Sticking Button

[DiveLvr]

Hi everyone,
I am new at U/W photography. I have a DC 800 with Pro Strobe. I have had the camera for a couple of years but it has not seen much "action". That said, the actual camera in the sealife housing is a replacement and just over a year old (the original camera was stolen). What use the housing/camera has had has been mostly in saltwater. I always rinse the unit in freah water after every dive and store it in the carrying case.

I was diving recently in a freshwater spring at about 65 ft and had a problem pushing the shutter button and the zoom buttons but nothing happened. Earlier in the dive in shallower water I didn't have any problem. Is this a depth/pressure problem? I thought this camera housng was rated much deeper than 65 ft.

Any thoughts?

DiveLvr

 

[gustele]

I had a problem with sticking buttons with my Sealife DC500 housing. A mail to the Sealife support learnt that there is an easy solution to avoid this. Put a little bit of silicone grease at the tip of a toothpick and grease the shaft of the sticking button. Push and release the button several times to spread the grease over the shaft. That solved my problem. But yours sounds different. It sounds as if the external button doesn't reach the camera button. Was your camera properly inserted in the housing? Check that first. Greasing the button shafts doesn't hurt your housing so that is always something that you can try.

 

[DiveLvr]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I had taken about 40 or so pictures at a shallower depth (30 ft or less) before having the sticking problem at 65ft. After the dive I took the camera out and did see the button sticking. I'll try your tip and see if that solves the problem. Gives me an excuse to go diving again!

Doug

 

[swimming gopher]

I had this same problem with my DC1000. I had to send it back to Sealife to get it fixed

 

[Dom Perignon]

I had this problem with my DC1200: at depth (below 15 m) three of the piano keys (play, menu, focus) would sometimes get stuck in. I had been carefully rinsing and even soaking the case but even on land I could tell those buttons showed some resistance popping back out.

I contacted Sealife and they replaced both the case and the camera with brand new ones.

 

[supergaijin]

+1 for silicone but I would rather go for a silicone spray on to an old plate (or similar) and then transferred to a tooth pick- the spray is finer and is less likely to attract foreign matter like regular silicone grease.

 

[AfterDark]

You might try soaking the case in warm water. There could be fine salt particles hanging things up. I had that problem on DC1000, SeaLife replaced it with a DC1200. I use the warm water soak on the DC1200, so far so good. My DC1000 and now DC1200 didn't see much action. The NC diving trip last summer killed my DC1000. Even though that camera was taken from my hands at the dive platform and put directly into a bucket of ambient temp freshwater after each dive, it did no good. Before the week was over the buttons were stuck at depth 100+fsw. I rented a camera from the LDS to finish the trip.

I also spray silicone on the inside button(s) mech. and work them to spread the silicone, then wipe the excess off let it air dry.

 

[SeaLife Cameras]

We do not recommend applying silicone spray or lubricant to the button assembly. That may do more harm than good. Do this: Place the sealed housing in a fresh water tub for about 10 minutes. Press each button about 10 times to flush out any salt or sand trapped in the button assembly. Towel dry housing and allow to completely dry before storage. If you are still experiencing a sticking button problem at depth on your housing please contact our service center, Parts and Service | Sealife Cameras .