Buttons don't work on Ikelite housing for Canon Elph 300hs camera

[clocksinp]

I just purchased the Ikelite housing for the Canon 300hs Elph for an upcoming scuba trip and was trying it out in my home to make sure it worked. About half the buttons do not function, including the video button. Maybe they will function at depth when the housing compresses a bit, but I need a housing which will work for snorkeling and shallow scuba as well. Also, the little rubber caps on the inside of the housing which cover the rods which depress the actual camera buttons are insecure and keep falling off whenever I open the housing. I'm hoping I'll be able to find a good housing for the Canon 300hs camera, as I believe it will be a great camera for diving with it's underwater mode, forced flash, and good macro abilities, not to mention the autofocusing HD video. Any help you can give me would be much appreciated.:depressed:

I too purchased an Ikelite housing for the Canon 300hs Elph Camera, from B & H Photo/video, and the case was delivered on the afternoon of 8/29/12. I ordered the Elph through Amazon.com via another dealer. When I took the camera on my next dive trip, I couldn't get the case to operate the controls, so didn't dive with it. I called B&H to deal with it, they referred me to Ikelite. Ikelite said that B&H shipped me the wrong case, that it was supposed to be an Ikelite 6243.03 rather than the 6243.31 that B&H shipped. Ikelite said to return it to B&H for an exchange. B&H refused to exchange it, in spite of never being used, and in the original packaging. They said I didn't return it in time, (barely two months). B&H told me that my only recourse is try to sell it on Craig's List. I still plan to call Ikelite again to see if thy can help me. If not, I'm just out of $260.00 bucks. Moral, don't buy over internet unless you have an expert on hand to immediately evaluate your purchase. Otherwise, stick to local dive shops. ADDENDUM: On a third call, after speaking with Ikelite, B&H finally agreed to an exchnge if I pay a $38.99 (15%) restocking fee.

 

[SpeckledGrouper]

I finally got around to sending my housing back to Ikelite. It sat and collected dust while I was using the Canon housing to take some decent pictures for the last year and a half. Initially, the service department told me they couldn't find a problem with the housing. I literally begged them to recheck everything and make 100% sure all the buttons where working flawlessly before sending it back. When I received it back, all the buttons seemed to work great, except the shutter button, still, 9 out of 10 times, I don't get the green box. Not sure what I could do to remedy that. I also got the AF35 strobe. It's kinda cumbersome to use. If I hold onto the handle of the strobe, my fingers are too short to reach the shutter button. So I squeeze in between the housing and the strobe handle to push the shutter button, a little awkward.....When I try and press the shutter button, the whole tray starts flexing....and again, having a hard time to get a green box.

Any suggestions?

 

[Ikelite Staff]

SpeckledGrouper,

We are sorry to hear of the trouble you experienced with the housing. One possible remedy would be to remove the little black sleeve on the end of the shutter arm and replace it with a rubber mushroom tip (included in the extra control tips bag that came with your housing. If necessary, using an X-acto or single edge razor blade, trim off the small end of the tip toward the middle of the tip. This should allow the tip to cleanly hit the camera shutter button without engaging the outer rim of the camera shutter button.
It is quite possible that our shop camera has a more sensitive shutter button that properly engaged when your housing was at Ikelite.
If the problem still exists, please send the housing to Ikelite Service with a copy of this thread. We will move you to the front of the line and return it to you as soon as possible. Send to:

Ikelite Underwater Systems
Attn: Service Department
50 West 33rd st.,
Indpls., IN 46208

Best Regards,

Brett Foster - Ikelite

 

[SpeckledGrouper]

SpeckledGrouper,

We are sorry to hear of the trouble you experienced with the housing. One possible remedy would be to remove the little black sleeve on the end of the shutter arm and replace it with a rubber mushroom tip (included in the extra control tips bag that came with your housing. If necessary, using an X-acto or single edge razor blade, trim off the small end of the tip toward the middle of the tip. This should allow the tip to cleanly hit the camera shutter button without engaging the outer rim of the camera shutter button.
It is quite possible that our shop camera has a more sensitive shutter button that properly engaged when your housing was at Ikelite.
If the problem still exists, please send the housing to Ikelite Service with a copy of this thread. We will move you to the front of the line and return it to you as soon as possible. Send to:

Ikelite Underwater Systems
Attn: Service Department
50 West 33rd st.,
Indpls., IN 46208

Best Regards,

Brett Foster - Ikelite

Hi Brett,

I did what you suggested and it seems to be working much better! I do have 2 more questions for you or anybody that would like to chime in.

The housing came with 2 different deflectors, one opaque, one more translucent. Which one do I use with the AF 35 strobe? How do I attach it to the housing as no lanyard was included with the housing.

Also, is it suggested to leave the camera in auto mode or manual mode when using the strobe?

Thanks for your time.

 

[oreocookie]

The housing came with 2 different deflectors, one opaque, one more translucent. Which one do I use with the AF 35 strobe? How do I attach it to the housing as no lanyard was included with the housing.

I can't comment on which to use with the strobe, because I don't have one myself, but an easy way i found to attach it to the the housing is using a piece of fishing line. I've got a loop of it threaded through the hole in the deflector on one end and threaded through the wrist lanyard hole on the housing on the other end. I've got it as a big loop (big enough for the deflector to fit through), so it be removed entirely or the deflector can easily be switched for the other one without untying the whole thing.

 

[Ikelite Staff]

Hi Brett,

I did what you suggested and it seems to be working much better! I do have 2 more questions for you or anybody that would like to chime in.

The housing came with 2 different deflectors, one opaque, one more translucent. Which one do I use with the AF 35 strobe? How do I attach it to the housing as no lanyard was included with the housing.

Also, is it suggested to leave the camera in auto mode or manual mode when using the strobe?

Thanks for your time.

The opaque deflector should be used with the AF35 strobe. The translucent diffuser should be used specifically when only using the on-board camera flash. Either can be attached with a fishing line or string.

From the Ikelite 6243.03 supplemental instruction manual, page 3:
- Move Mode Switch to “camera icon” setting and use “P” Program mode.

Best Regards,

Brett Foster - Ikelite

 

[rling]

I also got the AF35 strobe. It's kinda cumbersome to use. If I hold onto the handle of the strobe, my fingers are too short to reach the shutter button. So I squeeze in between the housing and the strobe handle to push the shutter button, a little awkward.....When I try and press the shutter button, the whole tray starts flexing....and again, having a hard time to get a green box.

Any suggestions?

On my AF-35 the tab that holds the strobe arm onto the tray snapped through -- luckily I was still on the boat, not in the water. I think it's bound to happen sooner or later so best replace it now.

I got a long strip of thin aluminium from a hardware store, cut it into 3 lengths, stacked them on top of each other and it was exactly the right size to slide snugly into the bracket on the bottom of the strobe arm. Filed a notch for the screw that fits the strobe arm, and drilled a hole for the screw that fits the housing. I put the strobe arm just far enough from the housing for my fingers to hold the handle, so I can comfortably work buttons with both hands while holding with my left hand.

Initially the housing could rotate on the tripod screw, I fixed that with double sided tape.