How many people flooded their cameras?

[MauiScubaSteve]

A better poll might have these main options;

A. Manufacturer housing
B. Third party housing

And these secondary options;

1. Housing defect
2. Button o-ring leak due neglect (regular maintenance recommended)
3. Main o-ring leak due neglect (dirty or old o-ring)
4. Complete operator error (closed without seal; ie. string in door)

In my experience, most are 3 & 4 and the housing has little to do with it.

 

[Gombessa]

No flood (knock on wood), but I noticed that a little water was starting to seep in by the seals when I put a packet of desiccant in the UW housing for my little Sony P&S. The desiccant pushed slightly against the body and the housing when closing it, and I didn't realize it would weaken the seal. So...user error. No problems since.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

It might be that those choosing Ike housings care more for their cameras so are better at the details.

On the other hand, Ike divers might splash more often, so it might be that they have more chances to flood.

I started out with freedive photography using Nikonus V. If I just count film changes there were thousands of rolls, with two early floods of cheap used bodies that had prior flood history (never flooded the one I bought new). Since going digital, with twice the amount of dives, one string in door and two old o-rings.

I have many excuses; over 40, blonde, task overloaded resort pro, etc. Luckily I never flooded a guest!

 

[Ann Marie]

When I flooded my first camera, I couldn't find a reason for it. I'm sure it was because I opened the camera to change the battery and resealed it without taking the time to do camera/o-ring mantenance.

 

[mikerault]

My SEa and Sea flodded because of a defect in the mounting plate (it cracked when the flash was attached and leaked) I alos had a Fantasea for my Nikon partial flood, I caught it before it got the camera.

My Ikelite was lost in Lake Lanier for 8 weeks in 50 foot of water, no leaks.

Mike

 

[sea nmf]

A better poll might have these main options;

A. Manufacturer housing
B. Third party housing

And these secondary options;

1. Housing defect
2. Button o-ring leak due neglect (regular maintenance recommended)
3. Main o-ring leak due neglect (dirty or old o-ring)
4. Complete operator error (closed without seal; ie. string in door)

In my experience, most are 3 & 4 and the housing has little to do with it.

OK, am I supposed to lube those every dive day? I read the manual and it didn't say. It makes sense, but they are so tiny.

I'm a brand new U/W housing digital cheap camera diver. (not a new diver, but new to u/w digital photographs)

 

[Diver Dennis]

The only flood I ever had was when I didn't have a sync cord connection screwed in tight to the strobe. I was on Lembongan Island to shoot Mola Mola and when I did the proper check the morning after, I was sick to see that when I unscrewed the connection it was filled with green goo and no way to get a replacement.

I had an early dive that I cancelled and spent a couple hours cleaning out the connection and then set it in the sun to dry, hoping beyond hope it would somehow heal itself. I hooked it up for the afternoon dive and WOW! IT worked!

A number of photographers had their cameras blessed the week before on Bali in a Hindu ceremony during a Mike Veitch photo workshop, including me and that strobe is still working after another 300 dives. Coincidence?

 

[TSandM]

I flooded my DiMage, which was a camera I could actually love. I closed the housing on a fruit fly wing, as it turned out. No fault of the housing.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

2. Button o-ring leak due neglect (regular maintenance recommended)

OK, am I supposed to lube those every dive day? I read the manual and it didn't say. It makes sense, but they are so tiny.

I'm a brand new U/W housing digital cheap camera diver. (not a new diver, but new to u/w digital photographs)

Those little o-rings fall into a similar category as our other dive gear; annual maintenance is probably what the manufacturer recommends, but some of us dive a thousand dives per year and some ten dives per year.

My original PT-015 flooded due old main o-ring after a few thousand dives. When I looked close at the buttons, there was gunk in them all, more in the most used ones. I found replacement o-ring kits through wetpixel (IIRC). I was able to remove, clean and replace all but the shutter trigger o-ring (right angle jewelers phillips?).

The fresh buttons do work better than the old buttons on my #2 housing. I'm assuming this makes for a safer seal as well. Definately not an every dive day procedure. :14:

 

[Hammerhead]

Let me see.

2000 - 2004, 2 x Sony Cybershots (one with banging it on the boat side in choppy conditions, one with - and I kid you not - a pubic hair)

2005 - 2006, 2 x Oly 8080 (one unexplainable but for poor port clip design, one where a helpful person unclipped the port thinking they were doing the opposite and passed it to an unsuspecting Larry in the sea without saying anything)

2007, 1 x Canon 350D (my fault entirely, failed to attach the port properly)


I'm a jinx.