Camera Floods: Avoiding the High Water Mark

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Did you jump in holding the camera or was it handed down to you in the water?
I've flooded a camera by jumping in with it.

--- bill
 
bperrybap:
Did you jump in holding the camera or was it handed down to you in the water?
I've flooded a camera by jumping in with it.

--- bill
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Had it handed to me. In fact, it was the DM who noticed the flood before I did. Someone still on deck said she heard a "pop" but I didn't. Just got a letter from Olympus telling me my camera is toast. I thought so. They offered me a SP-550 UZ for $308 though their repair exchange program. I never heard of this camera. I'm so confused about what to do now.:confused:
 
I just recently purchased the Olympus 770sw. (Great camera!) Alone the camera is waterproof to 33 feet. Soon I'll be getting the housing that can go to 130 feet. I can't wait. For me this is a great starter camera. Although I will take great care with the housing, if it does flood I won't have to worry about the camera becoming a paperweight - it's waterproof.

MaryAnn
 
Thanks, Jack, no doubt about it, rinse and keep your camera near you is the best policy...

fairybasslet, I flooded my Oly SP350 part way through my May dive trip to Bonaire, so I take extra precautions now each time I dive or snorkel. Even then, I tested it in the BVI before going in the water for a snorkel and it was fine. It was a shallow snorkel and I noticed a slight flood as soon as I put the camera in the ocean. Fortunately, I got the camera out of the water before any damage happened...

lil' castaway, would like to hear about your experiences with the 770sw and housing. It makes sense to have a camera that's waterproof inside a housing. Of course, I don't know what would happen to the camera if the housing floods below 33 ft....

Safe diving, alashas honeymoon2's photos- powered by SmugMug
 
alashas:
lil' castaway, would like to hear about your experiences with the 770sw and housing. It makes sense to have a camera that's waterproof inside a housing. Of course, I don't know what would happen to the camera if the housing floods below 33 ft....
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I'll let you know when I get the housing. (Hopefully very soon!) I read a review about the camera and one guy forgot he had the camera in his bc pocket and took it down (without the housing) to 100'. It had just a couple beads of water inside the battery compartment but no damage. I bought it at Best Buy and purchased the protection plan - since it's a waterproof camera then flooding is covered. Not the case on other cameras. No additional cost on the plan.

Great Honeymoon pictures!!!
 
lil' castaway,

I don't usually buy the protection plans, but it makes sense with the 770sw. Glad to hear it did well at 100'

Thanks, will hopefully have a few more photo albums when we return from the BVI in mid-Jan. My Oly SP 350 worked pretty well in Sept., but my strobe didn't. I've just replaced the bulkhead, so we'll see....

Happy new year, alashas honeymoon2's photos- powered by SmugMug
 
fairybasslet:
I still have not been able to figure out where I went wrong. I followed all of the advice you gave. I have gotten the same advice from other uw photogs so it seems like a good protocol to follow. Anyway, I took my housing down by itself after flying to Australia. It was fine. I put the camera in, tested it in the rinse tank. fine. I even have some photos from inside the rinse tank. Splashed in the coral sea...flood. First dive of my trip and my camera was toast. :11: Just for the hell of it, I took the housing down again by itself and it was fine.
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Sorry to hear that, very frustrating. And that is very strange. Probably something to do with a bad control oring, but that's a total guess. It may have shifted position with the camera installed and leaked...?? I would have them also replace the housing. I have seen that happen, in fact a customer had a similar experience with a strobe housing recently. I believe in his case it's a bad bulkhead, luckily a minor flood that didn't wreck his strobe. But it didn't repeat the leak in the rinse tank.

Just a thought (ok, shameless plug ;-) ). Fantasea housings do come with 1 year of free flood insurance. When a customer has a problem, DEPP replaces their camera and Fantasea fixes or replaces the housing. Doesn't make up for a lost vacation, but it helps. The FP5000 for the CoolPix P5100 is an awesome combo.

Jack
 
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