Tetra shutter mechanism

I have a Tetra housing, originally for my 3030, now for my 4040. All is swell except the red shutter button on the Tetra is ridiculously clumsy and stiff. It's tough enough to time a decent shot with digital lag, let alone having to wrestle with snapping the shot. Pushing the button takes so much effort that the camera actually moves during the triggering of the shutter. Monty (the DM on the Bilikiki) took pity on me and helped to fashion a metal lever that marginally improves the button's performance, but it's still a significant issue. Any suggestions? Light & Motion has been notably unhelpful, only suggesting an expensive overhaul after which they still couldn't guarantee any improvement.

Thanks,

EQ

How many shots on the housing?

My shutter and zoom were both very stiff on the Tetra 'til about 1000 exposures, then they loosened to a very comfortable state.

Richard

Probably about 700-800; I'll look forward to breaking that 1000 shot barrier!

Thanks -

EQ

How old is your system, 700-800 shots doesn't sound like that many. Have you really had it for over 1 yr? Did it work better initially?

Try soaking in warm soapy water or vinegar + water while working the button, you may loosen up some salt crystals. Soak overnight.

More importantly, if your system is really due for an annual service, get it done. Sticky buttons can be a warning sign of o-ring failure. Almost assuredly, your housing should be like new after being serviced.

Did L&M convert your housing to work with the 4040, or did you just put the new camera in the old housing? There are some slight differences between the housings, and L&M can send you the upgrade kit.

Kasey

The housing has had this problem since day 1; I bought it at DEMA along with the 3030. One day I'll stop investing in Beta versions. I managed to get some nice Macro shots out of the box - http://homepage.mac.com/erinquigley/Personal.html - but many opportunities were lost while wrestling with the shutter. After talking to L & M, my understanding of their expensive upgrade is that it pertains primarily to the labeling of the control buttons on the back of the housing, and also includes a minor adjustment to the lens opening in the housing. Since any labeling erodes fairly quickly on the conrol buttons, I removed the foam from the inside of the lens portion of the housing and have had no problems ( except the lame shutter release button) with using the 4040. I've become leery of L & M since I discovered (on this site) that their Wetmate lenses are actually manufactured by and available from Inon at a fraction of what L & M charges. Since I bought the Wetmates at the inflated price and have had no satisfaction from L & M regarding my other Tetra issues, I guess I feel a bit taken advantage of.

I own 2 LMI housings, and have found them to be of exceptional build quality. Their support has been good as well. For example, within 1 wk of buying my 1st housing, I flooded a battery pack and they repaired it at no charge. Kind of justifies the price tag. Do you think they are less helpful because you bought the housing at the show? Did it come with a warranty? Out of curiosity - how much did it cost? I'm going to DEMA this yr in hopes of picking up some new toys, but now I'm worried about the support that may come with.

Re: Inon lenses - I think there is a misunderstanding perpetuated by this site. LMI actually sells the non-wetmate wide and close-up Inon lenses at the same price (or at least very close) as Inon. They do, however, make changes to the lenses to allow them to be used as wetmates, for which they charge quite a lot. Had you opted not to have the wetmate option, you would have paid far less for your lenses. Inon does not sell the wetmate lenses. I'm not an engineer, nor have I seen the wetmate and non-wetmate lenses side by side to say whether the modifications justify the cost. Certainly, however, it comes down to the consumer that decides whether changing lenses underwater is worth the $.

Just a couple of thoughts....

The original Tetras had the button icons painted on, and they did wear off. For the 4040 version (and conversions) the icons on the buttons are laser engraved.

If you bought your housing and a 3030 at DEMA, that would have been DEMA 2000, it is definitely a candidate for service at this point anyway. You say the upgrade is expensive... how much is expensive?

Without further inflaming the Inon lens issue, I agree with Kasey, it's the consumer's choice to buy them or not. The fact remains that you cannot buy the lens from Inon and use it on this housing without modification.

Richard

Thanks for the corrections, guys. I own both the wetmate and non-wetmate lenses. I think the Tetra is a wonderful housing or I wouldn't have invested in more gear. It's just that shutter thang...

The housing has had 1 full service maintainance, but that was before LM had the 4040 upgrade available. I don't recall the exact cost of said upgrade( I think $350-$450), but I'll find out and post it later along with the amount I paid for the rig at DEMA. I'm sure if you've had luck with L&M's support system in the past, it won't be any different as it relates to items purchased at DEMA. A full warranty was included on everything.

Thanks!

