Essential Gear for a Successful Underwater Photo Trip

At home, before the trip, set up your rig like you’re about to jump in for the first dive of your trip. Take a few test shots to make sure everything works before packing and to ensure you haven’t missed something small and easily overlooked or forgotten
 

By Lawrence Watkins

It’s no secret that we as underwater photographers love traveling to remote corners of the planet—places that are often difficult to reach and lack the comforts and conveniences of the developed world. As with diving itself, our craft relies on highly specialized equipment that can’t simply be picked up off the shelf everywhere you go. While scuba diving has become increasingly popular and gear is now more accessible globally, the same cannot be said for underwater photography equipment.

Each camera setup comes with its own unique requirements and specialized housings. These parts are designed for specific camera brands and models, meaning components are rarely interchangeable. That’s why being well-prepared for every possible situation isn’t just smart, it’s essential! Our time in the water is precious, and considering the effort it takes to reach many of these destinations, the last thing we want is to be unable to create the images we dreamed of and traveled so far to capture. While you are already aware that you’ll need to bring your camera body, housing, arms, and clamps, I hope that this article will inspire you to think beyond the basics and consider the more unique pieces that may make or break your experience.
 

Get in close with your macro lens to create abstracts and add more variety to your portfolio

Camera Body and Lenses

The idea of carrying a spare camera body can feel overwhelming when you think about the cost of modern mirrorless systems. But having a backup is really just a form of insurance that helps you keep shooting no matter what happens. You might wonder why you would bring a spare body if you only packed one housing. The reason is simple. If you ever experience a serious housing flood, you may lose the camera, but not the housing.

A full freshwater rinse and blow dry of the inside of your housing will stop any salt from corroding the internal parts. Electronics like your vacuum system or leak detector may not survive, but housings worked just fine for a long time before those features ever existed. With a spare camera body, you can keep shooting even if it means switching to a different lens setup. That is always better than spending the rest of your trip on the boat wishing you could be shooting underwater.

When it comes to lenses, it is not very practical to bring duplicates. Packing two identical lenses takes up space and weight you could use for a different piece of equipment. Most of us bring a variety of lenses on every trip anyway. A wide-angle lens like a fisheye or rectilinear, plus your different macro focal lengths. This variety is your safety net. If you ever lose a lens to a flood or a break, you can still pair your spare camera body with a different lens and keep creating images.

While we are often inclined to bring every bit of kit we have, including all the lenses in the arsenal, give some thought as to what you’ll actually shoot in the field, and bring those tools and some backups. Leave any other lenses behind

SD Cards and Storage Devices

As unfortunate as it is, even these too can fail and I’m sure many a photographer has experienced one or the other, or both. Off-loading SD cards at the end of your dive days onto at least two SSDs (a primary and a backup) not only helps you stay organized, but also reduces the possibility of you losing all of your images if your SD card gets corrupted during your trip or if for some reason you accidentally format your card.

Getting into the habit of offloading, backing up and formatting your SD cards will help you be as ready as you can be and prevent you from losing anything up to that point. Remember to double check you have the appropriate card reader, whether it be built into your computer or a simple USB dock. Don’t leave this behind unless you want full SD cards sitting around waiting to be forgotten about.

Shooting shallow depth of field requires less strobe power and can stretch your battery life if needed

Batteries

Without batteries, we’re carrying around a large paperweight or anchor, depending on your mood. Spare camera batteries alone aren’t enough; take a look at your entire kit and see what pieces are battery-powered and what allows for battery replacement. Everything from the leak alarm on your housing and flash trigger to the batteries that power your strobes, video lights, or focus lights. Even your dive computer or air transmitter!

Avoid off-brand batteries at all costs. Sure, they might save you a few dollars, but more often than not, their capacity is lower than that of name-brand counterparts. That means fewer shots from your camera, or fewer flashes from your strobes and flash triggers. Don’t skimp on your power supplies. Spare coin batteries are easy to pack but hard to come by once you’re on location. The more equipment you have that uses similar batteries, the better prepared and more streamlined you’ll be when it comes to the number of chargers needed to keep everything topped off.

The hard truth is that mirrorless cameras batteries simply do not last as long as their DSLR counterparts unless you have a flagship housing and camera like the Nikon Z9, Canon EOS R1 or even the Canon EOS R5C, whose housing has space for an additional battery pack. To combat running low on battery throughout your multiple dive days, consider turning your camera off between subjects, turning off unnecessary features like GPS logging, turning off internal focus lights or purchasing a USB-C bulkhead from Ikelite, Nauticam, or Kraken. These allow you to charge your camera without removing it from the housing, saving you time and also reducing the risks associated with opening your housing multiple times per day while in possibly unfavorable conditions. But how many camera batteries should you bring? At least three is recommended; this leaves you with one in your camera, one ready to be swapped in between dives, and a third always charged and ready to go.

