sus Loc: Ripon,Ca

My nikon d 7000 and 24-70mm 2.8 lens and tripod skittered down some rocks and ended up submerged in the Merced River. I of course went in after my gear. That was Nov 1st. We put everything in a pillowcase and put it inside another pillow case filled with rice. Three to four weeks later I bought a d600 and a tamron 24-70. Last week I did my "here's hoping" check and they both worked! Camera and lens take beautiful photos. The camera info is wrong but the camera settings all work. I put it back in rice hoping the info ones back too.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The only time I had a camera fhit the ground was over forty years ago, and it was because a leg of a tripod loosened. I'm glad your camera and lens seem to be working. Below are more ideas to save it.

Saving a Wet Camera
March 19, 2013
http://www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/9049428-how-to-perform-cpr-on-a-drowned-dslr

1. Take the battery out as fast as you can. Yes, it doesn’t take more than a nanosecond to turn the camera OFF (which is the least you should do), but even after doing so there are still volts inside going where ever the water goes. If the charge meets that moisture, your electronics will be fried. End of story.
2. Take the card out. Simple step, but in the panic immediately following the drowning it’s easily forgotten. I know I have.
3. Don’t stand there wiping the exterior of the camera body. You are wasting valuable time. You need to get to a heat source ASAP.
4. Did you drive to your shoot? Get to the car pronto. Now take the lens off and wipe as much water as you can from inside the camera with your lens cloth or an absorbent cloth if you have one, without damaging the mirror or sensor. Tissues are NOT recommended because they will separate and strands will be left inside the body. Even shaking the body while holding it downwards will help. Turn on your car’s engine, turn the car’s airconditioning on full-bore and HOT, and hold the body up to the vents. Keep it there as you drive home or to your hotel, or get your passenger to do it if you have one. (Drive safe but don’t dawdle.)
5. Think as you drive home. How much rice do you have? You’ll need a good 4kgs, so if necessary buy some on the way home, but don’t stop for a Big Mac or a pie. Get long grain, basmati, jasmine, whatever. Just get the damn rice, ok?
6. When you get home, grab a blow dryer and give the body’s interior a good going over. (The camera’s, not yours.) Full blast. Give it a good 15-30 minutes or at least until you can’t see any more water and your camera body is nice and warm.
7. Ideally, whilst you are doing the blow job, someone else is grabbing a pillow slip and putting all the rice in it. Now find an item of clothing. The thinner the fabric the better. The BEST item to grab is a thermal top or thermal pants or similar.
8. Insert the camera body into a sleeve (or pant). This is to prevent rice grains from getting inside the body. Don’t “wrap” the item of clothing around the body because you want as little as possible coming between the moisture-sucking rice and the body. