Meikon GM1 Waterproof Case
for Panasonic GM-1
Back to Camera menu.
Written upon product arrival, 2 October 2014, updated 7 December 2014.
Updated product links added 15 October 2019.
Contents
The case comes with the following items.
- An instruction manual.
- Neck/shoulder strap.
- Wrist strap with rubber cover (cute!).
- A spare o-ring (yellow, whereas the two fitted o-rings are white).
- A 5 gram tube of silicone grease.
Overview
The case has a fair bit of weight to it, and looks and feels quite solid and strong. It's a little imposing compared to my old Canon S50 waterproof case, possibly because of the totally black front of the case and the large lens housing. The grip is pretty good, although far from perfect, and it is easy to hold it securely.
Functionally the Meikon case gives the impression of poor design. Several of the controls are not quite in the right place and have a sloppiness that shouldn't be needed when it is designed to work with only one model of camera. The Fn1 control presses on the right side of the button. It still works, though, whereas some of the navigation controls didn't work at all when I first started using them. They have improved with a bit of use, thankfully. The on/off lever doesn't make contact with the camera at all unless everything is perfectly positioned, and moves further than it needs to. If I was being charitable I'd wonder if it was designed like that to make it harder to turn off accidentally, but it really just makes it necessary to check the lever works when the camera is installed, before getting near any water.
To ensure everything is perfectly positioned, pay particular attention to where the right strap attachment point is located when the camera is inserted – pointing the metal triangle down and in seems to work best.
There is a strong plastic smell to the whole thing which will hopefully quickly fade. (Update – it did.)
The rubber around the lens seems like a dust magnet.
Lens
The standard GM1 lens, the 12-32 mm zoom, must be manually extended from its "stored" position before insertion. The zoom knob just doesn't have the oomph to extend the lens.
With a UV filter on the front of the lens I found a zoom range of about 19-30 mm. Without any filters the full 12-32 mm zoom range can be used. There is no vignetting at wide angle.
The Olympus 45mm f/1.8 lens fits in the case quite nicely. The zoom knob does not operate the focus ring on the lens.
Operation
Photographs are taken by pressing a long lever down. If careful, this should reasonably easily allow a user to meter and focus before pressing it fully.
Flash
The allowance for the flash seems a complete joke. The lever to open the flash has too much travel, and pops off the flash release control if pushed more than half way. There is only a single small oval window about 4 mm wide x 3 mm high for the light from the flash to get out of the case. There is a second of these oval windows, the leftmost one, but it is not in front of the flash at all – looking through it from the front, the view is out the back of the case. The large case protrusion for the lens shadows the flash anyway.
What's the point of it? Well, the manual calls it an "optical fibre connector", but never explains its significance. So here goes: The fibre optic connector is for triggering specialist external flashes which also have a fibre optic connector. From the web page for a different Meikon case:
When you connect the fiber-optic cable (L-type) to the connector, the light of the digital camera's built-in flash is detected and connected to an external strobe to improve lighting quality.
I found a price for the fibre optic cable of US$52. A strobe/flash to plug in to it starts about US$135 and goes up from there (way up for those so inclined).
Once the flash is open it cannot be closed without opening the case, and it can be very awkward to close the flash without taking the camera out completely.
Manual
The manual is quite cheap. It had two pages which had not been fully cut, and one page which had a corner folded under and ended up cut strangely. It contains typographical errors, including missing spaces, spaces in the middle of words, and incorrect and missing punctuation. Some words are simply wrong, such as "apple" instead of "apply", or "does not lead" instead of "does not leak", or "2 secured" not "2 seconds". Of course there are also gramatical errors.
But it does have most of the required information. It never explains what the fibre optic connector is for (mentioned on page 9). The Specifications on page 23 claims the filter diameter is 12 mm. The front of the case says "φ0.45x67mm".
There are typos on their web site as well. For example (old link, product moved), a missing space and spelling mistake: "3.The working temperuture within 0 to 40 degree." Or "Prodcuct" in the side menu – this typo is still there five years later in October 2019. The new product page also has missing spaces and misspellings: ">Images transfer mirrired LCD view panel." (What is that?) Also ">Neck strip,hand stirp, waterproof seal, silicone grease for the waterproof seal attached in every poece of camera housing."
Other Features
There is a "hot shoe" at the top left, except it's not "hot", just a bracket.
Three tripod mounts are underneath. The leftmost is almost lined up with the lens. Almost. Sigh.
Things to Watch
The neck/shoulder strap and any filters must be removed from the GM1 before installing in the case. Remember to take a suitable container for filters and the lens cap.
Immediately after installing the camera in the case, make sure the camera turns on and off before you get anywhere near the water.
Update after two months
Just over two months after receiving the case, I was using it on an ocean-going trip (on 6 Dec). While trying (desperately) to take photos of black back gull chicks, I found I could no longer take photos. The plastic shutter lever is loose on the metal pin inserted into it, meaning the shutter button on my GM1 can only half press. That means I can get a focus lock fine, but cannot not press far enough to take a photo.
I said earlier the case appeared poorly designed. I am now convinced it is also poorly constructed.
The old Meikon web page for the GM1 case (old link, product moved here) says "With all these items that will help you start your adventure into the underwater worked of photography , never feel regret have a camera case like this." Not yet, but I'm having my doubts. The eBay shop I bought it from have said they will send me a new "shutter".
Update – they have now done this, sending a full kit with shutter lever, pin, screw, white plastic lever arm, and spring. I have installed it all (tricky), and my case is back in full working order.
Update October 2019 – the new product page says they provide "-As long as 24 Months' after-sale service."
Work-around
For anyone else suffering this problem, there are a couple of work-arounds. These can be set while the camera is in the case. A one button approach:
- Set the shutter to half press release. Menu: Custom, page 1/7 > Half Press Release > On.
- Half press and hold the shutter to take the photo. There is a slight delay while it focuses, because the focus/release priority (page 2/7 of the same menu) only applies to a full press of the release button.
Alternatively, this two button approach gives no focusing delay:
- Set the Fn1 button to AF and AE lock. Menu: Custom, page 5/7 > Fn Button Set > Fn1, page 1/9 > AF/AE Lock. I find this useful anyway, so this is my normal setting for this button.
- Set the shutter to half press release. Menu: Custom, page 1/7 > Half Press Release > On.
- Use Fn1 to lock the focus then half press the shutter to take the photo. The photo is taken without any focusing delay.
These two work-arounds can be both used without changing the camera settings.
ianman Home | Back to Top