Lastly, don’t overlook the quality of your chargers and charging cables. Some equipment requires a certain charger output and cable quality. Make sure these make it into your bag and that these charging cables are more than capable of carrying the power output necessary. Not just any thin USB-C cable will do. Lower quality charging blocks and cables can lead to slower charging times or not charging at all. Always refer to your equipment user manual. This is also a great reminder to get in contact with your destination accommodation and check which power plugs they use and what power outputs are available so you can plan accordingly.

Turn off non-essential camera functions (GPS logging, WiFi, etc.) to help save battery throughout your dives

Flash Cables

From diving in strong currents and challenging conditions to the simple act of handing your camera up on a boat, accidents can happen. Fiber-optic cables can sever, and electric sync cables can flood. Salt water is the natural enemy of every electronic device we bring underwater. Having spare fiber-optic cables and a way to repair the ones you have, can make or break a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Just recently, while I was searching the rubble sea floor here in the Lembeh Strait for my next subject (fingers crossed for a frogfish), I instead found the severed end of a fiber-optic cable. My thoughts immediately went out to the unlucky photographer who may have missed their shot. Be sure to pack some INON rubber bush plugs. These let you insert a cut cable and keep shooting in a pinch. Still, the best solution is always a spare cable or two. Spare fiber-optic cables aren’t just for replacing a broken one; they’re also valuable for the tiny O-rings that hold the cables in place. Over time, these O-rings dry out and eventually snap (at the worst possible moment), leaving your cable dangling and disconnected in the current.

For compact shooters using Olympus/OM System TG-series cameras, bringing a spare-fiber optic connector can save your dive day. And if you’re using wide-angle wet lenses, make sure you pack the correct on-housing fiber-optic connector. These small pieces are easy to forget and without them—what a shame! These tiny parts have a mysterious way of disappearing into Narnia when you aren’t looking.

Electric sync cables are the bulkier counterparts to fiber-optics. Many shooters still trust them as they have been reliable for decades. However, another electronic component means yet another failure point and another place salt water can enter. With electric sync cables, you really have no choice but to carry a spare or two depending on your sync cable configuration, along with a spare bulkhead for your housing. If salt water gets into an electric connection, time is of the essence, as the damage can affect your strobe, cable, and bulkhead. Treat these with extra care and, should salt water find a way in, bring along some DeoxIT Gold to help improve conductivity and protect the metal contacts. This may help limp the cable or bulkhead along, but replacing it is the best course of action.

Spare fiber-optic and electronic sync cables are must-haves on a big trips. They are relatively cheap and take up very little room, and would be a silly part to let ruin a trip if one gets damaged and you don’t have a backup

Flash Triggers

Over the years I’ve spent in this industry, one of the most common problems I’ve come across is corroded flash triggers that end up ruining a trip when they start firing intermittently. Some flash trigger brands are nothing more than exposed circuit boards. When working with these, it’s extremely important to make sure both you and your housing are completely dry when you open it to remove your camera. Even a single drop of salt water can cause a short on the circuit board and lead to immediate problems. Other flash triggers are mostly sealed units, which helps prevent saltwater intrusion, but they are not invincible. You still need to be just as careful.

If your housing uses a dedicated USB-C to-hotshoe cable, always bring a spare. These cables are often the first thing exposed to corrosion because they’re usually the first part we touch with still-wet hands as we excitedly pull the camera out of the housing to review the epic images we just captured.

If your camera has a built-in pop-up flash but you’re using a flash trigger for TTL or HSS, check with your housing manufacturer to see whether you can switch to using the pop-up flash for manual firing in an emergency. Some housings require you to remove the mirror or prism that directs the flash toward your fiber-optic cables. If you’ve removed this, make sure to pack it just in case your flash trigger fails. Yes, flash triggers are expensive, but it is always worth having a spare manual flash trigger. What’s worse: spending a few hundred dollars now to protect yourself later, or being unable to take photos on a trip you’ve spent thousands on?

