An Extrodinary Day Ended to Soon

[comicIDIOT]

I had a great day of shooting today. Hitting up light houses, vistas, lakes and cow pastures. On the second to last stop of the day the TA & I decided to grab some kayaks from her apartment room and get some photos from the middle of a lake. All was well. I went back and asked for my camera after getting the hang of kayaking and headed back out for photos.

I never practiced getting out of the kayak. So when the time came I toppled over and Mr. Camera went in Apperently, the seal with my fisheye & 400D is, or at least was, water proof for the one to three seconds it was under. I got out of the lake and took my camera apart: Batter, Memory Card then Lens and let them dry for a while while I, myself, dried off.

But, the humidity in Maine (especially after rain and thunder) is quite high so nothing dried as fast I wanted to. My memory card still has all it's data and the water was fresh (opposed to salt). I have high hopes my camera will recover with low to moderate mechanical/technical damage.

I'm expecting the LCD to not work [as well as it use to] and probably a few of the buttons if the damage is moderate at most. My camera is now in my room, air drying. I have the room fan on higher than normal in hopes a higher circulation of air helps.

I'll update you guys over the weekend if my camera works I don't plan to turn it on until then!

[Saknika]

...That's... not good. D: Dude, I hope your camera is okay. I really don't know what one should do in that sort of situation, except to let it air dry. Is it still under warranty so you can send it in for repairs? Or did you get a repair package? And next time, I highly recommend keeping it in a waterproof bag that floats, or passing it off before getting out.

[comicIDIOT]

I'm not sure, it could still be under warranty via Costco (them and their three year warranties!). You'd think after working there I'd know if my camera had a warranty sticker but I'm not positive; I haven't worked there for over a year. But I'm sure it does! Which means, new camera & new shutter life (as this one has taken about 40,000 on it's 150,000 approved shutter. Though sadly, I don't think they're carrying the XTi Kit any more so maybe refund and upgrade to a T1i?

Well, if I had access to an oven I'd preheat to about 75, 80 degrees then turn it off when I put my camera in there and hope to slowly evaporate the water, at least.

[Saknika]

Good luck with that. I was lucky when Ritz Camera (aka Wolf Camera) was still nearby, because they had a repair package deal that covered things like that accident, where they'd send it off to be fixed for you. No extra charge since you did have the coverage.

[firequall]

I don't advocate this method, nor do I take any responsibility for damages, but you can use your oven to dry out your camera faster. Set the camera on the very front of the middle rack, making sure to leave the oven door wide open and set the oven to the lowest temperature possible. Give it an hour or so and see how everything looks.

Alternatively, put the equipment in a ziploc bag with quite a bit of a desiccant (silica gel is pretty common). Leave it for a few days or weeks and see how things go. Either way, it's best to take it to a shop and have them look at it. Once residue gets in circuitry it can start wreaking havoc and corroding things left and right.

[comicIDIOT]

I did know about the oven and mentioned it above, but it's good to know a more proper method for the oven. I usually just place it in the middle rack, in the middle and close the door with the oven off (after being pre-heated to about 75-80.)

[comicIDIOT]

Well, my camera came out relatively okay! The LCD has some water between the screen and hard plastic protector. When I get home I plan to unscrew my camera and dry the LCD