Flooded D300 and nikkor 1224 1 minute silence please

All,

I was sorry to hear Ozmarlin flooded his d300 & lens in his Subal housing.

His Subal housing was using mod kit I produced & he did not say my kit was

cause of problem nor I cannot think of any part I produced can cause the leak.

However, it flooded & I would like to suggest all of mod kit users to double

check that all mod parts are in place & make sure not to fall or jam in back cover

or controls & all controls are moving free when you close the back cover.

Sam

Hi Sam,

Thanks for emailing all the people using your subal d200 mod kit.

Your mod kit is great as it allowed me to take my d300 down in my d200 subal housing. This combination of gear can have unfortunate results. Its pretty obsure combination and I am the lucky one to find its a big problem.

At present I suspect my leak was caused by the plastic lcd cover. Just to be safe anyone using

the subal 200 with a d300 should find the plastic lcd cover and lock it away or throw it away.

The housing, the camera and lense plastic cover and base are with my dealer to be tested to confirm cause of flood if possible. I am very keen to give my tried and tested old housing a clean bill of health. So I hope

this piece of plastic clearly floods the housing again.

Without being able to look at these parts, its now occurred to me how much of the d300 lcd is now sitting directly behind the area where the d200 has its rear backplate buttons, down the left hand side as you look at the back. I suspect its these buttons that made contact with the lcd cover. They must have caused a very minor but crucial increase in the distance between the backplate and the body of the housing. Sufficient to let in heaps of salt water.

I suspect the lcd cover for d200 in d200 subal housings its probably ok. It would be great if anyone could check this out, I see no mention of lcd cover in my subal documentation.

I suspect the lcd cover for d300 in d300 subal housings its probably ok. It would be great if anyone could confirm the plastic cover is ok in the d300 subal housing. The link below is detailed and makes no mention of lcd cover.

http://suzywalker.wordpress.com/2008/05/23...30/#comment-123

Its just my combination subal 200 housing and d300 that floods with the lcd plastic cover.

OH, What a nightmare!

I know how it feels. I flooded my previous Nikon and the WA lens. When i saw bubbles at 25 meters i hooked my SMB bouy to it and sent it up directly to the surface, but it hapens too fast, it was like an aquarium...

Please accept my condolences for your recent loss... I have a Subal D20 too, tried and trusted, and I feel your pain. I think you have pinpointed the problem, the lcd cover probably prevented a tight seal. Since I've already lost mine off my D200, no worries there; however I still have the eyepiece to forget to remove. Frightening.

I did not know that the D20 Subal could be modified to fit the D300. Is Subal doing this or are others making the modifications? Any in the U.S.?

Fletcher

I suspect the lcd cover for d200 in d200 subal housings its probably ok. It would be great if anyone could check this out, I see no mention of lcd cover in my subal documentation.

It seems to me that I either read or someone told me to remove the LCD cover on the D200 before placing in the ND20 housing.

Either way, I'll check the fit when I get home this evening.

I've been contemplated replacing that cover with a cut-to-fit plastic sheet (like you find to cover PDA screens, etc.) Then I won't worry about losing the cover, or have it become a liability at some point.

Ozmarlin,

A quick test revealed that leaving the LCD cover on a D200 definitely would have an impact on the housing's (Subal ND20) ability to provide a proper seal.

I find no mention of it in the owners manual, and there is a sticker on the inside of the backplate directing one to remove the rubber viewfinder eye piece, but nothing about the cover there, either.

Sad to say, mine's only been in the water a few times, so I've no had much practice with it. (Too much work, not enough dive travel!)

Sorry for your loss -- I hope you're back in the water soon.

Thanks for the info on the D200, at least this post now has some tips and tricks in it.

Hopefully someone with a subal d300 will also provide some comments....

No feedback from Subal, maybe its a public holiday. My dealer emailed them a week ago. I love the European relaxed approach to life.

