Please note, that Ikelite seems to have made a mistake on the
preparation of their A7R II housing and instructions.
The housing manual states that the housing ships ready to use with the A7R II
/ A7S II (the ones with the mode dial lock), and it comes with a
conversion kit for using the A7 II which includes a different tray
and foam insert for the lcd. It also states that for the A7 II you
need to remove the black washer from the top of the housing.
This is actually backwards. The A7R II / S II are the ones with the
locking mode dial, and they need the control to be able to press down
further and engage that lock to be able to change modes. So that
washer needs to be removed in order to do this. I tested it out and
once the washer is removed it works fine.
If you received an Ikelite A7R II housing
and cannot change the mode on your camera, you likely need to remove the washer from
the top control gland and it should solve your problem.
To do this simply follow these instructions.
- Grab the larger allen key that comes
with the housing, and use it to unscrew the locking pin from the black dial
control which will allow the dial cap to slide off the control gland
(note this does not affect the water tight seal at all).
- Then slide
off the washer.
- To replace the cap, hold the control gland from
inside the housing so it doesn't slide out, then put the cap back
on, aligning the hole in the cap with the divot in the shaft of the
gland.
- Screw back in the pin to lock the cap in place.
Insert the camera, close the back housing door (the foam inserts on
the door around the LCD keep pressure on the camera, putting it in
alignment with the buttons, the mode dial may not work unless that
pressure is there. Then press down on the dial while turning, to engage the
locking button and change the mode.
As of 3/15/2016
Ikelite has been made aware of this issue, so will likely update their housing manual eventually.