[Edited on 5-30-2002 by LauadiBaby]

This is what I was able to find out about the light & motion wetmate lens, they actually use the inon lens and to make it work on the tetra housings they supply you with an adaptor ring. The inon lens can be purchased for around $ 350 (Marine Camera distributors) light & motion sells there wetmate lens for $ 900, if you do the math they are selling there adaptor ring for around $ 550. I asked Dan at L & M to sell me only this adaptor ring, they refused to do this. I checked at a machine shop and was told this ring could be manufactured for around $ 50. They actually don't modify the lens at all, they only add the adaptor ring. I had mentionned this before and RICHARD you said you would get back to me on why they sell there lens so expensive and if the price would be the same for the titan and 5000 housing. The lens that they sell for around $ 400 is not removable underwater and only gives a view of 80 degrees, the inon lens gives 100 degree of view. And yes Richard I agree that the consumer has the final say on what he or she buys, but if they don't know the true value of something they might make an uneducated purchase, I think most people would agree that the $ 900 price for this lens is too much.

Here is the reply that I got from Dan at Light & motion and also from Tom at Marine Camera distributors.

John

Here are some e-mails that I got Dan at L & M and Tom at Marine Camera.

Sorry Guys, my computer is killing me, but just follow this link and you will find the e-mails that I'm talking about.

http://www23.brinkster.com/diver89

:mad:

John

[Edited on 5-30-2002 by diver89]

OK, here we go, and I hope this will clear up some of the questions.

First off, John, I still can't see t he emails that you are referencing (dead link), so I don't know what they contain. The LMI guys are in their busy season, so communication with them has been a bit eratic lately, and I apologize for not getting back to you about the lenses. I simply did not have any answers.

As for the shutter release issue, here's the word from LIM:

Tetras made from their release (October 2000) until April 2001 were made with a strong spring in the shutter release. It was good to around 300ft. It was difficult for most people to depress. It was changed in April 2001 to have around 200 ft. strength. This has been more appropriate. Tetras are still depth rated to 330 ft., however the shutter will actuate sooner.

As for the upgrade, with annual service the price is $200. Annual service alone is $150.

As for the LMI wetmate lens adapter:

...made from marine grade aluminum, glass port and stainless steel lock ring featuring: black anodized, self-burping air vents, double O-ring seals, positive locking bayonet mount, with an internal thread tolerance of 3/1000ths.

As for the Titan lenses:

Titan's lenses are completely different. They were custom engineered for the E-10 and E-20 and we are making them.

And finally, on the Tetra 5000 add-on lenses:

The Tetra 5000 will use the "Original" Tetra lenses, 80 degree WA and 1:1 macro. The Wetmate will fit just fine, but the WA was designed for a 35mm lens and the CP5000 has a 28mm lens, so it vignettes at full wide.

I hope that covers it, and I hope I haven't offended anyone in the process. Let me state again that I am not affilated with LMI, but I do think that they make great equipment. And yes, it is expensive, and yes I may not always agree with the pricing structure, but then again, take a look at the prices of Nikonos stuff, or other top end housings. What we as consumers never see is the back end costs of engineering and manufacturing this stuff, so who's to say?

Richard

Tio Loco, I don't know why you are having trouble with the link that diver89 posted, It works perfectly and this is confirming what I have been hearing, L & M is really screwing us off with that lens, good thing that L & M is not the only one making housing for 5000, I wouldn't like the fact of getting riped off twice because I'm just ready to buy my housing for the 5000, but I see I will have to look in other places. :mad:

I would like to thank John (diver89) for the valuable information he gave and I encourage people to follow his link, it really worth it

Sharkeye

[Edited on 5-31-2002 by sharkeye]

[Edited on 5-31-2002 by sharkeye]

I can't follow John's link either - maybe you can repost it?

I just got off the phone with Tom Harman and he had a great idea re: LMI's expensive Wide angle lens. Buy the Light and Motion macro lens, you'll have the adapter, then buy the Inon wide angle. Apparently the adapter screws on and off easy enough to be changed underwater, and you'll save $500. This should work for tetras and titans.

That may not work for the Titan. The titan has a bayonet mount on the front of the port, not a screw mount. It's also way bigger in diameter than the smaller Tetra port. A lot bigger.

Tom says that the lenses are the same, nonetheless, only the adapter is different. I'm cancelling my order for the wide angle for now, and I'll see whether the adapter I get with the macro lens makes it possible for me to use the Inon WA lens as well.

Great idea for the Tetra - wish I'd thought of it!

By the way, after more conversation with LMI, I'm sending the housing in to have the shutter mechanism replaced. It's true that a stiffer (rated to 300ft) spring was originally used instead of the current (rated to 200ft) one, but apparently there was also an issue with a particular batch of springs that were mistakenly manufactured from aluminum and thus corroded badly. Regardless, LMI doesn't consider the replacement warranty work, so there's an upgrade charge.

Good Luck with your wetmate plan.

EQ

Are you having it overhauled as well? They probably won't charge you for the upgrade if you do. Sounds like it is time, regardless.

You're right, it's time for servicing, especially since I'm going to Indonesia for a few weeks in August. Ergo, I'm having it overhauled and upgraded for the 4040 as well. The button is still an addition charge. The total will come to $225.