Advice needed on the mystery death...

...of my housed compact digital camera. I was snapping away as usual as I hovered over LST, one of the wrecks at Subic Bay. I followed the other divers into the tanker's belly (around 35 meters at its deepest) and out the other end.

Shortly after that, just when a blue spotted ray fluttered its presence and glided beneath me, I noticed that my camera went dead.

I thought maybe I might have gotten careless with greasing the O ring and allowed a slight leak. But a second dive with the housing stuffed with tissue (that remained dry) disproved that.

When I got home, I recharged the battery and tried it on another camera, which powered fine. So I know that's not the problem.

It's the unit then. I'm thinking maybe the depth and pressure caused the camera to freeze? Has anyone experienced anything similar?

My camera "froze" once. Shutter stuck halfway. I was told to check/reload my memory card. The connection is unclear to me but that was one theory posed to me that I might as well relay since you said its not the battery or a leak in the housing. Hope your camera is still under warranty and already in the shop.
You should ask the guys here about first aid. What to do the second you suspect a leak or a dying camera. I can imagine the horror of that while still underwater, housing in hand :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by carloshasgills

You should ask the guys here about first aid.

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Perform primary assessment, apply barriers and check responsiveness. If no response, perform rescue breaths :D
(couldn't resist - just done my EFR course!!)

Shouldn't the camera be protect by it's housing of any external
pressure? Does this happen just when you use the camera, lol?

Check with the manufacture for any firmware upgrades?
Is the problem consistent at 35 meters?

Hmm.....

I had a similar and strange problem which took me a while to figure out. My camera was working on the surface, but just stoped working during almost every one of my dives. I could not figure it out for the life of me. After loosing many great shots, I found that the foam inside the housing which keeps the camera aligned was compressed from extended use and the lever that pushed the shutter button was not in line with the button itself. Anyway, I shoved a quater in between the foam and the housing to push it out and now I am back in action. I never changed it either.

I don't know if that helped you, but I just wanted to share my brief story.

Lars: Yeah, maybe it's just me lol (but I'm not about to tell Canon's distributor that; they pulled out my unit, no questions asked beyond my date of purchase). The casing is supposed to be good up to 130 feet although I did notice that a bit of moisture gathered (Is it supposed to do that?) the last two outings, both deep dives. I'll continue to check for upgrades, thanks.
Ace, I do put some tissue on the sides of the camera's face, upon a friend's advise, to supposedly prevent scratches from it being banged away by current. Uh oh. Now I'm thinking, fibers -- not good for the sealing.
Carlos, I did change the memory card from the original one which allowed too few shots for my liking. Hmmm...
Lottie, if only puckering up solved it :D