70-200mm f2.8 dropped in tide pool

Yeah, I know. You haven't seen my name in awhile, but I have an important question for you.

One the participants in my workshop dropped her brand new Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS in a tide pool today. Completely submerged, sand under both the focus and zoom rings.

I've got her lined out with the repair form for the Canon Repair Service Center, but don't know how to handle the fact that the lens is now sitting with corrosive sea water residue in it. Should she thoroughly rinse it off with fresh water? Or will another dunking add insult to injury?

Thanks!!

Jerry

I do a lot of underwater photography and I have seen a quite a few flooded cameras. I don't know what the official line from the manufactures would be, but in my experience it is best to get the salt off it as quickly as possible. Can you see if the water got inside the inner workings of the lens? I would at least rinse it off in fresh water by holding it under the faucet and trying to keep the rear element away from the H2O...I wouldn't soak it unless the lens was totally flooded and you can see water throughout the lens. Once that salt dries inside all the crooks and crannies it is awful to get it out...if she can rinse it off with fresh water before it dries she will be much better off...basically try to avoid getting water where it isn't already but get the salt off of it. Feel free to email me directly if you have more questions. Nate

Also...if it isn't really bad just wiping it down with a wet/damp rag can help...wet Q-tips etc...

You state there is seawater inside the lens....I'm sorry, but the lens is history. Some say you should immerse it immediately in fresh water until it can be serviced. I have heard multiple instances where Canon service say it's not worth repairing. Corrosion will occur on all metal parts with just the briefest exposure.....

Nathan, since you've had a lot of experience with flooded cameras, have any of those cameras or lenses been salvaged after a saltwater dunking??? Just wondering, since all of the ones I know of have been written off. The repair shop wouldn't touch them.

Jerry, give us an update on how this is resolved.

I just spoke with her over the phone. Apparently she had the lens wrapped in a clear plastic produce bag with the top rolled over, a filter and both lens caps on (I wasn't with her when she dropped it). The lens didn't get soaked, but SOME water got in the bag. When she pulled the rear lens cap off, it was dry inside. She did carefully rinse the lens off when she got home (several hours after the incident), but there is obviously a little sand under both the focus and zoom rings.

Maybe it's not as bad as it originally sounded?

Jerry

My 5D got a dunking in seawater and stopped working. At repairs they said the circuits were corroded and beyond salvage. However it started to work again and was fine for another year, until the next major insult.

Years ago, I dropped a lens in fresh water at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. A Tamron representative who happened to be there told me I should rinse it with distilled water and keep it immersed until it could be examined and repaired. Immersing it in water just didn't make sense to me. I drained it, wrapped it in plastic and sent to Nikon immediately. After what seem like a long time, they contacted me with an estimate. I authorized the repair. Weeks later, Nikon returned the lens to me, unimpaired, not even cleaned, with a note saying it was uneconomical to repair. By that time I had replaced the lens with a different but similar one. I then sent it to an independent repair guy. He fixed it like new but it cost almost as much as it would have to replace it. The aperture blades had corroded and needed to be replaced. If the lens had been cleaned immediately, it would have been a much less costly repair - only cleaning would have been needed.

Would immersing the lens in clean water or distilled water have helped? Maybe. It certainly wouldn't have hurt.

This was one of Nikon's first generation of AF zoom lenses. I don't think it has any electronics in it, and I didn't drop it in salt water. But the moral of the story is: If you are going to save a lens that has been dropped in water, it must get immediate attention.

I guess I would still send it to Canon to take a look at...if she did get salt water inside sowhere it will sit and corrode/gunk up the lens...then it will cost more to fix....sounds like she might be ok, but that is what I would suggest...Nate

Even if she didn't get saltwater inside, there's a 50/50 chance it's ruined. Been there, done that, and have junker lenses in the drawer to show for it. I wouldn't consider any home cure for trying to restore the lens. Send it off to Canon and let them pass their magic wand over it and decide its fate. They'll be able to clean contacts and such if it's repairable and at the very least they can get rid of the sand and restore it to normal function. I've managed to get sand or grit in the focus or zoom rings on lenses and it's a royal PITA till you get it out. And there's not much chance to get it out on your own.

Bill,

I have seen camera bodies make it but lenses are a different story. Now with the bodies being digital it is even harder to save them. The main idea I would like to impart is to get whatever salt off the camera/lens that you can and then send it in...Fast.

Sometimes on trips to remote locations the camera and lens are the only one you have and not to try and save it means you wont get any photos while you are there. It has been in that type of situation where I have done my best to take the body apart and save it for people. WD 40 helps to get the water off the electronics once the body has been taken apart and then letting it dry thoroughly before running any power through it. Many times some of the functions won't work but enough do to get by until you are home. The lenses are always toast if they have water inside them in my experience. Again...I have only done this to film camera bodies so the extra electronics in a digital body would make it more difficult I assume. Also...avoid running any current (turning the power on) through the camera body while it is wet...in other words if you drop it in the water don't turn it on right away to see if it works...dry it out first...turning it on while it is wet can fry all the electronics. Nate

If the lens was going to be rinsed with anything, I'm wondering if pure alcohol would be better than even distilled water? I've seen this suggested on computer forums for cleaning things like motherboards and video cards. The advantage of pure alcohol is that it will almost entirely evaporate when the component is left to dry.

Alcohol is dandy for freshwater, but while it will help drive off the water component in saltwater, it leaves behind the salts. Those really, really need to disappear to avoid future problems. The thin layer left behind turns into dust and flakes that float into the tiniest spots, just waiting for the next humid day.

Wonder how I know that?

I imagine we might see that lens on ebay - flooded lens....er, ah,... lens, recently cleaned inside and out!

Troup

I dropped my Kenko ring in a tidepool and after wiping it off thoroughly it worked for another week. Then died. Good luck to her.

David M. Cobb

I have no idea about the likelyhood of salvage, but if anybody wants to rinse/submerge such a lens, I'd highly recommend using distilled water (I'm sure some biology or chemistry lab at your nearest university can help you out if all else fails). The point is that even fresh water has some salts in it, and those may leave a residue when the water evaporates. Not nearly as bad as sea water, but still.

As mentioned above, Ethanol dissolves ions not as well as water does. So, for sea water, (distilled) water is what you want.

Basil