Posted by Brian Monk on January 28, 2007 at 6:04 PM
Hi y'all,
this past week, my kayak tipped, and I found my camera (Minolta 5d) sitting in 3 inches of water. After it dried overnight, it worked....sort of. Some of the menu functions and directional buttons occasionally do not work....I don't know what else may not work, though I think everything does. Any advice??
Ack! Sorry to hear about it. If it was clean freshwater, there's reason to hope. In similar dunkings I've revived a couple of cameras by opening all ports, then putting it about 3 feet from a hair dryer on low air with no heat for a few hours to dry the big chunks of water hiding in crevices. Following that, I store them for a couple of days in a ziploc with decicant pouches. I'm not all that certain the last step is necessary, because they worked fine after the hair dryer treatment. Even so, I was having nightmares about moisture the dryer might have missed.
Be sure to remove the battery from the camera. If any circuit boards or contacts are wet, corrosion could occur.
I hope your camera is OK!
-PB
Posted by Kent Staubus on January 28, 2007 at 8:14 PM
You need to find Frank Uhlig here. He's our expert on the subject. The rule I've heard is to NOT turn on the camera until after several days of drying out on a heating duct etc. Remove the battery and keep the compartment open.
Now on to another related subject. When I'm in my duckboat or wearing waders out in the water, I keep my camera & lens in a drybag. It's only out of the bag when I'm actually taking photos. In a kayak especially water gets all over everywhere even if you keep it upright. Spending ten bucks probably would have meant you would have slept easier lately. They come in camo from duck hunting supply places if you are doing wildlife photography. Otherwise, I recommend a bright yellow or red so you can find it if it washes out and starts to float away.
Call minolta for advice, too ! Let's hope it was freash water. that will give you a chance, at least.
Good luck -
Sandy
Posted by Mark Hudon on January 29, 2007 at 1:06 PM
Credit cards solve wet camera problems 100% of the time!
Posted by Buck Ward on January 29, 2007 at 10:29 PM
Here's hope. I submerged a good digicam. The manufacturer returned it to me as being suneconomical to repair, so I replaced it. After it sat on a shelf for several months, I put a battery in it and tried it out. It worked again. It oulasted its replacement.
Discussion
6 repliesthis past week, my kayak tipped, and I found my camera (Minolta 5d) sitting in 3 inches of water. After it dried overnight, it worked....sort of. Some of the menu functions and directional buttons occasionally do not work....I don't know what else may not work, though I think everything does. Any advice??
Good luck!
Be sure to remove the battery from the camera. If any circuit boards or contacts are wet, corrosion could occur.
I hope your camera is OK!
-PB
Now on to another related subject. When I'm in my duckboat or wearing waders out in the water, I keep my camera & lens in a drybag. It's only out of the bag when I'm actually taking photos. In a kayak especially water gets all over everywhere even if you keep it upright. Spending ten bucks probably would have meant you would have slept easier lately. They come in camo from duck hunting supply places if you are doing wildlife photography. Otherwise, I recommend a bright yellow or red so you can find it if it washes out and starts to float away.
http://tinyurl.com/ym9mgu
Kent in SD
Good luck -
Sandy