First day in Cozumel testing my new setup before a big pacific trip. I have set the camera up to the specs for beginner on Peter Schultz website. Using the kit lens in an Ikelike iTTL housing, I could not coax the camera to focus in either AF S or AF C after the first picture. Once topside, it worked great. The above test dive was in about 15' of water.

Looking through the viewfinder, I could not even see the lens seeking. Any thoughts? And, yes, the body is set to AF.

Thanks in advance guys.

scoot

would it take a picture (out of focus) or were "all" functions disabled?

It the latter, it is likely a button on the housing got "stuck" and until the pressure was relieved, the camera would do "nothing".

Check to make sure the buttons all have a bit of clearance when the camera is mounted in the housing.

Is this a lens that requires a +4 diopter close-up lens to focus behind a dome?

I had similar problems with my D70 during my first few outings in my Subal housing.

The camera would fire even though it never focused. Further, I could not use the "play" or "menu" buttons, though all of the others seemed to work. When I would get the camera topside, everything would work great. Very frustrating!

but i found a solution! (actually a fellow wetpixel forum member discovered it and graciously shared it)

The AE / AF lock button was getting depressed an causing the malfunctions. I slightly modified he housing to prevent this ( I never use it anyway) and now everything works great!

Hope this helps!

Brad

I think Ike has it right. Some lenses require a diopter to focus underwater. Once topside, they work fine. Before you send out the housing/camera for repair, take the easy test with a diopter.

Joe

But if the problem was no diopter, the camera wouldn't focus or shoot at all. It sounds like Scooter is able to fire shots, just not focus.

Scooter, can you clarify for us?

Brad

Without the diopter the 18-70 for instance can be focused outside the water but can't in the water.

It would fire out of focus if set to AF-C

Karl

WOW! Thanks for all the help, guys!

OK, day 2 and more info. 18-70 with +4 diopter, no buttons are being unintenionally depressed. Yesterday I was shooting in AF-C with no focus.

Today I went back to AF-S and had moderate success. Can't focus on objects closer than about 3ft. Many surfaces would not let the lens get a lock, even with a hard edge, like a window inside the wreck. Point the camera at a diver and it works perfect. Maybe the center weighted focus is my issue?

Thanks for the help. I hate being new at something.

scoot

PS, BIG thanks to Ike for getting my system back to me in time. You guys RULE!!!!

Are you using the 8 inch dome port? I had a similar problem with the 18-70 lens and the plus 4. I switched to a plus 2 lens and had no problems. The Ike recommendation for that lens is a plus 4 but I wonder if plus 2 is better for the 8 inch dome verses the 6 inch dome.

Steve Dingeldein

Ok, Don't want to sound patronising, but have you checked the AF Switches on the camera and the lens?

I have the same problem : D70 camera with Ikelite iTTL housing 6870.1 - dome port 5503.55 - 18-70 mm D70 kit lens - DS-125 strobe - +4 diopter . Focus normally topside. However, cannot focus under water in either AF-S or AF-C mode. Surprisingly, I can take some shots in shallow water but only occasionally! After hearing you guys, I am trying to use a +2 diopter instead. Will this work? Please help me!

See following thread.

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9825

max. dioptre strength is determined by the dome, not the lens. If you take a too strong dioptre with a big dome, you cut away infinity and the lens can't focus on far away objects anymore. I would consider that +4 is way to strong for a big dome like the 8" one. Would be helpful to know the curvature radius of the 8" dome becuse that's what determines dioptre strength.

Julian