klausi
Contributor
I recently got the Olympus OM-D E-M1 (plus 60mm macro lens) with the Olympus housing, and I love it, it’s an awesome camera (some samples here). I did however have 2 very odd leaks in about 20 dives with the camera:
- The leaks started only after about 10 minutes of diving, at about 12-15 meters deep.
- about one shot glass of water entered the housing. Once I saw that I surfaced, which took about a minute. The amount of water entered was so small that the camera was not damaged. It was a scare nevertheless.
- the first time this happened I had not removed the rubber frame of the viewfinder, as is recommended. I did that after the dive (and replaced the main o-ring), and there was no leak for the next 20 dives. The housing closed without unusual mechanical resistance with that rubber frame on, but can it be that it pushes against the lid just enough to cause a micro-leak?
- the second time this happened I cleaned the main and port o-rings, and the ridges in which they sit afterwards and I found some of the very fine dark volcanic sand which we have in Dauin/Philippines. The sand grans are finer than usual beach sand (more of a silt than a sand), and I saw a knife tip worth of them, not much at all. Still, can that be enough to cause a small leak?
Question: did anyone else have problems like that? Was leak #1 due to the rubber frame being present, and leak #2 due to the sand? Or is this a defective o-ring of a button, or some factory defect of the housing? These leaks are so odd since they only happen after a while into the dive, and the amount of water entering is minute. Normally if there is an o-ring problem the housing is full right away. What is going on here? Many thanks for feedback!
- The leaks started only after about 10 minutes of diving, at about 12-15 meters deep.
- about one shot glass of water entered the housing. Once I saw that I surfaced, which took about a minute. The amount of water entered was so small that the camera was not damaged. It was a scare nevertheless.
- the first time this happened I had not removed the rubber frame of the viewfinder, as is recommended. I did that after the dive (and replaced the main o-ring), and there was no leak for the next 20 dives. The housing closed without unusual mechanical resistance with that rubber frame on, but can it be that it pushes against the lid just enough to cause a micro-leak?
- the second time this happened I cleaned the main and port o-rings, and the ridges in which they sit afterwards and I found some of the very fine dark volcanic sand which we have in Dauin/Philippines. The sand grans are finer than usual beach sand (more of a silt than a sand), and I saw a knife tip worth of them, not much at all. Still, can that be enough to cause a small leak?
Question: did anyone else have problems like that? Was leak #1 due to the rubber frame being present, and leak #2 due to the sand? Or is this a defective o-ring of a button, or some factory defect of the housing? These leaks are so odd since they only happen after a while into the dive, and the amount of water entering is minute. Normally if there is an o-ring problem the housing is full right away. What is going on here? Many thanks for feedback!