S120 or G16, ikelite or Canon housing....??

[Interceptor121]

Those posts prove little one is about some theory about models years old and another is about a guy who we nothing about. In the same post another user that had done hundreds if dive with the same housing. And all relate to the g series whilst here we talk about the S. I look on the gopro forum same stuff many floods with the same equipment other people don't flood mmm i would know where the issue is

 

[Hatul]

How can you say a housing is more prone to flooding of another? There is only a common characteristic amongst all floods: it was a user error. Oem housing are popular amongst beginners that in turn flood housings more so you hear more reports. For the same reason you hear no reports for example of Aquatica housing. However if you get a chipped oring or a hair in the seal or a silica packet in between your housing will flood regardless of brand

You may be right and I don't have a scientific way to disprove that. I've had two floods with Canon housings and I guess both times were "user error" and trashed the camera. In the first I did not thoroughly clean the O ring after a rough exit on a shore dive, and in the second the spring on the lock mechanism jammed so the latch was not locked shut. I also had a brand new Canon housing for a G16 that I found water drops in after one use, and I heard reports of others having leaking with Canon housings. It may be sample bias as you state-- who knows.

I've used my Ikelite housing for the S120 for a few months and feel it's a more robust mechanism.

 

[Interceptor121]

Unfortunate occurrences and feel sorry for you. Canon oem housing are outsourced repetitive manufacturing the design is geared towards people that want to take the camera in the water any of those only a few times and some snorkelling. They are cheap but they can to the distance I have had 5 years with various canon housing (non for the G series though) and had no trouble and never met anyone that did. Manufacturing defects can occur with any housing and good practice is to take the housing with a tissue inside on its first dive. Generally floods occurs at shallow depth though some may happen for wear and tear. I have no doubt ikelite housing are generally better however there have been quite a few reports of sticky or non functioning buttons on this thread for the S series super compact housing i would say far more than any G series flooding and have not heard ever of a canon S series flooding. Ultimately my advice was not based on a single defective unit or a user error but on functionality available

 

[rks]

A moisture sensor inside the housing reacts when you have already water in it. That is usually a bit late if you need to do a mandatory safety stop. Usually this is good only if you do a test in the rinse tank
With a proper leak detector vacuum based you check the integrity of the housing before and during the dive at the minimum pressure loss you know you have to make your way up. This is the right way to protect your investment but you need an accessory port on your housing

Also moisture sensor may react to condensation inside the housing (happens in plastic housing more than metal) that are not linked to leak and give a false alarm

I don't have any data on when leaks occur, do you? My supposition is if I Get a leak because of a hair, or salt crystal or sand, it'll happen pretty quick. So the hope is it would be caught in the rinse bucket, or just as I start to go down, I always look at the housing and camera as I start to descend, if I saw the light then I'd surface, hand the camera back tot he boat and go about my dive.

Now I finally found something to agree with you on which is that a pressure based leak down detector definitely can tell you, but since it's not an option in many housings and is instead something the users add in, that doesn't appeal to me seems far more likely to cause a leak that stuff designed into the housing by the manufacturer.

As for metal housings heat conductivity I've never seen or heard (apart from you) of a camera heating up a housing enough to do this, but since you're constantly cycling a flash in the housing seems like you might have that issue, there's a pretty simply solution, use wired strobes and don't cycle the flash in the housing.

 

[Interceptor121]

Let me try again. If you manage to get some humidity inside your housing when the camera hears up the air inside this vaporises. One this hot air gets in touch with a colder surface condensation happens. A plastic housing is insulant so the heat stays in and the vapor condenses on the part that conduces more heat which is the port. In an aluminium housing the heat is dispersed by the metal into the water that acts as a heat sink. So the temperature inside is never as high. If something had to condense generally the metal is cooler than the glass as it conducts more heat so condensation starts on the housing wall and eventually moves to the port. This is why when you see someone with a fogged port in most cases has a plastic housing. The strobe firing or not may or not be related usually what gets a camera really hot is shooting video

 

[Tafflad]

....... A plastic housing is insulant so the heat stays in and the vapor condenses on the part that conduces more heat which is the port.

I Have had multiple cameras and never once any fogging up, so while it can happen, doesn't mean it will.
Maybe it's because I prep camera in my room has AC therefore air in housing is dry ... but no proof this is reason, but never once had fogging.
I also do not use a dome only wet lenses, so may be reducing causes.

Probably in same way I have never had a flooded housing ... PPPPPP

 

[archiebald]

For the last five years I have only used plastic housings by camera makers, currently a WP-DC38 for the Canon S95. I prep the seals well, use desiccant and have never had a trace of leakage or condensation.

Leakage is far more likely to be user error

 

[Strotherma]

I went with the G16 and the Fantasea housing, with a S&S strobe. I have not been on a dive with it as yet, but I really like the housing and having access to all the camera controls. All the dials are working smoothly. I have a few questions about settings and such but I am still going over all the instructions and every article I can find. I got the wi-fi to work today and if it doesn't burn up battery life too much, would be handy to upload photos to my iPad without having to take the camera out of the housing. My biggest question is what setting to use with my strobe for most shots. I tend to shoot mostly close up and I did get the macro lens. It looks like I need to have the camera set on M and the internal flash up and set to force or auto flash, but not sure if I understood it correctly. I think I can also use P. I will read more but maybe someone could help. I will try to start a new thread. Good luck, I think you will love the G16.

---------- Post added May 7th, 2014 at 08:01 AM ----------

I switched from the Panasonic Lumix and just purchased the same, and also like macro. What settings are you using? I have the S&S YS 01 and the macro lens. On most dives we do not have a lot of time to fiddle with our camera settings, at east I don't. I only have 125 dives under my belt so I am also honing my diving skills. I would like settings that I can switch to for, macro, strobe, and ambient light situations. I have plenty of time to study and practice with my camera, next dive to the Philippines is not until October. Thanks for any input you can provide.

 

[Gail Currie]

I see you own a Fantasea housing. I just bought one for my new G-16 and am in the processing of getting used to it. I see that the desiccant's that came with the housing are flat rectangular. I am used to, and just purchased, the Moisture Munchers which are tubular. It's a tight fit but I can get one wedged into the housing on the left side. Do you know if this is not recommended?

My 2c worth...

I have just upgraded from the wonderful S95 to the G16. I used the S95 in Ikelite housing and have the Fantasea housing for my G16. I love it - so responsive, the buttons are so easy to press and camera reaction time is fantastic, just as fast as my dslr

It comes with a built in leak detector, and cold shoe and the price is very competitive. it is nice and compact and you can get the fantasea adaptor for adding diopters. I bought the bluewater +7 and am very happy with my first pics! I mainly do macro and this is simply a fantastic setup. Highly recommend it.

Have fun!