Where do I go from here?

[sylpha]

I've been very lucky in that i took my camera out of soak, dried it off & left it for an hour or so to completly dry before i opened it - i always do that, i'm usually washing dive kit at the same time. When i opened it there was a rather wet bag of silica gel & a puddle in the bottom of the housing. Now, how about this for being jammy - the camera was fine, bone dry & working perfectly!

my first suspicion was the O ring (well it always is isn't it?) then i noticed a crack, on closer inspection it really was a crack not an optical illusion. The housing is to put no finer point on it b*******!

A long conversation followed with 'tuther 'arf and he insists that i shouldn't sit & wait till another comes up on e bay, but replace it straight away, no he really did insist i told you i am lucky! the problem is that it's a discontinued model so throwing money at a shop just isn't going to work, i have to replace it with either something completly new including the camera or something temporary till another housing comes up.

I've had some thoughts on the matter, but i would appreciate thoughts from other perspectives. At the moment i have many options, the hard part is going to be making a decision before i lose too many diving days .

 

[Mariozi]

What camera/housing are we talking about?

 

[Nemrod]

Drip some polycarbonate cement into the crack and see if it either closes the crack or completely melts the housing.

N

 

[sylpha]

What camera/housing are we talking about?

sorry, should have said, Oly 8080 with Ike housing. I've had it 5 years or so,by modern standeards it's an antique, but i love the camera.

 

[ayeshacantrell]

I loved my 8080 too. The Ikelite housing was a mistake - but thats another story.....I sold my camera and housing but I know who has it .... it is always possible that he might sell it if you are interested (mail me directly) but personally I would look for something new .... you wont miss the annoying shutter lag, the weight or the vignetting caused by the housing ..... trust me...

if the 8080 is still functional you have a camera that you love for land stuff.....

You can now get alot more compact cameras with a much lighter weight housing and fantastic pictures or you can choose the DSLR route.....thats really a personal choice.

I chose the DSLR route and now love my Subal, Nikon and variety of lenses even more but this is quite a hassle to travel with .......and quite an investment. If you travel to dive alot then I would think about something more compact.

 

[sylpha]

Drip some polycarbonate cement into the crack and see if it either closes the crack or completely melts the housing.

N

Thanks for the idea, there's nothing to lose on the housing, but having thought about it I don't think it would work for me. i don't think i could trust the repair, even if it worked & went on for years i would always have that nagging thought in my mind that there's a weak spot & it could break again and that would spoil my dives.

 

[Mariozi]

After 5 years... Go the upgrade route.
Pick up a DSLR or another camera.

 

[sylpha]

I just want to say thanks for the advice, I have a friend who is a superb portrait photographer who has pushed me hard to buy a dslr, but i've decided against that.

After much navel contemplation & deep deep thoughts i reasoned that what i really want is to take some nice piccis in the water. I know that if i put a macro lens on then you can guarantee that the water will be crystal clear & i'll come across a breeding pair of merpeople and if i put on a dome port then there will be a massive plankton bloom & visibilith will be measured in inches. with a compact i can take lenses with me & change then on the front of the port no matter what the conditions i can still take photographs.

After much rootling around on t'internet i've decided on a Nikon P5000. I know it's bordering on the antique even though it's younger than me, but the housing gives me everything i want.

So after delivery (fingers crossed next week) all i need is for these winds to drop so i can go diving.

again many thanks.