A few concerns with newly aquired Ikelite Housing for Canon Elph 300HS

[SpeckledGrouper]

This morning I became the proud owner of an Ikelite Housing for the Elph300 I just bought. This is my first Ikelite housing. So far I am finding two problems with it:

1. It is extemely difficult to depress the shutter button half way to focus. 3 out of 5 times it takes the picture before the green square appears on the LCD. It's impossible to feel "halfway". No matter how lightly I depress, it shoots. Is this normal? I can just imagine how many pictures I will miss underwater by having to manipulate the button to get it to autofocus.

2. The switch between Auto and Program is so loose it spins around and does not grip the little lever between the settings. Again, I am not looking forward to have to play with this underwater.

I got the Ikelite housing because I did not like the way the Canon housing looked, now I am questioning my decision.

Any comments or help is appreciated.

 

[Ikelite Staff]

Sorry to read of your problems with your Ikelite housing. The shutter control is slightly sensitive and does not feel exactly the same as using the camera above water. With some practice you should have no problem achieving auto focus with the camera inside of the housing. Keep in mind you may need additional light to assist in focus at depth.

The mode control is free rotate over the camera control. On the surface you may have to press down on the control knob while turning to activate the control on the camera. At depth the case compresses and the knob will be held in by water pressure.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

 

[Adventurenut]

I also am having problems with this housing. I just purchased it 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. I'm hoping I can get a replacement which will actually work. I guess Ikelite needs to beef up quality control and make sure the housings they ship are in good working order. I cannot contact Ikelite as it is the weekend and they are closed. I'll keep you posted as far as how this all turns out. What I can say, is if you are considering an Ikelite housing, be sure to purchase it well in advance of any planned scuba trip, to be sure you have any issues with the product cleared up prior to trying to use it. 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.

 

[BrettF]

Adventurenut,

See my post on the other Canon 300HS thread.

Regards,

 

[Adventurenut]

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 now use it with the tiny duct tape squares as mentioned.

 

[mikeguerrero]

This camera and the ikelite housing are stellar and work like a charm. One of the buttons was not working on land, went back to the dealer and she pushed it a little firmer and it started making contact. They are a little more stiffer than the cheap plastic buttons that Canon uses for their case.

MG

 

[Adventurenut]

I'm so glad your housing works. My video button does not work no matter how hard I push it, even when it was sent back after supposedly being fixed by Ikelite The camera video button works fine outside the housing. All the other buttons work fine now though. I did put a duct tape patch over the video button for my last dive trip, and with this, the button then worked and I was able to get some great video shots. I'm glad I was able to jerry rig it so it would function!

 

[mikeguerrero]

I'm so glad your housing works. My video button does not work no matter how hard I push it, even when it was sent back after supposedly being fixed by Ikelite The camera video button works fine outside the housing. All the other buttons work fine now though. I did put a duct tape patch over the video button for my last dive trip, and with this, the button then worked and I was able to get some great video shots. I'm glad I was able to jerry rig it so it would function!

Did you get a chance to see my video of how your camera performs in our Califorian waters?

 

[Adventurenut]

Yes, it's a good camera, I like your video. My housing just has a few issues as described.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Yes, it's a good camera, I like your video. My housing just has a few issues as described.

Please post some of your videos or pics when you get the chance...