Power button for camera

[Bryan@Vintage Double Hose]

I posted this over at undewater photography and have yet to recieve any ideas.......I have a digital camera that I am going to use in a universal housing. Everything would be fine but on this camera you cannot turn the automatic shutoff off on it. So after 3 min of non use it goes off. I need a simple water proof rod with a gland that I can just push straight down and turn the camera back on.
Ikelite says it will not sell me component parts for a housing! Anyone have a spare or a suggestion on how I might build one? I have no problem purchasing one and doing the modification to the housing myself if I can just find the part. Thank You

 

[oxyhacker]

In the old days everyone made these with a brass NPT-to-tube fitting, and a bit or brass brazing rod or (better) SS rod.

They'd throw away the ferrule , and replace it with either an O-ring or two, or some faucet packing.

These work pretty good althought you got to check regularly that the compression nut is tight since the O-ring(s) are being used packing rather than functioning the way a proper O-ring should.

This would work if you can't find anything better, but you'd be safer with a proper gland made for the purpose. A lot of people use Ikelite controls, you might want to see if you can find a friendly Ikelite dealer who can get one for you.

Oh, have you explained your problem to whoever made the housing and asked them for suggestions? That should always be the first step.

 

[captain]

Depending on how deep you plan on taking it you might not want to use a control that you push straight down because water pressure will push it in and hold it in. You need to use a control with a right angle in it. The end that is outside the housing has a knob you turn and the other end is over the button. When you turn the knob the other end swings down and presses the button on the camera. I encountered the pressure problem on the first housing I built. I took it down to 30 feet and the pressure pushed the shutter button I pulled it out and the pressure pushed it right back in.

Captain

 

[Bryan@Vintage Double Hose]

That's a good thought Captain! Now all I need is to find someone with an old housing I can part out. Ikelite already told me they would not sell me individual parts.
http://www.camerashield.com/features.html That is the link to the housing. Any other ideas ? Thanks everyone for their help!

 

[tingkka]

before you actually dive with the housing, make sure the modification is water proof. you can check by diving with the housing but without the camera. if you get any moisture inside the camera, then that's not a good sign.

 

[mddolson]

How about fitting it with an Ikelite control gland?

I had the same problem on my stand by record/pause button on my cam-corder. After a few minutes the camera goes inot sleep mode, and I have to toggle the lock/stand by lever to reset it.

Mike D

 

[Tommygun53]

For my video housing I just went to Ikelite.com and went to replacement parts section and got the part# that i needed.Then I took this part # to my LDS and had them order it for me .It took about 2 weeks to come in.No problem...

Tom

 

[Padipro]

Ikelite won't sell you parts out right. You need to go to an authorized Ikelite dealer with the part number you're looking for. Others have posted the web site address so I won't post it again but I've bought several controls through a local dealer for my DIY video housing with no problem. The controls come in every shape and size you could imagine so you should be able to find something that will work.

Good Luck,

Scott

 

[ShoalDiverSA]

OWIC,

If you are using a digital camera, the simple option would be to press the shutter release every 2 minutes or so to keep the camera on. This is the recommendation from the Camera Shield designers, if I recall correctly.

The downsides of this option are battery power wastage, memory limitations (if applicable) and remembering to snap before the three minutes are up.

On the other hand, you will develop a supernatural sense of the real duration of three minutes, making safety stops a doddle!

Didn't answer your question, but maybe this helps...

Cheers,

Andrew