And now, the latest edition in the strange tale of my first Canon 5D.
I was really bored last night. Got a through a long line of mostly photography-related work and such and started going through my box of misellaneous cameras, lenses and accessories trying to find a particular stepping ring. Near the top of the box sits the body of my deceased (drowned) Canon 5D.
Canon sent it back to me after some of the most specialized electronics technicians in the world spent over three weeks trying to revive it (or so it would appear) after it was submerged for a considerable amount of time in Eagle Creek earlier this year. I almost told them don't bother. Why would I want to see it again anyway? Maybe I could sqeeze some parts off it in the future though, so I accepted.
This camera did not work after the drowning. I had personally tried to restart it and Canon had sent me a lenthy invoice detailing the fact that they would need to replace basicly everything on the camera, justifing me when I purchased a replacement.
For whatever reason, I still can't figure why exactly, I felt compelled to reminise over the short time I had with my first digital camera and decided to put a battery in the thing. Just to see if it would even show any sign of life. It did.
But it didn't stop with a flick of the "on" switch, I was able to scroll through the menu perfectly, and the previously water-ridden LCD functioned equally well. I was shocked! I then proceeded to fire the shutter blank - it fires - and so I put a CF card in it. It accepted the card and I fired off a few exposures, which appeared on screen! I was even more surprised, at this point starting to seriously question Canon's dismissal of the machine. I got out my tripod and put it through a battery of tests. I shot furniture inside my home for over an hour, comparing the images with images from my identical replacement, expecting the thing to start smoking or power off at any point - but it didn't. Everything perfect. Down the the finest detail. Not so much as one dead pixel once I blew up the images 100% on my computer. Amazing! Dead for weeks and forgotten for months, the camera lives again. I guess I have a really nice back-up now.
Holy smokes... thats wicked... perhaps it just needed a few months to dry out?
I imagine it's possible that even after they had it for a couple weeks, and what not that it still had not fully dried out in some maner or another... it's strange sometimes how these electronic devices can work, some can fall 3" from the ground and die, and the same model fall from 30' and survive with only a scratch
Thats cool that it again worked, like u said a nice backup, or if your like me I like carrying 2 bodies (of course one is usually film, one digital) so I don't have to change lenses as much, just swap bodies, so you could always do that too, if it dies, just yank the card and keep shooting with the other camera.
"I imagine it's possible that even after they had it for a couple weeks, and what not that it still had not fully dried out in some maner or another"
Yeah, and I suppose it's possible Canon wanted me to buy another camera too. I only tried reviving it before I sent it in. I purchased the second model after they informed me they could not get it to work. In hindsight, I would have tried powering it on the second they sent it back to me. At that point though, I was disgusted with the situation and already had the replacement in hand due so I didn't.
John, yeah. It's tempting. If I did want to sell it though, I'd try using the old one as my back-up for a while to make sure it works, and then sell the newer one for more. However, I have some very long upcoming trips planned and a backup will suit my needs. We'll see.
Posted by Jeremy Cram on July 29, 2006 at 10:26 PM
Sweet dude....congrats! I knew of a guy who lost his to the ocean for a couple on minutes. Got it out took it home and disassembled it and soaked it in distilled water for days, dried it for a week, turned it on and it worked like nothing had happened. Go figure...? Great for you!
You know, this makes me wonder.... my cousin had a similar thing happen with a D2X early this spring. Dropped it off the boat into lake erie at a 50 ft depth. It was not missed for about 30 min. He is a diver, so went down and got it (the boat was at anchor.)
Wouldn't start, of course. Sent it back to Nikon, they kept it and played with it and blow dried it and nurtured - supposedly - and no way. so he bought another one and also had the first sent back for possible parts or a doorstop. :-D . It has been in the closet for like 2 months Closet is in a de-humidified toom where he keeps his collections of butterflies and stuff.
We were playing with it last week, and it started right up and also took great shots.
