G9 with housing

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birdman27

Contributor
Messages
93
Reaction score
94
Location
Santa Rosa, CA
# of dives
200 - 499
Just picked up a G9 (original) with the Canon housing on Ebay for $138! Looked everything over when it arrived and it all looks good. Next step is to test the housing for leaks. I know this is an older camera model, but I am excited to have something to take those pictures I just can't interest my wife in taking. I seem to find way more joy in the weird stuff than her. We are headed to the Philippines in April, Dumaguete, so I am looking forward to some great macro.

I dont really have any questions, been reading the forum, but any tips for this particular setup are always appreciated.
 
It's a nice setup. Used it for years before moving to a G16 + Ikelite 2 years ago. (Note to self - sell G9...) As for tips, add a flash, the onboard is inadequate. I used a Sea n Sea YS 27DX also picked up second hand. I shot in manual mode only. Enjoy the Philippines.
 
It's a nice setup. Used it for years before moving to a G16 + Ikelite 2 years ago. (Note to self - sell G9...) As for tips, add a flash, the onboard is inadequate. I used a Sea n Sea YS 27DX also picked up second hand. I shot in manual mode only. Enjoy the Philippines.

Thanks for the reply. I am looking at strobes, but dont know if it is in the budget now. Might have to steal the one from my wife's setup!
 
Might have to steal the one from my wife's setup!

Good luck with that! I'm a big believer in second hand, well loved stuff. I picked up my G9 setup here on SB great transaction. My shops also have periodic clear out, season end, demo sales that I've been happy to take advantage of. I look at it as more money for 'other' stuff - trips, great, food and wine.
 
Since you got the camera and housing together, hopefully they've been well depth tested. I bought a G12 and housing separately. The G12 was used, but from Craigslist, so I got to inspect it before buying. It was in mint condition. The housing was bought new from eBay. It was also in mint condition - sealed box. The first thing I did was put the housing in 1' of water for 24 hours. No leaks. When the trip finally rolled around, I took the housing, empty, on the first dive. It leaked! Ah, maybe I didn't seal it properly? I cleaned it, inside and out, and rechecked the o-ring. I tested again the next day and it leaked again! I ended up using my backup GoPro Hero 2 (lower quality) for the rest of the trip. :(

Some things I learned:

1. New doesn't mean it'll work as expected.
2. Using tissue paper to check for leaks made a big goopy mess in the housing. Use paper towel instead.
3. Just a teaspoon's worth of salt water leaves a lot of salt crystals in the housing, so rinse and dissolve the inside before drying.

Canon specific:

4. No warranty on accessories. If a product, such as an underwater housing, fails to perform as advertised and ruins a camera, they'll replace the camera but will not fix the housing. (I actually sent in the housing to be inspected for repairs and it went from West Coast->East Coast->West Coast->back to me!)
5. For the WP-DC34 housing, there are some pretty bad ratings on Amazon (~25%) that points to leakage issues, even when new. The culprit is some excess mold lines along where the o-ring seals. (There's a webpage that talks about this and details a fix, which I've implemented and it works - tested to 27-28m.)

Enjoy your rig!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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