Anatomy of a Camera Flood....

when the unthinkable happens....

http://www.underwaterplanet.com/flood.htm

Chris, interesting story and pics.......Thanks for taking the time to write this account of your flood....it will make me be more observant next time I prepare my housing for a dive.....I'm glad it had a happy ending

Karl

Chris,

Sorry to hear about your flood but glad the camera is OK and you're back in business....

Actually the * button function on the Digital Rebel compared to the other Canon dSLR cameras is what caused the confusion IMHO.

For metering this control measures and "locks" a center weighted reading. Holds it for about 6-8 seconds, I believe. I use it for on silhouette shots by pointing the camera about 10-20 degrees off the brightest part of the surface. Then "tap" this control and recompose (preferably placing your diver, dolphin, whale shark, etc.) in front of the brightest part of the frame and voila', a half way decent silhouette I use shutter priority and select 1/125 or higher to "freeze" light rays around the object being outlined by the brighter surface light.

This control also is a "pre-flash" lock with dedicated Canon surface flash units plus controls other playback functions. For shooting mode this needs to be a "press once" type of control or it's worthless......

Spending a lot of time reading manuals and shooting your particular digital camera pays off in spades once we encase these tools in a housing and go brain dead below the waves

Hope this helps!

David Haas

www.pbase.com/dhaas

www.ikelite.com "What's New" link

I had a Hell of a time with my Subal system always leaking. Before I had it, I had a Hydro 35 housing with a Nikon F2 inside. Never had a flood. Then I got the Subal and the thin, cheesy O-rings were sensitive to sand and dirt working under them when the O-ring was in a relaxed state. One dive was basically a dust storm and when I came up, the system had performed fine with no leaks. I just set it in the rinse bucket until the next dive with half a roll left in the camera. The next dive it had a pretty good leak. When I dissassembled the housing, the thin port o-ring had sand on all sides of it. From that time on I used tampons (maxi ones for the big bleeders) strategically placed throughout the housing. Although this is useless in a catastrophic flood, leaks are more often than not held at bay within a bullet or bullets. The leaked water can absorb in the Tampon bullet and be held at bay from swooshing around and drenching the camera and lens. I have had several other leaks since and the plugs have saved my dives by saving my camera and lens.

The other thing I now do (as a result of Pavlov's dogs) is when I begin my decent, I keep the camera level and peer inside the housing windows for the water alarm activation as I an sinking. Once I am on the bottom, I go ahead and play. If I see an alarm go off, I have the chance to go right back to the surface and hopefully the plugs will have done their job.

Today I shoot with a Titan housing and have had no problems with leakage, but I still use the biggest plugs money can buy.

Joe

Joe,

Heard this trick from many housing users over the years. Me, I just look inside my Ikelite "clear aluminum" housing as soon as it's in the water Piece of mind before and during the dive.

David Haas

Haas Photography Inc.

www.pbase.com/dhaas

Is there a recommended maintenace schedule for housings with regard to all those control o-rings? Are they things a user can replace, or does it need to be sent in for maintenance?

Sieg

Hi David,

That's what makes the Ikelite housings REALLY attractive....you can see through the solid walls. I still like the tampon trick because even a teaspoon of water can ruin your whole day, or trip.

Be nice to hear some other UW shooters ideas. I'll admit that nothing beats catching a leak in its infancy.

Joe

With todays housings it is best to let the professional repair facilities do the work. In the old days, you could do your own maintenance on the Nik 1-3, and most housings. With my Hydro 35, I did all my own maintenance, including all control knobs AND the port glass O-ring. The complexity of today's housings mean that screwing up is easy if you don't know what you are doing or don't have the right tools. Plus, it requires training.

You should have your housing serviced, but I don't think an annual service is necessary. Maybe every 2 two years is a safe bet unless you are diving 500 times a year then an annual service makes sense. Conversely, if you sit idle for an extended duration, your orings can become sticky and dry. Probably a good time to service the unit if you are out of the water for a year or so.

Joe