The mod kit is NOT from SUBAL, I sked if they could sell me an new backplate to suit d300. Never got an answer. So I guessed it was no.

The mod kit is from Sam above on wetpixel, its about $200 USD, and its worth it. I am going to get a d700 and offload subal for nexus as it fits the D700, see other post.

I suspect the lcd cover for d200 in d200 subal housings its probably ok. It would be great if anyone could check this out, I see no mention of lcd cover in my subal documentation.

I suspect the lcd cover for d300 in d300 subal housings its probably ok. It would be great if anyone could confirm the plastic cover is ok in the d300 subal housing. The link below is detailed and makes no mention of lcd cover.

http://suzywalker.wordpress.com/2008/05/23...30/#comment-123

 

Its just my combination subal 200 housing and d300 that floods with the lcd plastic cover.

Hi ozmarlin, I'm very sorry for your loss

I've now amended my 'How to set up a subal ND30' blog entry. I was told to remove both the rubber eye piece & the plastic cover but I completely forgot to mention it To be honest I didnt think anyone would even be looking at my blog since I'm such a SLR noob!

Many thanks

Suzy

Sorry to hear Ozmarlin

Last month during the Digital Shootout in bonaire I had a simular situation.

I flooded my D300 and 12-24mm lens within seconds of the dive. I assume the O-ring got pinched. i was not a happy camper. I did have DEPP

Oy, what a bummer. Commiserations.

I reckon you may well be right on the LCD screen cover issue. I have seen no reference to removing the LCD screen cover on the Subal housings for any of the Dxxx series - but, as others have pointed out, the housing has a sticker which reminds the user to remove the rubber eye piece frame. I have only had one minor flood (so far!) and caught this in the rinse tank. It was with a Subal D10/D100 and the LCD screen cover was the cause. Leaving either the eyepiece or LCD cover in place does seem to have the potential to cause a leak - and would not show up of course when testing the housing without a camera inside.

I hope Seaoptics get things sorted for you (good people!) but it would be good to know if Subal acknowledge that the LCD screen needs to be removed - and perhaps include a warning on the sticker in the housing.

I was saddened to read of the other floods mentioned earlier, its been reassuring knowing I am not the only one to have this misfortune.

The great guys at seaoptics confirmed the lcd cover was the cause. My error, my mistake eat humble pie but a clear resolution and hopefully this posts serves as a useful warning. No feedback from Subal yet, but I am sure they will be supportive when they answer my direct email and seaoptics email.

Today I got paid out from my insurance and was hunting around the local Sydney camera shops and got an amazing deal from Georges on george street on my new D3 and 14-24 nikon lense $7600aud with 3 year local warrantee. As a co-incidence and Pope just drove past and I attribute my good fortune to his presence.

Meanwhile I have asked for a D3 quote from Nexus. I always liked their clear plastic backplate.

Does anyone know who has d3 housings in stock that have the dome port modified for the 14-24.

Wow! Sounds like that cloud did have a silver lining! Enjoy the new setup.

Can you share with us Seaoptics/Subals replies when you get them? I'd be interested to hear what they say.

I use to own a Subal F100 housing. One time while assembling it, it appeared that the housing wasn't closing completely. That there was too great a gap between the back and front of the housing. I assembled and reassembled that housing about ten times. every thing looked perfect except that gap. Finally I convinced myself that the gap was normal and would close with pressure. I carefully put the housing in the rinse tank. Sure enough the leak detector went off immediately. I eventually found that the rail for the camera plate was screwed a little out of it's attachment point to the housing front. Projecting too far. It was preventing the housing from closing completely.

Fortunately the camera and lens were okay with just a few drops of water.

The key lesson I learned is that you always test the housing in the rinse tank any time you open any part of it. This has saved me several times and I have not lost a camera or housing since. Bubbles are not good enough. By the time you notice them it is too late (another story). Get a leak detector and test it every time you assemble the housing.

