Deep diving camea problem

[Kuti]

Hi everyone.I have encontered a problem when shooting below 45 meters.the first one happened when I was at 55 meters and wanted to film a huge morale but looking in the view finder I noticed that the lens was set at full zoom out,beeing with the wide angle I could not focuse properly.I tried o zoom in from the controls but to my surprise this was very hard to operate.I had to go to 40 meters to adjust.The sencond one I was again in the 50 meter range filmng a second war wreck and the zoom again went to full out by itself.What I am thinking is that by the pressure inside the housing the lever move to the other side.No other expleanation I can think off.The hosing is Ekelite and he camera is HDR HC1.Iam thinking of making a spascer behind the zoom lever to keep it from going full zoom, any one experienced he same problem.

Thanks
Kuti

 

[WannaLaguna]

Hi everyone.I have encontered a problem when shooting below 45 meters.the first one happened when I was at 55 meters and wanted to film a huge morale but looking in the view finder I noticed that the lens was set at full zoom out,beeing with the wide angle I could not focuse properly.I tried o zoom in from the controls but to my surprise this was very hard to operate.I had to go to 40 meters to adjust.The sencond one I was again in the 50 meter range filmng a second war wreck and the zoom again went to full out by itself.What I am thinking is that by the pressure inside the housing the lever move to the other side.No other expleanation I can think off.The hosing is Ekelite and he camera is HDR HC1.Iam thinking of making a spascer behind the zoom lever to keep it from going full zoom, any one experienced he same problem.

Thanks
Kuti

The only thing I can think of is that you are getting "very" close to the maximum operating depth of that housing (60m). I consider these depth charts to be like our dive tables and we don't dive to the maximum depth/time allowed to leave room for safety and other variables...just a thought..

 

[Kuti]

I know what you mean but here in Malta most wrecks are beyond 45 meters specially those of the secondworld war.We have also a wreck of the first worldwar which is still intact whit its cargo, they call it the small titanic,it is a 150 mt. cruise liner which at that time was used by the navy,top deck is 55 meters and it is the dream of every diver to dive on it.We dive with mixed gasses on it.So you understand why I go that deep.I will try my home bulit houseing which I had tested to 80 meters which I use to scan the bottom whit a cheap camera in it and a video cable from it to my boat on a 5 ins. monitor.I try my housing and keep you informed.

 

[diversteve]

The expensive solution is sell the Ikelite and buy a Gates.

They're good to 450' (137.16m)

 

[Okidiver]

Hi Kuti,
I've only shot 11 hours of underwater video, but your issue is pressure OUTSIDE your housing jamming your zoom control rod to full zoom. I had a similar issue with my Gates Diego housing (VCR/OFF/CAMERA switch) easily fixed by removing the white spacer outside. Although not familiar with the Ikelite housing, inserting a spacer should fix your issue, but you might have to experiment to get the correct thickness. The folks at Ikelite should be able to help.
Rick

Hi everyone.I have encontered a problem when shooting below 45 meters.the first one happened when I was at 55 meters and wanted to film a huge morale but looking in the view finder I noticed that the lens was set at full zoom out,beeing with the wide angle I could not focuse properly.I tried o zoom in from the controls but to my surprise this was very hard to operate.I had to go to 40 meters to adjust.The sencond one I was again in the 50 meter range filmng a second war wreck and the zoom again went to full out by itself.What I am thinking is that by the pressure inside the housing the lever move to the other side.No other expleanation I can think off.The hosing is Ekelite and he camera is HDR HC1.Iam thinking of making a spascer behind the zoom lever to keep it from going full zoom, any one experienced he same problem.

Thanks
Kuti

 

[drbill]

I use a housing with electromagnetic controls, no thru-the-housing mechanical controls to screw up under pressure. I take my housing to 200 feet without any issues (as long as my housing o-rings are in good shape).

 

[Kuti]

The expensive solution is sell the Ikelite and buy a Gates.

They're good to 450' (137.16m)

Gates are very expensive and due to my age {60] it is not a wise investment.I will us the houseing I had made for this camera before buying the Ikelite.Mine I can go beyond 80 meters.I have only one control on and off.I wil use it for deep diving.
Thanks all you guys who tried to help.
Kuti.
Any information re.Diving in Malta PM me

 

[Trwmodela]

I have an Ikelite housing for my Sony Camcorder. The controls are greatly effected by pressure. I would suggest rotating the zoom control away from the switch on the camera. Set the zoom to wide angle before you enter the water. If the control moves it will not touch the zoom switch.

 

[Kuti]

Thanks,I give it another try ,I wiil make a spacer for the zoom control not to go down near the zoom rocker.
Kuti

 

[Kuti]

The expensive solution is sell the Ikelite and buy a Gates.

They're good to 450' (137.16m)

Steve from your profile you use the same camera like mine,Can you tell me what settings do you set yours.Mine I leave everything in Auto and do not use any colour filters.I only use a 35w HI which is equvalent to normal 110 watts.I had bought the parts from BRIGHTSTAR and contructed the lamp houseing myself.I use a a 12v 7.5 gel battery and stap it to my BCD.I only isolated the terminals by epoxy.I dived to 60 meters with it.The battery cost only about 12 dollars.
Cheers
Kuti