Buttons don't work on Ikelite housing for Canon Elph 300hs camera

I just purchased the Ikelite housing for the Canon 300hs Elph for an upcoming scuba trip and was trying it out in my home to make sure it worked. About half the buttons do not function, including the video button. Maybe they will function at depth when the housing compresses a bit, but I need a housing which will work for snorkeling and shallow scuba as well. Also, the little rubber caps on the inside of the housing which cover the rods which depress the actual camera buttons are insecure and keep falling off whenever I open the housing. I'm hoping I'll be able to find a good housing for the Canon 300hs camera, as I believe it will be a great camera for diving with it's underwater mode, forced flash, and good macro abilities, not to mention the autofocusing HD video. Any help you can give me would be much appreciated.:depressed:

I cetainly hope that the housing does not compress a bit..try a little cement on the rubber caps to keep them from falling off.
As for the buttons not working, be sure that the camera is in the housing correct.
I have had a few housings from ike and never had one that did not operate the way it supposed to when camera installed properly.Maybe iklite will see your post and offer suggestions.

If you just purchased it? return it immediately don't do anything to it. Ikelite is a great make. However sometimes you get the odd ones.

Return, exchange etc. Or contact Ikelite to have it repaired / serviced.

Adventurenut,

Make sure the camera and housing model are a correct match. If the housing buttons line up with the camera buttons, but don't seem to reach, try pressing each button all the way in to activate each camera function. The ULTRAcompact housings are designed to allow for compression at depth which moves the rear control buttons slightly closer to the camera body.

To better secure a push button cap, place a tiny drop of super glue on the top of a bare push button shaft where the cap goes. Replace the cap and make sure not to squish out any super glue on the base of the push button shaft or on the housing.
If you find push button functioning still problematic, please send it to Ikelite Service for evaluation. Longer push buttons may work better for snorkeling and shallow diving, but could engage and lock out camera functions at deeper depths as the housing compresses.

For service or evaluation, send the housing along with a brief letter of explanation or this thread, and full contact information to:

Ikelite Underwater Systems
Attn. Service Dept.
50 W. 33rd St.
Indpls., IN 46208

Please include your name, complete return address, email, phone number, and your stated problem or service request. Normal service completion time is 2-3 weeks.

Regards,

Thanks for your kind reply. I've since returned the housing to my dealer, who will ship it back to Ikelite with the necessary information. I've been using underwater housings of various types, including Ikelite housings, for about 15 years, and I've never had one which won't work on the surface, but does work at depth. I've never had buttons fall off spontaneously or which require superglue. All my previous housings have worked everywhere I've needed them to. So I'm hopeful you can fix this one. I'll be lucky if I get my housing back prior to my upcoming trip, I may be forced to also buy the Canon housing if the Ikelite takes that long to service, or if you just can't quickly send me a replacement unit which has been checked out prior to shipping as fully functional, as my housing is returned unused underwater. Once again, thanks for responding.

Adventurenut,

Have your dealer make a "needed by" notation with the repair. If it has already been shipped to Ikelite, send an email to repair@ikelite.com. Repairs with deadlines are normally moved to the front of the line. We are sorry for your trouble.

Regards,

Thanks Brett, I'm sure Ikelite will fix the problems. My dealer did send it with deadline, so I'm sure I'll get it back in time. The problems are likely easily fixable, to one who knows what is going on. Appreciate your response.

This subsequent paragraph is an update. I contacted Ikelite and my dealer who sold me the housing, they did not agree to send me a new housing, but they did agree to repair the original as bought by me. The repair service was courteous and prompt, and they did fix all my complaints as noted above, except for the video button, which still did not function after it was sent back. Fortunately, I was able to rig this so it would eventually work by placing tiny squares of duct tape over the camera video button, so the housing button was then finally long enough to turn the video function on and off. So all in all a mixed experience with this housing. I believe it will be functional, and now it is not personally worth me demanding my money back and buying the Canon housing for this camera, but it would have been nice to have received a functioning housing from Ikelite in the first place. It would also have been nice for the repair to have been completely effective. I will just go ahead and use it with the tiny duct tape squares as mentioned.

I have the same camera and ikelite housing and had a similiar experience. The menu button wouldn't reach so I took it back to the dealer.

She started pushing the button all the way in with a little more force than what I was doing. Presto and it was magic, the button then was reaching.

My conclusion is that some of the buttons are a little stiffer and need to be worked in all the way.

The quality of the Ikelite is superior to the Canon case by far, they use stronger robust parts you can feel it.

So that is what I suspect might be the deal with your case, just needed a little push start.

I have dove it twice and filmed two videos in Monterey. Here they are enjoy...

[youtubehq]mwh3lHhUsBU[/youtubehq]

[youtubehq]_lOceIu94nU&feature=related[/youtubehq]

I was able to permanently repair my housing by using some contact cement to glue a second little plastic hood onto the top of the existing plastic hood on the interior side of my video button, using the parts which Ikelite mailed back to me from the repair they tried to do. Now it is long enough to reliably turn the video on and off. The button would work fine as it was after the repair job only if the o ring was not installed in the housing. After the o ring was inserted, the video button was displaced rearwards just enough for it not to work. Now it works fine. I have included a link to Youtube showing a nice shark video I shot during my dive trip to North Carolina, luckily just prior to hurricane Irene arriving! See: Diving the wreck of the Aeolus in North Carolina - YouTube