ZS3 Housing WARNING!

[Oside Jimc]

I love my ZS3, but in cold SoCal water gloves make holding it comfortably a drag, plus I'm used to the strobe arm on my old Nikonos so I thought it would be handy to buy a tray and handle to make the camrea easier to handle, and in the future maybe add an extrnal strobe. Bad Idea

Seems the Panasonic case plastic is somewhat flexible, so when I mounted the tray it apparently flexed the case enough to compromise the seal, result, 1 dead ZS3.

I had leak tested, but holding the camera upright in the bucket worked fine, but after a boat ride in the camera bucket I was heartbroken when another passenger yelled "hey, someone's camera is flooded", and held up my camera. :shocked2:

After I got home I experimented with the empty case, I found the tightening the tray screw even 1/2 turn past modestly snug caused a leak (only when the camera was upside down). So my opinion is:

DO NOT USE A TRAY ON THE PANASONIC HOUSING!

Now I'm out $90 for the tray and handle, and $282 for a new camera (which is getting harder to find!)

 

[Calinectes]

Which tray are you using? I was looking to do the same to my housing and now you have me scared. I'm putting a rather heavy focus light on the shoe mount and really felt like I'm going to need a handle to balance the sucker.

There are a lot of people using the oem housing and sounds like they may have added stuff to them. Can anybody else who is using this system help us out with suggestions/ others experiences please!

 

[Oside Jimc]

Which tray are you using? I was looking to do the same to my housing and now you have me scared. I'm putting a rather heavy focus light on the shoe mount and really felt like I'm going to need a handle to balance the sucker.

There are a lot of people using the oem housing and sounds like they may have added stuff to them. Can anybody else who is using this system help us out with suggestions/ others experiences please!

My plans were to add a focus light as well, but not any more. Not sure of the brand, but I'll post a picture tonight. My advice is spend some time with a big bucket of water and the empty case to experiment with positioning of the tray and just how tight you can adjust the screw to make sure it doesn't leak. But as for me the tray goes back to the shop tomorrow, I'm just not going to risk another expensive mistake.

 

[rab1412000]

hi i have an intova strobe and tray i attach to my zs3 housing every now and then.
i have never had this problem myself although i seldom use the strobe now since i use the zs3 more as a videorecorder than a camera lately.
however looking at my housing attached to the tray and bracket now it seems to be jsut as sturdy as the other cases ive used in the past.
the only way i can imagine it flexing is if you put a substantial amount of force on the tray/bracket apparatus itself (and this would happen to any oem casing for that matter).
how sure are you that it was flex that casued the leak? do you see the case actually flex when you screw in your tray?
it could have been a faulty o-ring or some sand that got stuck - this are the most common causes of housing failure.

 

[joebubbles]

I use the Panasonic case and I've had absolutely no problems. Since a tray will assist in holding your camera steady, I would recommend:

USE A TRAY ON THE PANASONIC HOUSING!

I'm attaching some pics of my rig and a link to my videos.

ZS3 Rig - a set on Flickr

Joe Stone's videos on Vimeo

Let me know if you have further questions.

 

[HerraduraDivers]

I am sorry about your misshap, but analyzing what you wrote:

I had leak tested, but holding the camera upright in the bucket worked fine, but after a boat ride in the camera bucket I was heartbroken when another passenger yelled "hey, someone's camera is flooded", and held up my camera.

This sounds to me as you left your camera in the rinse tank/camera bucket with other cameras....
This is a terrible error because the cameras may get banged together as the boat moves, somebody drops his camera (or what else) on yours, etc, etc
I guess that the percentage of cameras flooded unattended in the rinse tank is about thirty to fifty percent of all floodings.

Another error is to attach a non OEM or not for the housing designed tray because if the screws are too long they may deform the housing and/or breaking it. Screws for trays have to be choosen very carefully and it's better to choose them a bit shorter than too long.

Anyway, it may be a good idea to NOT attach heavy or bulky things like focus lights or heavy strobe to a plastic OEM housings as long they don't have some reinforcements to do so.
Without telling names, but not Ikelites, i saw some OEM housings leaving a ambivalent feeling about ruggedness and if it's a good idea to attach heavy objects to it as they may put more/too much strain on it.

Chris

 

[rab1412000]

harradura is probably right
i use an intova strobe with my zs3 and srew is too long. to compensate for this i add a rubber stopperin between the tray and housing

 

[wicked_innit]

an unfortunate incident and i feel for you.

i never had an issue with mine and am using an OEM tray with double handles..focus light is ok if it is light so it could be that yours was top heavy with a few knocks as well..i never leave my setup in a bucket with others..a quick rinse will do then lonely tub soak after last dive...i need to replace the batteries in between dives as i use high speed high area focusing for vid.

the new TZ10 is out btw with casing and manual controls though not sure abt u/w mode manual settings.

However if you really feel you want to continue with this model ZS3 and have a more solid case. go for 10G marine case..aluminum with double o ring..

 

[joebubbles]

Hi Graham,
I think you mean the 10-bar housing.
10Bar Underwater Housings for Nikon P6000

 

[wicked_innit]

i stand corrected ! thanks JoeBubbles