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Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

gilles.t
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

I am afraid I killed my R7 from water exposure today. I went to take some bird pictures with my kayak on the big local lake. The condition where kind of sporty with a bit of wind and some waves when exposed to wind away from shore. As usual, I carry the 500 f4 mounted with the R5 in a dry bag between my legs and the R7 with EF 100-400 II in an other dry bag on my lap, squeezed by my life jacket . The waves required that I put on the cockpit cover to keep my seat dry today when exposed to the wind. I use a Lens Coat Rain Sleeve for protection when I retract the cockpit cover and get the cameras out of the dry bags. I know I am putting my photo gear at risk when I use it on the water like this, but the photo opportunities are so nice in this natural environment that I am willing to assume that risk.
Some wave splash somehow got inside the rain sleeve and got the R7 wet when I put it back on my lap underneath the cockpit cover. It was dead when I got it out to use it a few minutes after. It is the first time in twenty years that I get some water to totally shut down a camera. I quickly removed the battery, but water had about ten minutes to do its thing by then. I removed the wet rain sleeve and lens. I put the lens and R7 in an other spare dry bag. Back home, I opened all doors and covers on the body to inspect and try to see from where the water could have made its way inside. I did not see any trace of wetness anywhere inside. I am now letting the body all opened in a closed container with rice to dry for a few days.
Do you think that I have got any chance to bring this R7 back to life? Did you guys have ever succeded to dry a camera and save it? Must I mentally prepare myself for a body replacement?
Please share your experiences.

Aug 11, 2023 at 11:56 PM

EB-1
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

Use silica gel followed by or just going to a stronger dessicant like a molecular sieve and keep replacing it. At the end maybe try phosphorus pentoxide under a partial vacuum in the dessicator. Of course it may be a moot point.
Save the rice for dinner.

EBH

Aug 12, 2023 at 12:28 AM

dmahar
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

Oh dear! I have never had any luck saving wet bodies or lenses in any dessicant and Canon advised that it is not economic to send them in for repair.

Good luck

Aug 12, 2023 at 12:46 AM

Z250SA
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

My AE-1 got some salt water back in the late 80´s. Had it repaired for 3/4 of a used body... It worked until I moved on to Hasselblad. Salt water is really bad.

Water with less "additives" may be much less corrosive. Anything cheap is worth a test as it might actually work. But I would never rely on a body if the occasion is special.

Aug 12, 2023 at 02:16 AM

Uarctos
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

Had a 6d almost killed by dense cold fog and, of course, 100% air humidity. Things went crazy on its display and so on. Not completely dead. Kept it on top of a radiator for couple of days with everything removed. It was fine after that. Remember that dry heat is the best chance to remove the water.

Aug 12, 2023 at 04:09 AM

gilles.t
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

Uarctos wrote:
Had a 6d almost killed by dense cold fog and, of course, 100% air humidity. Things went crazy on its display and so on. Not completely dead. Kept it on top of a radiator for couple of days with everything removed. It was fine after that. Remember that dry heat is the best chance to remove the water.

I have put the container un the over with only the light on. The pure water from fog leaves you more chances I think that lake water. With the quantity of electronics and computing power in the R7, my hopes are not very high. But it doesn’t seem that it got a lot of water in so… Fingers crossed.

Aug 12, 2023 at 05:21 AM

gilles.t
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

dmahar wrote:
Oh dear! I have never had any luck saving wet bodies or lenses in any dessicant and Canon advised that it is not economic to send them in for repair.

Good luck

That is also what I always heard about water damage. It has to dry by itself or it is the end of it. I really wonder how small my odds are.

Aug 12, 2023 at 05:27 AM

runamuck
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

fresh water is less corrosive than salt. if it works, great. If not, how good is your insurance? "Driveway Heat" works better than silica gel.
https://prestone.com/product/prestone-driveway-heat/

Aug 12, 2023 at 06:04 AM

lighthound
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

If you added that body as a rider on your home owners insurance, report it as completly gone, not water damaged. As if you dropped it in the lake.
When I asked my insurance agent about this exact situation and whether or not my rider would cover it, she told me to report it as though I dropped it in the lake and that it's completely gone. I said no not dropped in the water but just destroyed from water. She then replied with the exact same explanation stressing the words "completely gone". We went through that 2 more times before I finally got what she was saying.
Fortunately, I've never had to go down that road yet, but appreciate being told that by my agent.

Aug 12, 2023 at 06:56 AM

mike650
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

From what I've read, using rice as a desiccant is an urban myth. So keeping the camera in a closed bag with rice is not a good method. As someone else suggested, start with flowing dry air. (fan in sunny location?) That will buy you time to find/buy some silica desiccant and use a sealed container to fully dry out.
Good luck.

Aug 12, 2023 at 08:47 AM

dallvr
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

Just happened to me in June, my tripod with my Sony A1 + Tamron 28-200 just tipped over while I was standing next to it right into Lake Wanaka, NZ. I quickly got my gear out of the lake, walked back to the hotel, dried everything with towels. No water got into the sensor compartment, and I opened everything up and wiped out whatever I could. I left the various compartments open for 2 days. Both the camera and the lens worked fine after the 2 days.

I learned from one of the leaders of our workshop group that he had seen things like this happen several times over the years, and that if the camera fell into fresh water, most of the time it would recover fine. If it fell into salt water, forget it.

Aug 12, 2023 at 09:24 AM

AmbientMike
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

I had a 30D that seemed to cone back to life one time. Left it in the car on the seat, window down, and it rained, tried drying it and it still didn't work. Later on it seemed to work so I guess it dried out at some point?

