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hi guys
i have always wanted to get some pics of the local cuttlefish in the breeding season ( they just lay there ) and got the opportunity to go with a work mate, so day before went to dive shop to get fitted for wet suite and gear and was all excited i was going to get something that was very high on my list of to-do's, still excited next day went to black point ( local area ) slipped into the wet suite ( more like struggled to fit in it ) final check for camera and euwa-marine bag and slid ( crawled/rolled ) into the water, fine so far... the guy i was with had scuba gear ( i was snorkelling ) and told me to head out to an outcrop of rocks in the water, well because the suite was so tight i couldnt breathe properly and just as i was about 2 metres away i started to panic, i couldnt get a full breath of air !!! this is a scary feeling and i would not want to feel like that ever again , anyway i finally made it to the outcrop my heart was thrashing away , i was shaking, I WAS SCARED !. i clung to the rocks for dear life chucking the camera and bag on the outcrop so i could hold tighter with two hands, the swell was washing over the rocks knocking the camera off a few times, my friend arrived and saw i was in a panic and he said " just relax stay here for a while till your breathing calms down " ( i wasnt letting go of that rock ) anyway i did calm down and started to swim around my savior ( the rock ) i told my mate i didnt want to go "under" the water so he took my camera and went down to get some pics of the cuttlefish, i stuck my head under the water to watch him take the pics and thats when my heart stopped .... i could see bubbles escaping from the top of the bag ( if air is escaping then water is getting in ) i screamed his name ( how futile was that !) he swam around and thought he was taking photo's and then came back up to show me if he did it right, bag was half full of water, then the flash shorted out and i noticed the little valve was open, must have got caught on the rocks when the waves were moving it about, SO i decided that was it and made for the shore, my goggles were fogging up and i couldnt see properly but i nearly shat my pants when this big bit of white seaweed came next to me !!! i struggled to shore laying in the lapping waves for a couple of minutes, my mate had to get my weight belt which had slipped off ( he said i had no love handles for it to sit on ) so i stripped off all that shit that was stopping me breathing properly and it felt great ! after awhile i opened up the bag and drained it and took out my camera .... took the flash off and removed the batteries ( smelt of burning ) water was seeping from the camera ( and my eyes as well ) i was hoping that the cf card was ok after it dried but as yet havent been able to access it, so ring the insurance people up and they told me to send it to diamonds ( camera store in adelaide ) so my sb800flash my 12-24 and my much loved d2x is in the post , now i wait to see what i will get from the insurance
I couldnt believe that something that i was so excited about doing turned to shit so badly for me !!!!

Very sorry to hear how such an exciting trip has turned into a terrible ordeal. Fingers crossed that the insurance comes through for you and that the CF card is ok. I would probably leave the CF card to dry for a few days just to make sure there isnt any water in the holes where the pins are inserted.

Hope you get some good news soon from the repairer/insurance company.

A very sad story and its lucky you managed to control your panic because those situations can get nasty real quick.

As a dive master I have seen people do some crazy things when they panic when snorkelling or diving underwater. I once saw a novice scuba diver rip his air source out of his mouth and rip his mask off his face at depth (a strange thing to do but not unusual in a panic situation) and start swimming for the surface. Luckily we caught him in time. I would always suggest that people make sure they are comfortable in the water (especially in new or unfamiliar equipment) before embarking on photography missions.

It also seems that those waterproof photo bags arent to be trusted!

Sorry to hear about your experience.

On the plus side, when insurance comes through, they will have to give you a better camera than the D2x.

Fingers crossed and please let us know the outcome.

Rob - I am glad that you are okay, the camera can be replaced. Let's hope the Insurance company comes to the party.

Rob,

Main thing is that you're ok.

Ws this salt water? It sounds as if it may have been, and if so, you should let the CD card soak in some tap water for a while. Perhaps give it two or three rinses ... you want to try to remove the salt. That's also what you should have done with the other gear as well, btw, if you wanted to try to recover it.

thanks for your concern guys... i gotta admit i thought i was gone, and right now am realising how unfit i am.. when i was at home that night my wife said i just sat there with a "thousand yard stare " for most of the night ... and to be honest losing the gear didnt matter, i havent felt right since it happened, and as steve said, i was way out of my comfort zone ... i will stick to ontop of the water from now on and will update this topic when i hear from insurance people

cheers rob

Glad you are okay after that scary episode,

take care,

André

my wife said i just sat there with a "thousand yard stare " for most of the night ...

