D7000 Ikelite housing

I marvel at the ability of housing maunufacturers to make all those tiny camera buttons, levers and and control wheels available in the housing.

The D7000 Ikelite housing gives access to everything except the DOF preview button and dioptre adjustment. There's even a button for popping up and adjusting the internal flash, which doesn't make a lot of sense because the flash can't pop up enough to work.

The movie record button/lever has been moved all the way out to the right side of the housing and is easily operated by thumb without letting go of the handle. This makes movie recording smoother than with the camera itself.

There is enough space around the camera, especially on the right side, to fit my leak alarms.

You do need to retract some controls when inserting the mounted camera to make sure it sits in place.
The view through the viewfinder seems to include more of the frame than my D80 housing, but I'll have to check that underwater, hopefully tomorrow.

Leak detector instructions

Here are step by step instructions for putting together your own leak detector.

This one fits in my Coolpix 5000 housing. Just needs minor reconfiguration to fit other housings.

Redesigned leak detector

This is a simpler design, actually just has shorter leads, positioning the bare wire ends directly below the buzzer. I figured the ends didn't need to be in the front corner and there would be less chance of the wire fouling o-rings. It would not be smart to increase the risk of floods with a device intended to reduce the consequences.

More photos here

If anyone knows where to get battery holders for 23A 12v batteries please let me know.

Leak detector

This is something I have been thinking about for a while. An audible alarm to detect the first few drops of water entering the housing would provide an extra safety factor against killing the camera.

A simple design by Glen Cowan in Sportdiving Issue 94 Oct/Nov 2002 provided the info.

The bare wire detector tips are in the corner that would collect water given the way my camera hangs most of the time and there was plenty of room between camera and housing on the left side. Let's hope it works but I will still be looking closely as the housing submerges.