I’m a long time lurker here on Sway’s and never posted anything, but being a pro surf photog i could have something to add on this thread. I’ve used housings from the most of the manufacturers, commercial or full on backyard custom guys and i have bit of a feeling what works and what doesn’t.
I like how you’ve progressed with your design from the crude red housing to the last post with a housing w/ dome port. I’ve never built a housing with any controls in it, only housings for remote flashes, but i’ve built few poles to work with Aquatech and SPL housings, which are basically just an extended pistol and same tricks do it for both of them.
I used cable release just like you have here, but only to get the right plug to attach it to camera. I’m also on Nikon so i can’t help you with right cables, but you figure it out with a bit of a testing. Basically i cut the cable release from a desired length, then peeled all the different cables inside. Not sure how many Canon has, but Nikon’s release has 10 different cords in there. With Nikon you need to find 3 correct ones; earth(trigger), a lightmeter and an af. You don’t need them all just ones which will do these tricks for you. As a switch i’ve used a doorbell, yes, one of those black and white basic ones which trigger as long as you push them. Plug the remote cord in the camera and start to go through the cables one by one and you’ll find your right combo rather fast, shouldn’t be hard at all. You need to make sure that you get them right so lightmeter/af won’t stay on forever after activated, otherwise you’ll burn your battery fast. Even pro housing makers can get this wrong. Or, maybe just copy how the cables have been attached in remote’s trigger, like i said i’m not familiar with Canon’s wiring.
Shape a pistol from a piece of foam which is suitable for your choice of resin. To be on a safe side, cut it in half and add something like balsa for a stringer ( that’s how a legendary housingmaker Dale Kobetich does it), so you don’t add up too much weight. Some foams can be squeezed in a hand to get a bit of a shape in the pistol, but simple shape won’t hurt your fingers as much when 10’ slab lands on your hand and housing gets ripped off from your deathgrip. Also, think about the final thickness of the pistol because 5mm gloves can feel tricky if pistol is perfect for a bare hand. I just did a trip a month ago to Scotland and i know how different it can feel, with or without gloves. Shape a hole for the doorbell at the desired height and feed the cable out from the top. Glass around it first without stressing out how you’ll attach it to a housing, that part can be done afterwards. Cover the doorbell button (empty filmcanister or similar works fine here) during the glassing just like covering a finbox so when pistol has cured you can remove canister and you have a round hole where doorbell button switch sits nice and tidy. To make switch waterproof i’ve used a rubber trigger from a disposable waterproof camera, it’s only a matter of fitting everything so when pushed, it reaches a doorbell switch. You probably need to fill the gap between the two with something like a tailpad material or similar to make sure that trigger does it every time. If that disposable camera trigger feels too tiny for 5mm gloves, look for something bigger made of rubber with a similar shape. I’ve seen a car rubbermat which would have been a perfect to cut out a trigger cover. Or search for a hardware store selling any marine products, like a kill switch for an engine, those rubber bubbles can make a perfect trigger.
Story became a bit too long, but i hope it makes any sense. This is really easy thing to pull off and i’m sure you figure it out. Or, if youre willing to drop some cash into it and make sure that thing will work the bite a bullet and just buy a pistol from SPL.
To cut down the possible leaks, make your pistol dedicated and glass it straight to the housing. Traveling is a bit more painful but that’s why they invented Pelican Cases. Same goes with any other controls, less is more and nobody needs all the bells and whistles in water, to be able to control the exposure is kinda mandatory and back focus button is something to die for. Disable AF from manual trigger in camera’s custom menu so AF will work only from back focus and not from cable release/pistol, this way you’ll be able to shoot above and u/w because focusing is different and you don’t want your fisheye autofocus when someone’s flying down the line deep in a pit. Preview will only help you to get caught inside when you scroll through your images and don’t pay attention how next one is already smoking above your head.
And about fogging, that’s when camera gets too hot and has nothing to do with the choice of the port material. If air temperature is way above water’s then housing can fog when in water but that usually goes away after a while. Housing needs to be closed in dry enviroment and not under a/c or in a jungle in G-Land. A tampon or two placed inside will suck all the moisture, they also can save the camera when minor leak happens so water won’t end up in a wrong place.