I use heat. It's pretty easy to use a convenational oven to get the body over 100° F (on my oven, at least,) but apparently beyond some of the members here (perhaps their reading comprehension low) , and it was an issue one time I mentioned it. PM me. I'd probably just leave it in the car in August, it's been so hot here. But I wouldn't leave it in too long. It's over 100° F lately and the car could pretty easily get too hot. I doubt that rice does much, really. Just leaving it in a room at room temperature it'd dry, eventually.

I've gotten condensation on the inside of the lcd numerous times, had 40D out in the remnants of a hurricane, accidentally left one body having seemingly no weather resistance in a thunderstorm. Usually it's ok, although the 5D died. The other day I apparently had too much sweat on the shutter button, wouldn't quit firing, eventually dried out though, although I'm sure it did help anything. So I'd just try to dry R7 out. Maybe pay attention to the battery drain if it goes, to avoid any shorts

Aug 12, 2023 at 10:06 AM

Peter Figen
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

I saved my old Kodak Retina IIIc but only to take it to the camera store to be repaired after it got dunked in the Arroyo Seco River in upper Carmel Valley. Then while it was at McKay's Cameras in downtown Monterey, the store burned down and so did my camera, so we'll never know if it was salvageable or not. That was about 50 years ago.

The photographers for the old Monterey Peninsula Herald newspaper used to get their Nikons pretty well soaked while shooting night football games in the rain and used to put them in a very low oven for an hour or two to dry them out. That was back when there were no batteries or meters in a Nikon and it seemed to work quite well back in the very analog days.

Aug 12, 2023 at 10:27 AM

danwanfur
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

Back in 2013, I slipped into a stream with a Canon 5D Mark III and was carried by the water for 75-100 feet. Both the camera and I were submerged during that time. The camera would not turn on, and I thought I would have to replace the camera completely. But I sent it to Canon, and they repaired it for ~$1150 (parts were ~$775; the rest was labor and sales tax).

Here is the quote:
Liquid damage requires top cover assy, mirror box assy, main pcb assy, back cover and main base plate to repair. Rear LCD does not power on. Hot pixels. Top dial coming off. Repair to good working order. Required repairs fall outside of limited warranty.

I repaired the camera since it was covered by insurance and was also less than half the cost of buying the camera used. I happily used the camera for many years after with no issues.

Aug 12, 2023 at 10:30 AM

G Lavaty
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

Last year when in Alaska a buddy of mine and I were talking photos of eagles in the mouth of a river and he got caught by the current and fell dropping his R6 and RF 100-500L in the river where it was completely submerged in brackish water. I grabbed the camera as quickly as I could and pulled it out of the water but it was under full probably 10 seconds at least. We took the battery out and dumped all the water out we could. Against everyone’s advice who was present my buddy tried to power the camera on once it was as dry as we could get it and it appeared totally dead. We let everything dry out for a few days after that in the hotel and tried again, this time without the lens mounted and to our surprise the camera powered on. Now, over a year later the camera is still working. Unfortunately the lens was toast and determined to be not economically feasible to repair when sent to Canon. I wasn’t surprised as you could see all kinds of residue between the elements and there was lots of grinding when zooming and turning the rings….

Anyway, maybe your camera isn’t a lost cause.

Aug 12, 2023 at 08:16 PM

gilles.t
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

Thank you guys, this forum is an amazing place to get feedback and share experiences. So as EB-1 told right there at the top , I should have save rice for dinner. Yesterday morning I got the camera out of the oven. It was warm from just the interior light I left on for the entire night. I finally left the container opened in the oven again with light on. I think my water incident is not as bad as some of yours. So mine could survive! We will see, I feel like leaving it to dry for a few more days.
I abandonned the insurance solution may years ago. My home insurance is expensive and the premium would rise for a few years if I have any claim. I just decided have a high deductible amount, 1000$ or 1500$, and take care of my own risks. I saved with this decision over the years. For a specific insurance for big value items like a big white lens, the fee was 1:5 the value of the item. I take risk with my gear, taking precautions, and until now, I do not destroy every piece of gear I use every five years, so I’m fine with this decision. When I put up some equipement for sale, buyer are always happy about how good the item condition is after I used it for a few years.
I will keep you informed if it survived in a day or two. Fingers crossed.

Aug 13, 2023 at 05:42 AM

gilles.t
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

My R7 survived! After four days in the oven with only le inside light on, I took a chance to insert a fresh battery and a card in it. It still felt warm from the oven in my hands. With my heart racing in my chest, I flipped on the switch. Hurray! Everything worked as it ever did. I used it in the field a few times now and my worries are now gone.

I want to thank again all who shared their own experiences.
Oh! And save your rice for diner.

Aug 20, 2023 at 07:40 PM

akinipeters
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

My 5d3 and Zeiss 35mm f2 fell into a river once. Both were completely dead when I retrieved them. I put them in rice for a week and they were good as new.

Aug 20, 2023 at 10:45 PM

jedibrain
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

gilles.t wrote:
My R7 survived! After four days in the oven with only le inside light on, I took a chance to insert a fresh battery and a card in it. It still felt warm from the oven in my hands. With my heart racing in my chest, I flipped on the switch. Hurray! Everything worked as it ever did. I used it in the field a few times now and my worries are now gone.

I want to thank again all who shared their own experiences.
Oh! And save your rice for diner.

Oh thank goodness! Glad you're good to go. I did a beach shoot yesterday and was thinking about this. Took a long lens so I didn't have to get close to the water!

-Brian

Aug 21, 2023 at 02:38 PM

dallvr
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Did you ever saved a camera that got water inside?

If it works normally, I think you are fine. Mine has worked just fine for about 2 months since it hit the water.

Aug 25, 2023 at 09:21 AM


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