Don’t be afraid to fiddle with unruly flash triggers. A bit of tin foil in your housing to redirect the light from the LEDs into the fiber-optic bulkhead can save a trip

O-rings and Lubricant

Every item we bring underwater has some form of O-ring seal to keep the corrosive salt water out. From our hand torches to our camera housings and ports, there are O-rings at every opening—sometimes even two for a double O-ring seal. Without this first line of defense, we would be in big trouble.

Proper O-ring maintenance is essential for keeping the inside of your equipment free from salt water. Each time you replace batteries or expose an O-ring to air, take a moment to inspect it. Make sure it’s free of debris, undamaged, and properly lubricated. Skipping this step could cost you big time. Always keep spare O-rings for anything you frequently open, especially your main housing O-ring and the battery compartment O-rings on your strobes. Use only the manufacturer-recommended lubricant for the specific O-ring you’re working on. The O-rings on your arms are less critical for keeping water out but make a big difference in how easy your strobe arms and clamps are to use. If you’ve ever over-tightened your clamps, you may have worn out these O-rings, reducing friction and making your arms nearly impossible to lock down. Most arm manufacturers sell replacement arm O-rings, and these are great additions to your packing list.

During a macro trip, having a single strobe and snoot can still allow for great results. Use what you have

Strobes

Accidents happen. O-rings get pinched, battery compartments flood, and strobes fail. Hopefully, we have taken the right steps to prevent this from happening, but even then things can still go wrong. Many strobe battery compartments are sealed units, meaning that if salt water gets in, you can simply dispose of the batteries, rinse with fresh water, let it dry, and continue shooting as usual. But if you experience a catastrophic failure, having a third strobe can make all the difference.

Different strobes have different parts that are worth carrying as spares, and the most important are battery caps—specifically for Sea&Sea strobes, as over time the contact tabs can break or weaken in turn causing functionality issues. O-rings are also important (see above). The next less-critical item is diffusers. Often the lanyard that should be secured around the ball mount is left unclipped, and the diffuser drifts off without anyone noticing, on its way to becoming a new home for a barnacle.

If you can bring a backup strobe, that can save a trip, but at the very least, bring the small spare parts that can keep strobes going if something breaks or gets damaged

L-Keys or Other Tools

Often these are the first items to be confiscated during your international travels if not packed securely in your checked luggage. Making sure you have these tools or at least a spare in your checked luggage can leave you from scrambling to fix any issues while on location. Imagine your brand new housing’s shutter button rolls out of place making it impossible to capture an image or the ball mount comes unscrewed from your strobe. Having the appropriate L-key to fix these issues can save you the headache of searching the local areas for the correct size.

Small tools like alan keys or screwdrivers can be invaluable for in-the-field-fixes of underwater photography gear.

Vacuum Pumps and Valves

These are larger items that I have forgotten many times on location. This will leave you to be creative. Thankfully most camera housings are rather low volume and if you’re willing to get intimate with your housing, you can pull the vacuum manually (yes with your mouth). This technique works great in a pinch. If you prefer not going the intimate route, you can check with the resort or around the location you’re staying for a wine pump. Most housing vacuum pumps are a copy of a traditional wine pump and may even be something you can find locally. (Thankfully, wine is somewhat common internationally!) Lastly, keeping a spare vacuum valve cap can save you from going on a dive with the “Self Destruct” button visible and waiting to be bumped. If your vacuum valve cap is sacrificed to the abyss or at an unknown location, having the tools to remove the valve and plug the hole that remains is essential.

Port Cover and Lens Caps

Neoprene covers seem to be the first items that try to escape when you’re on a dive trip, whether it is the fact that they are positively buoyant or they have a sentient mind of their own. All it takes is missing your pocket on your BCD or missing the clip point for your cover to become the next sacrifice to poseidon. Keeping a spare in your camera kit will help you protect the expensive glass dome ports that you care for much like a newborn. Most manufacturers make neoprene covers for their glass ports and optics. These are easier to pack and take up less space then hard covers.

If you’ve lost all covers, you can always search for a hood no one is using and stick that around your glass to provide at least a little bit of protection in the meantime. Another tip while on location is to never leave your camera bouncing around in a rinse bin aboard a vessel. Here is where major damages can occur, from bent buttons to scratched glass, even floods. Avoid this at all costs. Leave the soak for a controlled environment like your bathtub at home.

Always take a test shot. All of us have failed to do so at one time or another before entering the water, only to find the lens cap still in place behind the port

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this article has inspired you to take a moment to think more critically the next time you begin packing for an underwater photography trip. Now, go put that last item you forgot about into your checked luggage and always remember to consult your user manual for best practices!
 

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