Dimage Xi housing problems?

I recently purchased the new 3.2 mega pix Minolta Dimage Xi camera together with the underwater housing (30m rating) and the new Sea & Sea YS 25DX strobe. This is a very compact unit, and I took it with me to the Maldives a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I had problems with the lens cover fogging up on EVERY dive!! The lens cover is fixed to the main housing separately and it would appear moisture entered on dives thus creating condensation with the temp difference.

I am in the process of adressing this with Sea & Sea, who state this not a common problem, but I am unconvinced. I believe there is a design flaw on this housing. The more o-rings you introduce the more problems can happen.

Has anybody else experienced similar problems with this unit?

Potential buyers BEWARE!

Regards

Mark H

Hi,

Perhaps you might want to contact Minolta. The MCDG-100 housing for the Dimage X is not produce by Sea and Sea.

Did you use the supplied dessicant pack inside the housing?

I did try contacting Minolta originally. They put me onto Sea & Sea as the housing IS made by Sea & Sea

No I never put the dessicant pack in the housing: a) It advises against this and B) after forking out nearly 1 grand for the entire unit, with strobe, I do not expect 'fogging up' as standard.

:angryfire:

There are two possible reasons for housings to fog up. One is a minor leak (a major leak would be noticed a bit more quickly) and the other is the user closing the camera with hot, humid air inside, then jumping into relatively cool seawater. In the first case, you're basically screwed. In the second case (and this happens quite often with low-volume housings) your best bet is to try to keep the housing cool when it is out of the water. When I've had housings fog up, I've found that the best remedy is to let it sit out in the sun to "bake" for a while to hopefully dry out. Next step is to cool it down gradually so that condensation doesn't form on the inside. After I think I've got any water that was inside taken care of, I keep the housing in the air conditioning of under a wet towel and seal it up with relatively cool air inside. The outside of the housing may fog up when I take it back outside but the seawater usually wahses that right off! I wonder why they advise against dessicant packs. It only seem to make sense to use one in your situation. You've done the right thing in asking for their help -- if it is a small leak, it will only get bigger. On my Galapagos trip, there was a guy with a video housing -- it fogged a lot and was found to have a small leak. On my last trip, I dove with a person who had a digital Reefmaster. It fogged up a lot as well -- haven't heard about what the cause was, but after he baked it in the sun like I described, it did make things better for a while. Good luck and sorry about the problem. Keep us posted on Sea&Sea's customer service.

Good post! I agree with Mike. Unless your housing has a leak, preventing fogging is YOUR responsibility and it _can_ be done.

I've seen many people bring their camera and housing into the air-conditioned boat with 60 degree dry air, it basically cools it down to that temperature.

Then they bring it outside and close the housing trapping 90 degree moist air inside the housing. You know what happens then. Fogging. If you get 'caught out' in this situation, the best thing to do is open the back of the housing and put it in direct sun for a few minutes, then close it again.

On the other hand, if you housing has a leak, please let us know.

Cheers

James

Thanks to all those who have posted comments.

I totally agree it is one's responsibility to avoid fogging or any other problem. Just to clarify, it was noticed on each dive that moisture appeared to be penetrating around the o-ring which seals the lens cover. I believe this to be the problem since fogging was limited to this very localised area of the housing. If warm air was sealed within the housing before going under the mist would have appeared in other areas of the housing....would it not?

I shall take up this interesting debate with Sea & Sea and test their customer relations. I will of course keep all informed of such progress.

Regards

Mark H

PS. I am still debating whether to splash out on a housing for my digital SLR (E10). However, I am tempted to hang on a bit as it seems the digital underwater camera/housing market has finally woken up, which will ultimately drive prices down further. Bur can I afford to wait!!!!!

Mark,

Go into Jessops in Liecester and buy a large pack of Silica gel. Shut it in the housing without the camera and take it into Stoney Cove for a quick dive down on the Pot. If the pack has swollen after the dive it will confirm that it has leaked, then you have the amo for those %$&*ers at S & S UK.

For those outside UK S & S UK leave a lot to be desired on the service front

I think the condensation has a tendency to form on the lens port first because it is glass and has a different heat capacity than the rest of the polycarbonate housing.

I'm not sure if this is the case for your Dimage Xi housing or not - just making a general comment about fogging.

Cheers

James

James is right. Whenever i had a fogging problem with a digicam or video housing, it was always concentrated to the lens port.

Both of our polycarbonate housings start to fog after 10-15 minutes without silica gel packs. I've started to squeeze 2 of them into my PT-010 now, solved my problem even when i had to assemble my gear in rather humid air.

Try the test that Bob suggested. Use a silica gel pack or stuff the housing with kleenex.

Fogging is usually caused by the heat of the camera. If the gelpack/kleenex is wet after the dive, there probably is a leak somewhere. If nothing happens, simply use silica gel packs, like the rest of us.

Sabine