Footage from the HD GoPros can be pretty impressive but a water drop smack dab in the middle of the lens can ruin your shot pretty quickly.
Water photographers have a variety of techniques to prevent this. Here is GoPro’s recommendation from their manual:
“Apply RAIN-X or a similar anti-beading solution to the housing
lens to prevent water-spots from forming when using your
camera in rain or water. When RAIN-X is not available,
periodically licking your lens is a good backup solution.”
Some people have claimed that Rain-X can be corrosive to certain plastics so there are some other techniques:
- Spitting or licking the port or housing lens. The water then sheets off the layer of saliva instead of beading up
- Rub a slice of potato on the port. This is my preferred method for my other camera’s housing but I’ve never used it on the go pro. The starch mixes with water and creates a sheet that prevents droplets from forming.
- Jet Dry. My former photography professor told me this is what Art Brewer uses.
- Wax. You can buff a little bit of surf wax to create a coating on the surface that repels water.
Happy shooting.
