Question PT-059 Lens is Fogged

[living4experiences]

On my last dive of a 15-dive trip, I couldn't take pictures with my TG-6 in my PT-059 housing because the image was blurry. Post-dive, there was a small amount of water in the housing. Now that I'm home and cleaned and dried everything, there is a permanent fog on the lens. I've attached a picture of the fog that covers the whole lens. Any ideas what happened? Do these housings have a limited life? I've got 300 dives on it.

How do I get rid of the fog? Is it possible to self-diagnose it? I'm not in any way proficient with underwater camera gear repair. This is my first housing I've had. I've got a bucket list trip coming in a couple of months and don't want to worry about this, especially if I've gotten the most use out of it already and it's time to buy a new one.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Mike1967]

I know jack **** about it but I'd start with those 5 screws

 

[arew+4]

It's hard to tell from the image with the back of the camera closed, but is the fog/haze on the inside or the outside of the glass? If it's the outside I would suspect something got between the cover and the glass and caused light scratching. If it's on the inside I would think maybe chemical etching if the glass or anti reflective coating if there is one. Contact Olympus and see if they can service it, if not order a replacement glass replace it yourself and take a dive or two with an empty housing to make sure it's all good.

 

[Nemrod]

On my last dive of a 15-dive trip, I couldn't take pictures with my TG-6 in my PT-059 housing because the image was blurry. Post-dive, there was a small amount of water in the housing. Now that I'm home and cleaned and dried everything, there is a permanent fog on the lens. I've attached a picture of the fog that covers the whole lens. Any ideas what happened? Do these housings have a limited life? I've got 300 dives on it.

How do I get rid of the fog? Is it possible to self-diagnose it? I'm not in any way proficient with underwater camera gear repair. This is my first housing I've had. I've got a bucket list trip coming in a couple of months and don't want to worry about this, especially if I've gotten the most use out of it already and it's time to buy a new one.

Any advice is appreciated.

If you have a bucket list trip coming up then I strongly urge you to order a new housing today. First, it had water in it for an unknown reason and second there appears to be damage to the anti-reflection coating as a result. When talking once in a lifetime trips, the cost of a new housing for a TG6 is nothing.

I have had poor luck with various such housings from Canon, Nikon and one from Olympus. They all seem to leak or sweat water. But I also have several regular dive buddies with the TG6 and the OE housing and they have had zero issues.

 

[tursiops]

Once that series of housings gets water in it, it tends to fog a long time. The problem is the rubber bumpers inside soak up water....and need to be thoroughly dried out before being used again, They need to be removed before drying.
I agree; the port glass (it is not a lens) looks etched.
That housing should be replaced. It is amortized...about $1 per dive.

 

[arew+4]

Retail the picture with the lens cap off, take it from a shallow angle, from the outside and from the inside. (initially it looked to me like it was taken from the outside but upon further inspection...)

 

[living4experiences]

I took the picture of the port glass with the lens cap off and the housing open and placed a pink Post-It on a table so you could see the fog. So the view is into the housing as it's opened, as if you were going to take a picture looking through the glass. I can't get a better picture to send because the closer I get, the reflection of my cell phone obscures the fog.

I can't even tell if it's two panes of glass and there's moisture between the two panes. If it's a single pane of glass, it seems to be on the outside.

I called Backscatter for some info and estimated diagnosis and repair. It starts at $75 and could be $200, plus I pay for shipping both ways. Better to just get a new one. One nice surprise is that the price is still $299, the same price I paid.

 

[living4experiences]

Once that series of housings gets water in it, it tends to fog a long time. The problem is the rubber bumpers inside soak up water....and need to be thoroughly dried out before being used again, They need to be removed before drying.
I agree; the port glass (it is not a lens) looks etched.
That housing should be replaced. It is amortized...about $1 per dive.

What are the bumpers? Those rubber pieces inside attached to the button springs and the big square piece of removeable rubber on the right side when the housing is opened?

 

[tursiops]

What are the bumpers? Those rubber pieces inside attached to the button springs and the big square piece of removeable rubber on the right side when the housing is opened?

All the rubber pieces...

 

[Nemrod]

If you are certain there remains no leak then you could close the housing up with a desiccant pack inside to dry any residual moisture. But, the housing did not just get water in it, there is a leak somewhere if it was only a piece of fuzz on the main seal. Water in a camera housing is never a good thing. Was the water simply condensation caused by closing the housing in a very warm and very humid condition and then submerging in cool water?