Quick Tips

Great Pictures Made Easy

II. Quick Tips for great pictures

1. Quick Setup of camera and housing

Loading film and batteries

1. Keep everything clean and dry. One drop of water inside the housing can cause the front lens to fog underwater. Use Moisture Muncher to prevent fogging.
2. Use 200 speed 24 exposure film and 2 fresh AA Alkaline Batteries. Replace batteries if “Flash Ready” light takes more than 15 seconds to recycle.
3. Turn camera power ON (below lens of inner camera.)
4. Before loading film, push shutter button once to test camera advance.
5. Insert film roll. Make sure roll is properly seated onto rewind shaft..
6. Pull film tab over into take-up spool and press shutter button until film engages. Film should lay flat across film plane and sprocket teeth.
7. Close film door. If the film door is obstructed by film roll, remove and re-insert roll until film door closes without any obstruction.
8. Keep the camera and inside of housing absolutely dry.

Set-up housing

1. With camera power on, insert loaded camera into housing. Keep camera and inside of housing dry.
2. Inspect and clean O-ring before sealing camera in housing.
3. Close housing carefully. Make sure that the Moisture Muncher or any other debris does not obstruct O-ring.
4. Do not apply any force to the sealed housing in order to avoid flooding the camera and housing.
5. Camera power shuts off automatically after about 2 minutes. To reactivate, press shutter lever lightly.

2. Best Pictures

1. The clearer the water the better the picture. Visibility must be at least 7 times shooting distance. Algae, plankton, sand or microscopically small particles suspended in the water cause cloudy pictures or “Marine Snow” (backscatter of the flas. Shallow depth and vertical bright sunlight around mid-day will result in brighter, more colorful pictures.
2. Shooting Distance: min. 4 ft. / 1.2 m, best: 5 ft. to 6 ft. / 1.5 to 2 m. Measure your distance “Chin to Fin” and use as a reference in practicing your judgment of underwater distance. MACRO 3X close-up lens has 2 ft. to 4 ft. focus range, best 2.5 ft./75cm (stretch out your arms and fingertip. MACRO 8X close-up lens has 14” to 16” focus range, best is 15”/38cm.
3. Depth: All ReefMaster (hard housinmodels are tested to 164 ft. / 50 m. The SkinDiver model (flexible housincan be operated to 45 ft. / 15 m and water/pressure proof to 120 ft. / 40 m. With the SkinDiver you need to reset the deep-dive switch after each picture when between 20 to 45 ft..
4. Move calmly and aim through the sports finder on top of the camera. The SkinDiver model has an optical viewfinder. The red light on the viewfinder indicates the power is on.
5. Underwater, the Flash is always ON for enhanced colors. Wait for FLASH READY light to turn on aft.er each picture (about 10 second.
6. On land, outside the housing, the flash is automatic. The ReefMaster-RC allows you to manually override it by holding the switch in the ON or OFF position while you are shooting.
7. Tell your processing lab that you have underwater pictures. Ask your lab to increase red and yellow until colors are balanced. Have your lab make a few proof prints with different settings. Note: There are great variations in picture quality between different labs depending on the processing machinery and corrections made to prints.

3. MUST DO!

Very Important: Not following these points may void your warranty.

1. Before opening the camera housing: Everything, including your hands, arms, dive suit, head must be ABSOLUTELY DRY: Have a dry towel handy. Change film or batteries in an air-conditioned or dry, cool room if possible. Insert the 2 g Moisture Muncher Pack to prevent fogging (See page 23). One drop of water on the housing may cause the lens to fog.
2. The ReefMaster O-ring sealing area must be absolutely flat, smooth and clean. DO NOT REMOVE O-RING! Follow O-ring care instructions on page 22.
3. After use and before opening immediately wash closed camera housing in fresh water and dry well. It’s normal for some water to become trapped between the ReefMaster armor and housing. This will not cause any damage and eventually dry. Also periodically wash open housing without inner camera. After washing, dry well. Clean lenses with cleaning pads lightly soaked in detergent and water, then rinse and dry. Do not let drops dry on lenses.
4. The “Deep Dive Switch” of the SkinDiver is coded 1 and 2. Push 1 to shoot. When diving deeper that 20 ft., after pushing the 1, push the 2 until motor stops advancing (listen carefull.
5. Use the unbreakable airtight SeaLife^® Dry Case for dry storage with a large 1 oz. Moisture Muncher Pack and for transportation on boats, airplanes, trucks etc. The lifetime of batteries as well as the camera and other tools or electronics will be greatly extended. (See page 23.)