New dive camera.

[danroberts]

Recently i revieved a new dive camera as a present, it says it is rated to 39 metres, would it be safe to go deeper then that?

 

[DiverGirl1972]

Is there something specific beneath 39 meters that you are interested in photographing or are you just curious. You would certainly risk damaging the housing and in turn, the camera, if you exceed the recommended depth rating. That doesn't mean it will automatically fail at 40 meters, but if you plan on taking it below 39 meters, why not upgrade the housing to one better suited for greater depths?

 

[CT-Rich]

it probably won't fail right away, but the extra pressure may fatigue the housing and over time may cause permanent damage. If you are going to use it like that on regular basis you probably should up grade. the Seals on it may also allow leakage at greater depths. taking it too deep would also void the warranty.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

The depth limit is set by the ones who know most about the camera. It is folly to exceed that specification, as failure is possible, probably likely. There are many cool things to photograph underwater, and 99% of them will be found in water shallower than 39 meters. Following directions and specifications is a good habit when it comes to any kind of underwater equipment.
DivemasterDennis

 

[mattoau]

I have a housing rated to 40m but it is just about unusable deeper than 30m. The reason for this is that the button return springs are no longer strong enough to counter the pressure at depth. The buttons become constantly depressed on the camera and it ceases to work properly. Next time I service the housing I'll upgrade the springs.

So taking your camera deeper than the rating is no guarantee that it will leak, but will it work?

 

[Phil_C]

it probably won't fail right away, but the extra pressure may fatigue the housing and over time may cause permanent damage. If you are going to use it like that on regular basis you probably should up grade. the Seals on it may also allow leakage at greater depths. taking it too deep would also void the warranty.

Don't get carried away with warranties on dive housings - I have carefully read the conditions on my housing warranties (because my Canon housing started to leak at 18m after only 9 months use) and it clearly says not warrantied against failure whilst diving. The warranty is only against failure of parts due to faulty manufacture. I know you could argue an O ring leaking at depth is a failure, but I got the impression that they were saying that would not be covered.

This quote below is from the Watershot warranty statement for their Canon housings-

Watershot cannot indemnify anyone for any loss or damage to cameras or lenses caused either directly or indirectly by mechanical malfunction or flooding of this product -

- P

---------- Post Merged at 10:40 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:34 PM ----------

Umm - Canons own warranty says similar, and just found this on the "10 Bar" Housing Warranty for Canon Cameras -

7. Warranty
The warranty is valid within two years from the date of first purchase. The warranty applies only to the
housing itself. 10BAR does not accept any liability either implicit or otherwise for any
equipment housed inside, or used together with the housing. In the event of the housing
flooding within the period of warranty, 10BAR will repair or replace the housing. Please note that
disassembly of the housing will invalidate warranty. Please fill in the information below, and return a
copy to 10Bar Underwater Housing at the address below, to validate the warranty.

Wonder what the legality of this actually is - surely an 'underwater housing' sold and marketted as such has to be fit for purpose and that is use underwater?

P

 

[drdaddy]

Recently i revieved a new dive camera as a present, it says it is rated to 39 metres, would it be safe to go deeper then that?

Don't go any deeper than the 39 meters.

I remember buying a number of inexpensive disposable underwater Kodak film cameras - good to 15 meters (50 feet). While diving the warm clear waters of the Red Sea - it stopped working at exactly 15 meters and as soon as I went back up - it started working above 15 meters. I've had a couple of these cameras and they all did exactly the same thing. They also took great pictures!!! Oh, I almost forgot to mention - I took these cameras regularly to 40 meters with no leakage - they just stopped working at 15 meters.

I own a digital Canon now with their housing. It has worked flawless. But I would never take it below it's rated depth.

I'm not an expert, but I personally would not risk taking an expensive camera down below it's rated pressure/depth. I don't think the problem would be leakage, but just (I hope) the camera would "freeze up" from pressure.

P.S. I have a couple of the outdated Kodaks left. I used one of these "leftover" Kodaks on a river trip yesterday rather than risking my expensive Canon. When I get it developed I will ask for a digital disc as well as the photos/negatives.

 

[Madacub]

Hi Dan, in my experience, taking housings (Panasonic and Canon) with properly cleaned O rings past 40 metres, which was their rated depth, did not cause leaks. But similar to Mattoau in # 5 above, buttons sometimes became unresponsive around 20 -30 metres. This was not consistent and happened even with properly cleaned O rings and housings. On these dives, once I ascended to shallower than about 20 metres, the buttons became responsive again.

On the other hand, I did have leaks in the housing around 20 metres when I did not clean the O rings/housing.

If you want to experiment, and assuming you are properly trained/qualified for diving deeper than 40 metres, try taking the housing down without a camera inside.

Hope this helps, dive carefully, and hope you don't wreck your new camera!

 

[CT-Rich]

I have a housing rated to 40m but it is just about unusable deeper than 30m. The reason for this is that the button return springs are no longer strong enough to counter the pressure at depth. The buttons become constantly depressed on the camera and it ceases to work properly. Next time I service the housing I'll upgrade the springs.

So taking your camera deeper than the rating is no guarantee that it will leak, but will it work?

absolutely a good point! I had forgotten that the shutter release is designed to counter the ambient water pressure. I have bee spending a lot of time on warranties recently at work and it was just sort of where my head was at when responding to this thread

---------- Post Merged at 11:07 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:02 PM ----------

Don't get carried away with warranties on dive housings - I have carefully read the conditions on my housing warranties (because my Canon housing started to leak at 18m after only 9 months use) and it clearly says not warrantied against failure whilst diving. The warranty is only against failure of parts due to faulty manufacture. I know you could argue an O ring leaking at depth is a failure, but I got the impression that they were saying that would not be covered.

This quote below is from the Watershot warranty statement for their Canon housings-

Watershot cannot indemnify anyone for any loss or damage to cameras or lenses caused either directly or indirectly by mechanical malfunction or flooding of this product -

- P

---------- Post Merged at 10:40 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:34 PM ----------

Umm - Canons own warranty says similar, and just found this on the "10 Bar" Housing Warranty for Canon Cameras -

7. Warranty
The warranty is valid within two years from the date of first purchase. The warranty applies only to the
housing itself. 10BAR does not accept any liability either implicit or otherwise for any
equipment housed inside, or used together with the housing. In the event of the housing
flooding within the period of warranty, 10BAR will repair or replace the housing. Please note that
disassembly of the housing will invalidate warranty. Please fill in the information below, and return a
copy to 10Bar Underwater Housing at the address below, to validate the warranty.

Wonder what the legality of this actually is - surely an 'underwater housing' sold and marketted as such has to be fit for purpose and that is use underwater?

P

Most warranties cover only the product. it gets too expensive if they start incliuding the camera inside the housing. You assume a certain amount of risk when putting an expensive camera in water, even with a housing. I have heard that some people buy good quality beach cameras ( good for 3-5m) inside a housing. If the housing leaks just bit, the camera is protected from the water.

 

[mattoau]

I've not had a problem with the shutter release spring, that one appears to be much stronger than the other buttons. However when one or more of the other buttons are depressed the camera locks up and will not shoot. The trouble is if I strenghten the springs through spacers, upgrades, stretching or doubling up, then there is a chance I will make the camera less usable and responsive at shallower depths. A small chance, but still a chance.

Next compact camera I get will probably be suitable for 10m, and then use it in a 40m+ housing for a belts and braces approach. That should be suitable for almost anything other than a catastrophic flood.