I too have wondered why housings can not be made idiot proof. I think you have to incorporate removing the rubber eye piece into the housing design. Otherwise you will not be able to get a full view through the viewfinder. Not sure about the LCD cover. It may be that it is too hard to line up the controls properly if you don't take it off.

I use to own a Subal F100 housing. One time while assembling it, it appeared that the housing wasn't closing completely. That there was too great a gap between the back and front of the housing. I assembled and reassembled that housing about ten times. every thing looked perfect except that gap. Finally I convinced myself that the gap was normal and would close with pressure. I carefully put the housing in the rinse tank. Sure enough the leak detector went off immediately. I eventually found that the rail for the camera plate was screwed a little out of it's attachment point to the housing front. Projecting too far. It was preventing the housing from closing completely.

Fortunately the camera and lens were okay with just a few drops of water.

The key lesson I learned is that you always test the housing in the rinse tank any time you open any part of it. This has saved me several times and I have not lost a camera or housing since. Bubbles are not good enough. By the time you notice them it is too late (another story). Get a leak detector and test it every time you assemble the housing.

I too have wondered why housings can not be made idiot proof. I think you have to incorporate removing the rubber eye piece into the housing design. Otherwise you will not be able to get a full view through the viewfinder. Not sure about the LCD cover. It may be that it is too hard to line up the controls properly if you don't take it off.

I too have wondered why housings can not be made idiot proof.

Murphy's law part nth.... "Nothing can be made foolproof because fools are incredibly ingenious."

the d3 is like a high powered machine gun, its just awesome, I have never handled a pro camera before.

I wanted the speed and clarity and its there in this camera. The D3 just looks at me and says take me out shooting. No answer subal yet and I am probably going to upgrade to a nexus d3 housing. The lack of response is frustrating and very dissappointing. I have invested heaps in my subal d200 and d300 housing with each macro and dome ports and the customer service is none existent. Subal make great housings as a plus, but they have with very poor support from my personal experience. Maybe they will improve I hope. Does anyone have a contact inside subal that speaks english and can answer emails ? message me if you do

cheers ....

The lack of response is frustrating and very dissappointing. I have invested heaps in my subal d200 and d300 housing with each macro and dome ports and the customer service is none existent. Subal make great housings as a plus, but they have with very poor support from my personal experience. cheers ....

This requirement of having to take parts off the camera (or else it floods!) seems like a pretty big design flaw with these Subal housings. And this post is about the first expression of frustration (not quite outrage?) that I have seen in this thread.

Why is it that everyone seems so forgiving and willing to accept personal blame for the failure such a poorly designed product? Are people just too invested because it costs so much? Just because it's a high-end & high-priced price product does not make it perfect. Think of all the Luxury cars that have a poor reliability record. (Jaguar, Land Rover, etc...)

Genuinely Curious!!!

Are Land Rovers luxury cars?

Are Land Rovers luxury cars?

It's a luxury to fill up the tank.

Why is it that everyone seems so forgiving and willing to accept personal blame for the failure such a poorly designed product? Are people just too invested because it costs so much?

I understand your perspective, but I'm not sure that I consider it a design flaw.

Personally, I choose Subal for it's outstanding ergonomics, not for it's value. They have an excellent reputation for reliability, but I've never considered them un-floodable. There are trade off's in it's design and I understood when I bought it that I'd have to remove the eye cup, screen guard and shoulder strap. I'm OK with that and accept the consequences. I also accept that having such a small compact housing is going to be negatively buoyant, so if I accidentally drop it while in blue waters... It's gone (and probably me too as I'll likely kill myself chasing it into the depths).

However, I do agree that Subal has messed up if the screen cover causes floods and they've failed to warn people in their literature. I've always taken the screen cover off, but I can't say that I realized it would cause a flood if I didn't. Fortunately, sites like this are around so that I can learn from others misfortune.

Cheers,

Mike