip the camera back in the water (non salt) and blow on the lens. Simple and I don’t have to search for a wipe.
give it the finger
– Last Updated: Jan-02-10 4:47 AM EST –
I just drag the drops away with the tip of my finger.
For me, wiping the lens with something dry seems impractical in rapids or waves or rain whereas lightly dragging a finger across the lens takes no time and clears the lens good enough. If I were trying for perfection I would use a cloth.
Can’t see how to do that with a Canon
waterproof camera case. I can get my finger into the well holding the optically coated lens plate, but there is no place to which I can drag the water droplets. This was also true on my old Weathermatic 35. Blowing water off the lens plate works up to a point, though it may leave a thin film of fine droplets that needs air drying.
Maybe some day Canon will include a tiny fan and heater to blow the lens plate clear and give it a final drying.
You’ll never keep it dry…
…so you’re better off to use alternative methods. Two that work well (we have two Cannons with housings) are:
- Lick/spit/shoot - Lick the lens cover, spit out the salt (I’m assuming salt water here) and shoot. If you’re in fresh water that may be polluted, this is probably not the best technique.
- Dunk & Shoot - Dunk the camera to get an even film of water on the lens cover, then shoot before it runs off. You usually have a few seconds to do this.
I’ve tried different ways of keeping things dry and they all were more trouble than they were worth, unless your sole purpose for paddling is photography and you’re willing to make significant sacrifices toward that end. For us, paddling is the primary goal and photography is just a way of documenting it. You can see some examples of on-water shots we took in Shetland here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg
None of these is “National Geographic” quality, but they tell the story of the trip pretty well.
Yeah, most shots are clear of water
drops, and very good shots too.
One reason I switched from kayak/c-1 to open canoe is that the camera usually stays splash free with the high seating, at least up through class 1-2. My failing is that often I forget to check the camera case lens before I start shooting, because of the drier ride. Later I find some water drop spoilation I easily could have avoided.
Your tongue doesn’t get all pickled-wrinkly from all that salt water, does it?
It can be hard on the tongue
After a 10-12 hour day of paddling and shooting (it basically never gets dark in early July in Shetland, so long days just sorta happened), my tongue would be feeling the wrath of the salt, but a pint or two would fix that. 
I had a lot more shots of our first weekend on Papa Stour that were ruined by water drops. Once I figured out the two techniques I mentioned, the results were much better, with relatively few ruined shots.
Smears windshields
I tried Rain-X on the windshield one time. Never again.
Removing water drops from photos.
Loosely on topic, I found that when water drops do get in the picture, the self healing tool in photoshop may remove them with mixed results. Works best on small drops over complex textures like trees or grass, where the exact reconstruction is not critical. Set the brush diameter to just bigger than the area of image distortion, one click over each drop, done.
Worked nice on scenic pics of trees. Didn’t work on large distortions over tug boats and fishing vessels. Bummer. Would require more photoshop expertise for that.
Paul
Thanks a bunch for all the advice.
Way helpful on my trip yesterday. Brilliant advice to rinse with fresh water. I found that drawing some water in my mouth, swish it around, spit it on the lens, then shake it off, turn 180 degrees and shake again, worked pretty well. I’ll have to try the tongue sometime too. (Didn’t read that one until I got home.)
Now after eating a peanut butter sandwich I’ll have to be sure and follow-up with an apple to cleanse my lens cleaning machine.
Also got better at minimizing water on the lens cover and the lens, in the first place. Though some rain drops and splashes and one drop in the drink (it was either me or the camera) were inevitable.
Thanks again. Pictures from my trip yesterday on Alsea Bay, Oregon, are on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulstivers/sets/
Paul
Did
You wipe it off with a damp rag after the application? It will leave that haze if you don’t.
Well, the lens plate on the Canon
seems to be glass, but it is the optical coating that will go quick with RainX.
I never got smears on the windshield.
There are two problems. First, even with proper wiping down, there are tiny bubbles or specs that are somewhat bothersome when driving into a low sun.
Second, as the wipers wear through the RainX film, they start sticking or chattering.
I must say that for driving in rain, RainX can be terrific. But it’s up to the individual whether the overall experience is worthwhile.
One product to avoid is the RainX antifog stuff for the inside of the windshield. Just awful.
Yes
It still smeared.
Yeah, I’ve found water drops hard to
edit, except under the circumstances you describe.
I just dip mine in water then shoot
using my Panasonic Lumix. This may not have worked as well with my older waterproof case enclosing my Canon Elf.
These were all taken by just dunking in the water then taking a few shots.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jcbikeski/CrescentBayToTreasureIslandOnNewYears2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCKragNiG16TTDg#
Ah, So Cal
I’d love to get my kayak down there sometime. It looks like the dipping works for you. Thanks for sharing both the method and the pictures.