Camera Rycyle Timing

New to this site and loving reading it.. getting overwhelmed with all the information. Hope this entry is not too long with too many questions.

My A640 housing starting fogging in its first ocean adventure and the camera died later in the day - salt water creeping in, confirmed by salt residue once fog evaporated later. We will see if Canon provides warranty assistance on this. Anyone else have trouble?

I 'saved' the trip by using the older A540 in its housing with no leaks, as usual. But as the dive continues, the camera recycle gets slower and slower, which has always happened to me with this camera and the A-70 before it. I am using new rechargable batteries, name brand, fully charged. For strobe I am using a single YS-25 with fiber optic.

What I would like to do is turn the camera flash down to a min. since its not getting out of the housing due to the fiber optic mask. Is there a way to do that on the A540, A640 and the G9? I like to shoot with Ap. priority rather than manual.

Do other A640 users have this trouble? I have not had the chance to see if the A640 does the same as it died first dive out and I stopped using it once fog was observed. Wondering if the 4 battery setup in the A640 solves the issue.

I am considering switching camera's as we have not been happy with the above water photos with the A640. They seem flat and lifeless to us without color density as good as the A540 or the A70 before it. Could have been that particular A640 but no way for me to know.

Based on reading here, I was thinking of swithcing to the G9. Not tried the W/A after market lens described on this site but that seems very interesting to me to try. Not really interested in shelling out $500-600 for the Ikelite case however. Anyone consider having a machine shop cut the 'too long' nose off the G9 case and re-attach the front cover? Are there other issues I am missing or is it just a silly idea from a misguided Am?

Asking for the YS-110 for an upcoming birthday. It would seem the YS-110 and YS-25 would work reasonably well for better lighting. Any comments on this setup? I am just an AM. with dive trips once to twice a yr.

Thanks for any feedback.

For anyone interested, Canon has informed me that they will repair the A640 at no cost to me. I presume they will also return a new housing since the issue was that housing having a trace leak.

Now, If I can only get them to give me credit for the A640 and let me buy a new G9 and housing instead...