Hmmmmm. Sandy R
Although not nearly as exciting as a 5D coming back to life, I once had the exact same experience with my cell phone. It seemed as if when it completely dried out it was if nothing ever happened. That's great.
nice! most electronic devices will survive submersion, if given sufficient time to dry out, as long as they aren't soaked in salt water. the salt corrodes the internal circuits and contacts, and ruins everything. fresh water, though, is pretty benign... still, an amazing stroke of luck, and now you have a terrific "back-up" (i'd like to have a 5D as my PRIMARY camera, but that's another matter... )!
I wouldn't be too un-charitable about Canon, my guess is there isn't a huge body of data about immersing their product(s) and then closetting them for months.....and besides, you wanted a camera to use right then, not months later. Cool though....what a gift from fate!
I wonder what the long term reliability will be for it. Even though it was fresh water, the water still wasn't that clean. The internal contacts may take a hit and become intermittent over time from oxidation and/or corrosion. Something to monitor.
Posted by Kosta Koeman on July 31, 2006 at 5:28 PM
The camera gods have looked upon you in favor.
Posted by Zack Schnepf on August 1, 2006 at 3:04 AM
Discussion
15 repliesI was really bored last night. Got a through a long line of mostly photography-related work and such and started going through my box of misellaneous cameras, lenses and accessories trying to find a particular stepping ring. Near the top of the box sits the body of my deceased (drowned) Canon 5D.
Canon sent it back to me after some of the most specialized electronics technicians in the world spent over three weeks trying to revive it (or so it would appear) after it was submerged for a considerable amount of time in Eagle Creek earlier this year. I almost told them don't bother. Why would I want to see it again anyway? Maybe I could sqeeze some parts off it in the future though, so I accepted.
This camera did not work after the drowning. I had personally tried to restart it and Canon had sent me a lenthy invoice detailing the fact that they would need to replace basicly everything on the camera, justifing me when I purchased a replacement.
For whatever reason, I still can't figure why exactly, I felt compelled to reminise over the short time I had with my first digital camera and decided to put a battery in the thing. Just to see if it would even show any sign of life. It did.
But it didn't stop with a flick of the "on" switch, I was able to scroll through the menu perfectly, and the previously water-ridden LCD functioned equally well. I was shocked! I then proceeded to fire the shutter blank - it fires - and so I put a CF card in it. It accepted the card and I fired off a few exposures, which appeared on screen! I was even more surprised, at this point starting to seriously question Canon's dismissal of the machine. I got out my tripod and put it through a battery of tests. I shot furniture inside my home for over an hour, comparing the images with images from my identical replacement, expecting the thing to start smoking or power off at any point - but it didn't. Everything perfect. Down the the finest detail. Not so much as one dead pixel once I blew up the images 100% on my computer. Amazing! Dead for weeks and forgotten for months, the camera lives again. I guess I have a really nice back-up now.
Marc
Is that strange or what?!
Holy smokes... thats wicked... perhaps it just needed a few months to dry out?
I imagine it's possible that even after they had it for a couple weeks, and what not that it still had not fully dried out in some maner or another... it's strange sometimes how these electronic devices can work, some can fall 3" from the ground and die, and the same model fall from 30' and survive with only a scratch
Thats cool that it again worked, like u said a nice backup, or if your like me I like carrying 2 bodies (of course one is usually film, one digital) so I don't have to change lenses as much, just swap bodies, so you could always do that too, if it dies, just yank the card and keep shooting with the other camera.
Yeah, and I suppose it's possible Canon wanted me to buy another camera too. I only tried reviving it before I sent it in. I purchased the second model after they informed me they could not get it to work. In hindsight, I would have tried powering it on the second they sent it back to me. At that point though, I was disgusted with the situation and already had the replacement in hand due so I didn't.
Wouldn't start, of course. Sent it back to Nikon, they kept it and played with it and blow dried it and nurtured - supposedly - and no way. so he bought another one and also had the first sent back for possible parts or a doorstop. :-D . It has been in the closet for like 2 months Closet is in a de-humidified toom where he keeps his collections of butterflies and stuff.
We were playing with it last week, and it started right up and also took great shots.
Hmmmmm. Sandy R
I wonder what the long term reliability will be for it. Even though it was fresh water, the water still wasn't that clean. The internal contacts may take a hit and become intermittent over time from oxidation and/or corrosion. Something to monitor.