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Waterproof camera (Canon D10 in my case) is great for shooting in or near water during sports. Unfortunaly, water sprays onto the lens and water droplets form, which disturb or totally destroy the image, depending of their position. I tried

  • Cleansing the lens with mild detergent, lowering the surface tension so that water can flow down and off. As a result, thin film of water forms across center of the lens, as I probably failed to properly cleanse the outer part.
  • Scuba-inspired use of saliva. Results similar to previous point, without need for detergent.

I did not tried any surface tension increasing substances, which are used for windshield etc, because the droplets would probably stay.

It would be probably possible to use some high-quality filter with good coating, but the camera does not have filter thread.

Any ideas?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ You could try hoya filters as they are normally extremely well built. Have you tried a waterproof housing? It may sound overkill but at least you will have minimal image degradation and you can easily wipe the front of the lens. \$\endgroup\$
    – Harry Sanderson
    Commented Aug 30, 2015 at 10:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ @HarryJamesSanderson: Using high quality filter as Hoya would be great. But the camera has not a proper filter thred to attach. It could be possible to replace the front glass by cut out from filter, but I was coward to do this. Wiping on itself is fine, but I use the camera mainly during kayaking trips, meaning I haven't any dry cloth around. But it could be simpler with waterproof housing anyway, I'll look for one. \$\endgroup\$
    – ssavec
    Commented Aug 31, 2015 at 6:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ If you look online there are also many DIY hacks to attach filters to cameras that don't have a filter ring! \$\endgroup\$
    – Harry Sanderson
    Commented Aug 31, 2015 at 6:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ You say you tried those options but you didn't mention results. I lick the camera lens, and that definitely works. It's not a one-time solution -- you need to re-lick every so often. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dan Wolfgang
    Commented Sep 3, 2015 at 12:40

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I also have a D10 which I use when kayaking, so I'm very interesting in the answer to this (though I don't have a good one). I have wiped off the drops with a handkerchief while out in the kayak - the only soft dry cloth I had available at the time, though not ideal. A small bit of lens cleaning cloth or microfibre would probably be better...perhaps I could carry one tucked in the pocket of my spray skirt to keep it dry (or in a small ziploc bag if one's spray skirt doesn't have a pocket that keeps things reasonably dry).

I haven't tried Rainx but don't like the thought of this. My father-in-law used a very similar product on the windshield of his solar-powered electric tricycle, as riding in the rain (which is common here from fall through spring), it was difficult to see. It helped a bit, but not entirely - causing the droplets to bead up so that he can see around them, but there are still drops on the windshield. On the camera lens this would be a problem, I think.

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