My son was using my 30D (with a used 55-250 that I found on Craigslist). He was leaning over an observation deck and removed the camera from his neck to take a picture - but the strap slipped out of his hand and it went in the river. It was fully submerged about 6 inches below the water. After about 5 minutes of searching for a stick, I found one long enough to reach out and pull it from the water. I immediately yanked the battery and CF card out. At home, I wiped it down and blow dried it a little, then put it in a sealed back with rice.
Water:
- zero in battery compartment
- very little in CF card slot
- a little more in the sensor area but not much
- a lot of water dripping out of the USB port/holes on the end
I turned it on after a day or so, only to find that it seemed to short out after 2-3 shots and wouldn't turn on again (I think it was still wet inside). So I left it alone for another couple of days. I had decided I had killed it by turning it on prematurely and was about to purchase a neighbor's 40D last night, but - I tried one last time to turn it on. Voila! It works - and works well.
Not bad for a 6-yr-old camera with supposedly little or no weather-sealing, that was fully submerged for about five minutes. The lens is toast, though.
Just thought I'd report. Pleasantly surprised!
(ETA - not sure if it helped or not, but one thing he does is turn on the power switch when not taking pictures. So the switch was off. Not a bad habit - I leave mine on all the time so I just have to wake it.)
Message edited by author 2013-05-17 15:00:26. |