I feel for you Rob, I hope it all works out for you regarding your gear, in terms of the experience, just put it down to lesson learnt, one which you walked away from.

How awful. At least you are all right. Hardware can be replaced.
I hope everything else works out.

Daniel

Rob, sorry to hear about the negative experience when you had been looking forward to this for so long. Well that is enough sympathy from me - now get your arse down to Adelaide for the dinner so we can give you shit face to face to cheer you up!!

Rob,

Even with more expensive housings, things can go wrong. Two weeks ago while diving with my D300 and beloved 60mm in my Ikelite housing at a depth of 18m the underwater leak detector went off. I didn't panic but I was extremely worried all the way back to the surface (which took 5 minutes) and then for the walk back to the car (another 10-15 minutes).

Here's my dive profile showing my (rather) rapid ascent:


Fortunately, there was only a very small amount of water in the housing and none got on the camera. I have also managed to determine why the housing leaked and have fixed it (I hope).

As Steve says, it is best to get familiar in the water before embarking on a photography mission. I also wouldn't trust one of those Ewa-Marine bags.

Glad to hear that you have located the issue with your ikelite Andrew.

I use Fuji's underwater housing for my F100fd compact camera, I have looked at those waterproof bags for SLR's but have not been game either.

fingers (still) crossed for the insurance to the party with presents.

Big V wrote:now get your arse down to Adelaide for the dinner so we can give you shit face to face to cheer you up!!

i do check the dates you guys make for a meet but cause i got a real job i cant always make it

cheers rob

ATJ wrote: Two weeks ago while diving with my D300 and beloved 60mm in my Ikelite housing at a depth of 18m the underwater leak detector went off

jesus .. 18 m surely it would be dark there ? ... you wouldnt see the dark shape till it tapped you on the shoulder and said
" your f....d mate "

DanielA wrote: Hardware can be replaced.

yes daniel that is spot on !

robw25 wrote:jesus .. 18 m surely it would be dark there ? ... you wouldnt see the dark shape till it tapped you on the shoulder and said
" your f....d mate "

You'd be surprised. It is noticeably darker but your eyes adjust. The big thing with the light (and this affects us as photographers) is the change in colour. Red gets filtered out very early and at that depth a bright red sea star (and I mean really bright red) looks brown. You recognise them by shape. You almost have to use strobes to get the right colours and when you photograph one of those sea stars that go from brown to bright red in an instant. It's cool.

Rob
Seems like you were out of your comfort zone for awhile there! The good news is that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger or/and wiser.

If the insurance company hassels you in any way then perhaps you should lean on Ewa-Marine? From memory I think they might have some kind of insurance on their bags if they leak.

Rob the fact that you can read thiseans you can thank a Teacher. We all have choices Now get down here we have some nice surprises to cheer you up.

Rob the fact that you can read thiseans you can thank a Teacher. We all have choices Now get down here we have some nice surprises to cheer you up.

UPDATE
got a phone call from allianze to tell me that my claim had been passed ( $9,900.10 ) !!! YEEHA
replacement for d2x is a d3 i asked for a 14-24 instead of 12-24 to utilise the ff and replacement for sb800 is the sb900
so i am a happy chappie

cheers rob

That is a really good result for you!

Excellent result. Other than the scary experience, it looks like you are in front.

Rob,

Great news.

Hi Rob,

Good news all round.

Welcome to the D3 family

robw25 wrote:UPDATE
got a phone call from allianze to tell me that my claim had been passed ( $9,900.10 ) !!! YEEHA
replacement for d2x is a d3 i asked for a 14-24 instead of 12-24 to utilise the ff and replacement for sb800 is the sb900
so i am a happy chappie

cheers rob

Rob, now you will be able to run the 200-400!!!! Excellent news, out of hardship comes some good..

Great news Rob...makes me want to go out and insure my D300....maybe they will upgrade me to FX when I bust it!

thanks for the replies guys now i just gotta wait for a new one to come in ... have asked for the old camera/lens/flash back so i can take them apart and have a look !

cheers rob