Another concern reg Ike S95 housing

[Fota]

Hi,

Many with me in Europe, have noticed that the Ike uw-housing for the S95 doesn't fit. No I'm not taking about the LCD, that works great for us but the problem is the buttons. It's more or less impossible to push any of the buttons unless you are either very deep or very strong. When snorkling you can just forget it unless you are a strong grown up and don't mind pushing real hard.

I made a "better than nothing" fix by replacing the rubber part (on the inside of the knob) with a rubber part that I had got as a spared part for my D-SLR housing. I had to cut them a little as they were too long. Now all buttons work great, but the D-SLR rubber part will easily come off so it's not a good solution (saved the diving trip though). My retailer told me Ikelite were aware of this problem and it was related to the the S95 sold in Europe was slightly different in size and that we should all get replacement parts from Ikelite. But, I have not got any and neither has any of my S95 friends in Europe. !?!?

Note that I'm talking about the buttons on the back of the camera and sorry for not knowing the correct english word for the rubber parts/cap/hat/etc!? but I'm sure you understand what I mean.

 

[Ikelite Staff]

We are unaware of a problem with S95 cameras sold in Europe. Which dealer/distributor provided you the information on replacement parts?

Replacement pushbutton tips can be requested through your local distributor. As we have no current plans to issue replacement tips for all European customers, these would have to be requested on a case-by-case basis.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

 

[slowhands]

This is in my opinion another example of Ikelite quickly responding to a problem and solving it. It's rare to find this level of support in any consumer business today.

I remember commenting when the S95 was announced that the slight difference in thickness might require a housing redesign or bigger spacers in front (which will worsen vignetting if too thick). It was about 1mm thinner, as I recall. And it seems like Canon might even have had a product variation in Europe that was thinner that led to the present situation. A housing manufacturer can't predict this sort of problem, but I for one am impressed by the stand up attitude in dealing with it.

 

[Lj82]

Hi.
I just got my ikelite housing and I tried using my S95 in it on land.
I have no problem with the LCD fit as well, but the menu button right in the middle doesn't work for me. I think the push button tip doesn't touch my camera when I fully depressed the button.

Would a replacement button tip do the job for this??

 

[Ikelite Staff]

Lj82 are you having a problem only with the central "Func Set" button? Are you depressing the pushbutton completely? On surface the pushbutton head will depress below the tops of the surrounding buttons before it activates. At depth the pushbutton will not need to be pressed as far.

You should have received a set of spare tips with the housing. Try using the same type of tip that is used on the shutter to see if it helps on the surface.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

 

[Tool Belt]

Ya gotta love Ikelite support.....they are always here for us. Kudos

 

[Lj82]

Lj82 are you having a problem only with the central "Func Set" button? Are you depressing the pushbutton completely? On surface the pushbutton head will depress below the tops of the surrounding buttons before it activates. At depth the pushbutton will not need to be pressed as far.

You should have received a set of spare tips with the housing. Try using the same type of tip that is used on the shutter to see if it helps on the surface.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

Hi Jean,
Thanks for your advice.
Indeed it's the function button giving me problems. I depressed the button completely but it doesn't work. I compared the height of the spare tips and they are all the same, so I doubt it would work.

So I cut up a used old ring and placed it inside the button tip for the function button, and it worked for me.

Thanks for your prompt response, Jean!

 

[Indigo Scuba Africa]

Hi Lj82

I had this problem on my first dive. None of the buttons on the back of the housing would work. I was able to use the knob on the top to switch between C (custom settings I'd saved for photos) and video but before I got on the dive boat I'd set the white balance to cloudy for above the surface filming on the boat and before descending.

When I reached the bottom, I could not press any of the buttons on the back of the housing so was unable to manually set the white balance, change to macro or adjust the exposure (the three settings I use underwater). I was devastated! This was my first dive after having the lcd screen issues!

However, I learned from this and next time I checked that the buttons were working before even going onto the boat. They weren't! I took the camera out of the housing, put it in again and everything worked fine. I guess one has to really make sure that the camera sits 100% correct in the housing?

I am sure you did this anyway?

The buttons ARE close together and with thick gloves and bigger fingers, depressing the function button could be difficult for some - and don't even think of trying it with long fingernails.

This is, however, a fantastic camera and we persevere.

 

[Fota]

We are unaware of a problem with S95 cameras sold in Europe. Which dealer/distributor provided you the information on replacement parts?

Replacement pushbutton tips can be requested through your local distributor. As we have no current plans to issue replacement tips for all European customers, these would have to be requested on a case-by-case basis.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

Hi Jean,

I have now spoken with the dealer again, and it turned out that I had misunderstood him slightly. He had indeed talked to you about the problem. He did speak to Duane in DEMA about the problem. He did suggest you to send replacement caps, but he did not know when or if you would do it. My dealer is unterwasserkamera.at.

Anyway, it's a big problem, the underwater housing is close to useless as it was delivered, so I would appreciate some solution.


Best regards,
Peter Segerdahl

 

[Ikelite Staff]

Peter,

I'm sorry for the problem and confusion. Duane will be getting back to you by email tomorrow regarding your case.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems