Weird G-10 problem?

[Warmwater Wank]

I have a G-10 I bought in March and am using it in a Canon housing. While diving on Bonaire last month I ran into an occassional set of "problems" that I have yet been unable to duplicate here at home. (No I am NOT blaming Bonaire!) After maybe a week of diving I noticed very occasionally the camera would do something other than the action I pressed for on the housing. Press macro, I would get the mode "wheel" symbol display acting like it was going from, say, manual to aperture priority but then the display would cycle back to manual (I was always using it in Manual). Or I'd press the jump button to change from aperture to shutter selection and it would not let me select one or the other. Sometimes I wanted to be in macro (or not) and I could not get it to give me the proper selection option when I pressed the macro button.

At two different times I got a black screen with a bunch of numbers flashing across inside some white bracket lines and they seemed to be counting down. I thought they might be shot numbers (like w/ a numercial date & shot count) and it freaked me out enough I shut the camera off. The camera then locked up entirely, would not zoom, shoot etc. (Of course a friendly crowd of reef squid were checking me out at that moment...) After I shut the camera down, I waited several minutes (bye bye squid) turned it back on and ding. All was well for the rest of that dive, the camera shot and worked fine. (Exposures have all been fine except for my goofs.)

The one total lock-up happened late in the trip and then I began to recollect the problems tended to happen at least mid-way through the dive, after shooting a lot--never at the start. (I was always using a freshly recharged battery, alternating between a Cannon & off-brand battery, either one could be in use when things went goofy.)

There was never a trace of moisture in the housing, no fogging on inside of the lens port. (Had several paks of silca gel and swapped them out occasionally.) I got to wondering if things were somehow overheating. I have the flash set on lowest output (using an external flash running off FO cable) but the one recurring thing was it never happened early in a dive, just later after shooting dozens of shots (Maybe I would do 70-80+ pics on a dive? Sometimes more/less.)

Being on warranty I know I'll send it to Canon but I haven't been able to duplicate the problem outside the housing and I don't feel like shipping it only to hear "We couldn't find anything wrong". I was wondering if anyone has run into anything remotely similiar or has any ideas I could ask Canon to look at specifically. The couple times I tried it, it did seem that if I shut the camera down and waited (couple minutes?) things were fine but I only tried that near the end of the trip. (The problem also often went away if I wasn't shooting for a bit, even if I left the camera on.) The problems only happened sporadically, not on every dive.

Oh, the final weirdness. I was missing exactly 60 frames off one of the SDHC cards (got them "back" with some "salvage" software) and it was the card in the camera when I got the black screen and counting down numbers. It made me wonder if the numbers I saw were really frame numbers being erased? Besides possibly overheating (a slim suspicion) I thought about stuck housing buttons, but they move freely, press in easily and and pop out when released. Well, any ideas out there? Thanks. // ww

 

[FrankPro1]

I've had a one time glitch where my G10 would not let me select Macro or change the Aperture "when shooting in Aperture priority". To remedy this "lock up" I changed the shooting mode to Shutter priority and then back to Aperture. I haven't had this glitch again and I'm not sure if it was after a full dive of shooting or not. I'll be interested in seeing what Canon has to say about this. Keep us updated.

 

[under water]

I have seen something similar with my G9. It was a sticky button on the housing.
I had to make sure that they really moved back all the way when released. You can only do this by looking at the back of them with the housing open.

 

[Warmwater Wank]

The sticky button biz is possible but seems like it would happen more consistently or at the begining of a dive when I tend to be deeper. (I'm thinking I won't check that the buttons move fully back while I'm uw though. ) I know the Canon housings can have some problems button-wise, maybe I can figure out if a specific button is the culprit.

Hmmm. I just tried playing w/ the camera out of the housing, holding in the macro button (and some others). If a housing button were sticky and holding down it appears that the camera just keeps displaying the macro/regular option or whatever button is held down, it doesn't go back to a normal display, which isn't what I was experiencing. I suppose it could be a random partial sticking of more than one button but I dunno. Will double check the buttons again however.

Unless I hear of a similiar G-10 problem someone has had I'm tempted to hold off sending it in to Canon until after I dive it again in August, see if it continues and try to pay more attention to the specifics of what happens when. I will post a followup if/when things gets figured out. Thanks for the input! // ww

 

[Puffer Fish]

Try holding down some of the other buttons... I had one where I could not zoom...and had the macro? normal issue (where every button you push gives you macro). Both were due to buttons not completely releasing...

 

[Warmwater Wank]

I'm liking this theory of patially sticky buttons more and more! My hamhandedly holding down a camera control button all the way (without the housing) yo test it isn't the same as a housing button "just barely" sticking over a camera control button inside the housing. I can also see where you really couldn't tell just by looking at the back of the housing (especially while uw) if there is slight sticking happening. Has anyone worked out a way to avoid the problem, short of disassembly and cleaning of the housing buttons? (Well, aside from good soaking procedures between dives--which will now be even more stringent in the future!) Thanks for the help, this may have nailed it. // ww

 

[Tigershark44]

What depth? I've had problems at greater than 100 feet, and definitely at greater than 120 feet with the buttons being pressed in simultatneously by the increased pressure (and at depths beyond the housing's rating, but with no leaks).

 

[Puffer Fish]

What depth? I've had problems at greater than 100 feet, and definitely at greater than 120 feet with the buttons being pressed in simultatneously by the increased pressure (and at depths beyond the housing's rating, but with no leaks).

Interesting... you are braver than I am.. would not take mine below 120..

However... a large temperature difference from loading to the water might make the same thing happen at a shallower depth...I believe I've seen it at around 100 in cold water...

Thanks.

 

[Apecks]

I had a problem with sticking buttons last month in Koh Tao, Thailand. It was fine down to 18-19m (60ft) then we headed over a drop off down to 30-35m (100 - 110 ft) which went through a thermocline. Housing was ok at depth but then the some buttons started to stick upon ascent back up the drop off.

 

[under water]

I'm liking this theory of partially sticky buttons more and more! My hamhandedly holding down a camera control button all the way (without the housing) yo test it isn't the same as a housing button "just barely" sticking over a camera control button inside the housing. I can also see where you really couldn't tell just by looking at the back of the housing (especially while uw) if there is slight sticking happening. Has anyone worked out a way to avoid the problem, short of disassembly and cleaning of the housing buttons? (Well, aside from good soaking procedures between dives--which will now be even more stringent in the future!) Thanks for the help, this may have nailed it. // ww

I fixed mine by first giving the housing a good rinse (inside & out) and then before & after a thorough drying, just pushing the buttons alternatively from the inside and outside several times. I could see which button was the problem (partially returned), so I really just worked on that button to make sure the spring pushed it all the way out. By the time, I fixed it, it was partially sticking even on the surface, but would behave worse at depth.
If you think about it, If the camera works OK when not in the housing, what else could it be besides sticky buttons?