Issues with Canon S110 and Ikelite housing

[boy22ban]

I've had a few issues with my ikelite housing for Canon S110. I thought i'd run them them by everyone here to know if there are easy fixes or known issues:

1. The power button gets stuck at around 15ft. There is some slight give, but not enough for the conduit to reach the camera's power button. The button gives (full) way eventually at the surface. Im afraid that this is a defect that might eventually result in a leak. Anybody have the same experience?

2. The SET button on the housing sometimes does not reach the camera. Is this a camera "docking" issue? Is there any quick fix?

3. The S110 seems to have a difficult time with custom white balance in manual mode underwater. I tried balancing off my glove (which is gray) and the base image appears green. This process works well in tv, av, and manual topside, but somehow not in manual underwater. Did i get some other setting wrong?

4. On video: does the camera use the "current" WB setting when switching to video?

5. Any tips to save battery? A charge lasts me about 1.5 dives before flashing the red battery icon.

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[Deep Water Dan]

Well, the only advice I could give you about 1 & 2 would be to see if you can adjust the knobs to give you more shaft play, and maybe lube up the shafts from the inside. You may want to ask Ikelite about this, they're pretty good about quick responses to issues with their cases. As far as your white balance goes, I would suspect that you have your manual settings adjusted for an underexposure and there's not enough light coming back off your glove. Or are you adjusting the WB with the flash on and then shooting with flash off, or vice versa? That will screw it up good. Can't help you with the video. My G16 uses the same WB, but your's might be different. Sure way to find out is to experiment with it. You might try a calibration card instead of your glove. I wear white fins to adjust my WB for video, I shoot in RAW for stills. There's a couple of tricks for conserving battery life, like shutting the camera off, adjusting the auto-power off for a shorter period, reducing the LCD brightness, etc. The flash uses up a big chunk of battery power. I always carry three batteries, although I am loath to open my housing anywhere but under controlled conditions. My G16 battery seems to go a long way, though. Good luck! Dan

 

[Interceptor121]

1 & 2 problems with housing. There have been consistent reports of issues of ikelite housing with Canon S series
3 In all other modes the camera aims at correct exposure. When you are in manual if the image is too dark or too bright the WB setting will fail
4 Video mode stores a separate WB reading as far as I recall
5 Buy an Inon D2000 strobe that works with the camera flash in manual mode and set this to minimum

 

[boy22ban]

On the housing, I can live with the power button not working (I can enter shooting mode by entering playback, then pressing the shutter). Its the "wear" I am worried about, like if its a seal or pressure issue. I mean its sealed now, but this might be telling of a weak point that might cause a problem. I'll try to get in touch with Ikelite about it.

On the WB, I was using an LED video light without a flash or strobe. I suppose I *could* have been at settings where the image was too dark or bright, but I really recall being at some acceptable exposure setting (or at least near it). I don't recall the exposure meter in red either. I also tried WB-ing from the sand (of course the light didn't reach it), and the color was still off (greenish hue to it). I'll try this again and report back. Or better yet, yeah maybe I SHOULD be shooting in RAW. That quite solves it doesn't it -- leave it in AWB then correct in developing.

I'll test photo-to-video white balancing on my next dive (in 2 weeks). Might be useful for people with the same rig.

On the battery, I tried turning the camera on/off, and that's how i figured out that the power button doesn't work Gotta live with it I guess -- one charged battery per dive it is.

Thanks!

 

[Golo]

The S110 will keep the white balance when you switch from Photo to Video. And you can test that right away, no need to be under water.
When fully charged, my battery lasted for two full dives (in 26-27°C water), though I rarely shoot video. I also shut down my camera when I'm not taking pictures and when I look at my data, I took about 35 to 40 pictures (raw+jpg) per dive on average, 90-100% with flash.

 

[Hetland]

Battery - Turn off the AF lamp, Turn of key tones, set camera flash to lowest setting, turn IS to shoot only, turn off red-eye reduction, turn off splash screen on power-up.

Basically turn off everything you don't use or need for underwater photography.

 

[boy22ban]

Thanks golo and hetland!

 

[tarponchik]

1 & 2 problems with housing. There have been consistent reports of issues of ikelite housing with Canon S series

This happens but you need to grease the buttons steel rods every once in a while. I use the same silicon grease used for the housing lid O-ring.