D7000 Ikelite, buttons on camera not working while at depth

Just took my Ikelite D7000 rig on its first salt water trip today. After a few minutes into the dive, the back camera buttons would not function, even though the camera was able to take a photo. I could get Live View to come on but the "INFO" and [ | > ] buttons would not respond to pushing. It worked fine in the pool a week ago. As soon as I released the vacuum (underwater camera stuff vacuum) and took the camera out of the housing, the buttons were functional again. Any reason this could have been an issue or has anyone experienced the same thing?

forgot to mention I only maxed out at 24ft (blue heron bridge) staying at around 15ft on average.

Hi Joez

It sounds like you either have a alignment problem or there was something pushing on a button. Put the calera in the housing with a lens on it and no port on the housing. Check out the lens it should be centered in the port opening bout vertical and horizontal. There is little black screw in the bottom of the tray that is used for centering top to bottom. If it is off side to side then it is not tight enough to the tray. The other option is that something was pushing on one of the buttons. check that out. The vacuum system will not cause that problem. I have had this problem and the reason was a pushed button.

Bill

that's what I was thinking too Bill, i'll have to double check the alignment next time I put the camera together. The zoom ring was working fine so I don't think it was an alignment issue, it must've been a pushed button. Was there a certain button that gets pushed so I can look out for it next time?

By the way, I never thought it had to do with the vacuum, just wanted to mention it to rule out a leak. I have that and the 5inch precision port you made and love them both so far!

The Ike push buttons are prone to sticking if not treated to a little (and I mean a little) silicone grease every so often and a few pushes just to break the static friction where the seal has broken through the lubricant and clamped itself to the shaft after a period of time. working each button before fitting the camera should redistribute the lubricant and give you back free movement. Also watch out for levers that are just pressing against buttons, it's a good idea to go round each in turn to double check there position relative to the buttons they should/shouldn't be touching. That's the only issue I've had with my Ike on my D7000, but quickly resolved.

Hopefully, you've resolved your issue by now...

I encountered a similar problem with my Ikelite housed D7100 when I first started using it. The camera would shoot, but none of the buttons would work.

In my case, the spring had slipped off the shutter lever and the lever was putting enough pressure on the shutter button to prevent the camera from functioning like it should have.

Hope your issue is as easily resolved as mine.

-AZTinman

If you are using a rubber eyepiece in your viewfinder, remove it.

thanks for the reply guys, I did have the eyepiece in still so maybe that had something to do with it. I am going to crystal river this weekend to try it out, at least I know now that if the buttons aren't working something is jammed! thanks for the help

Also remove the clear screen cover from the LCD

just curious, if the lcd protector and eyepiece were left on, could that cause the lens to misalign with the nodal point and cause not as sharp photos? I will remove both before I use it from now on I didn't know you had to

It could cause a variety of problems as the lens would not be centered in the dome.

I used to shoot a D300 in an Ikelite housing, and a number of the buttons would not function properly if either the eyepiece or the LCD cover were left on.

Hi Guys,

I have had several Ikelite housing and have always been happy with them, but had one that wouldn't funcition in depths beyond 35m. I could press the shutter release, but couldn't change any camera settings. This happened each time I went to depth with this housing, and as soon as I got above 35m everything worked fine. I have used my other Ikelite housings down to 50m without an issue, every button and dial worked perfectly. I contacted Ikelite and they told me that they had never heard of this before, but it now sounds like I am not the only one to experience this issue.

Cheers,

Nigel

Hi Guys,

 

I have had several Ikelite housing and have always been happy with them, but had one that wouldn't funcition in depths beyond 35m. I could press the shutter release, but couldn't change any camera settings. This happened each time I went to depth with this housing, and as soon as I got above 35m everything worked fine. I have used my other Ikelite housings down to 50m without an issue, every button and dial worked perfectly. I contacted Ikelite and they told me that they had never heard of this before, but it now sounds like I am not the only one to experience this issue.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

Nigel

I would bet that either you have a weak spring or short travel from the button to the camera on one of the controls. you should look at the buttons at 30m and 40m to determine what one is getting partially pushed.

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the reply. I checked all the buttons at the time, each time it happened, but couldn't find an obvious problem. That housing had to be replaced by Ikelite when it developed problems with the flash circuits, it just died one day, so it may have just been a very dud housing.

Cheers,

Nigel