OT: Waterdamaged Camera & lenses...

jrazz wrote on 4/1/2006, 9:12 PM
Suggestions?

Went canoeing today and took my Canon 350D with a couple lenses and murphy's law was applied- need I say more?
Well, the good news, I have insurance on all my equipment regardless how they got broke/damaged, but I wanted to see if I could salvage anything.
I took the screws out and opened the back portion of the camera and used a hairdryer on it and I took the lenses apart as much as I could but to no avail. Amazingly though, the 2gig compact flashcard II Microdrive came out unscathed with all the pictures in tact.
You would think I would know better but as many times as I have went over the past 3 years and never had an issue, this would be the time I do and I bring my camera along.

j razz

Comments

Serena wrote on 4/1/2006, 9:27 PM
Presume this was in clean fresh water. This is a task for expert maintainance. Get out as much water as you can by draining and put in a warm place and get it to repair as quickly as possible. You'll need to do that for insurance assessment, anyway. Murphy is not to be mocked! You were a lot more confident than I would have been.
johnmeyer wrote on 4/1/2006, 9:31 PM
I've done lots of canoeing and white water rafting. Next time, get waterproof bags that you tie to the gunwales of the canoe. Also, bring your cheap equipment.
jrazz wrote on 4/1/2006, 9:37 PM
I don't know about clean, but it was fresh water (the buffalo river in TN).

You were a lot more confident than I would have been.
Insurance does that for you :)

I filed a claim over a year ago on a lens that was dropped by my wife and it caved in. All I did was call the insurance company and they said they would file it and send me a check for the cost of the lens (replacement cost). I asked if they wanted the lens or if they needed anything from me. They said no and within 5 days I had a check for the cost of the lens new at the time I purchased it (it was more then than when I filed the claim).
They did not want the lens for proof or ask anything else. My rates did not go up and that was it. I don't know if that is consistent with the industry, but they sure do trust me (not that I would abuse it, but I am sure fraud happens all the time).

j razz
jrazz wrote on 4/1/2006, 9:40 PM
Next time, get waterproof bags that you tie to the gunwales of the canoe.
Yeah, I had those, but they only work if you have the camera and lenses in them. (I was changing lenses when we struck an unseen rock). Maybe next time, I will bring an underwater housing and make sure that it stays inside it :)

j razz
apit34356 wrote on 4/1/2006, 11:34 PM
Jrazz, hopefully all batteries are out of the camera. Do not dry components until you rinse them with d// h2o, from a local store. The river water will leave deposits and organic material that can short-out the electronics or the the ccds or lens.
farss wrote on 4/2/2006, 5:13 AM
Just to go over an inportant point.
What'll kill things real quick is water AND electricity = electrolysis!

So obviously remove the battery AND the CMOS battery if your camera has one.
As said rinsing in distilled water will remove all salts etc.
Immersing in 90% pure ethanol and water can get all moisture out however that might damage some plastics.
The hair drier thing is good and then leave in a sealed plastic bag for a few days with some dessicant to really dry it out.
Be patient, applying power while there's any moisture can stuff things up even more, of course if the camera was powered up when it went swimming, I'd say it's a write off.

Bob.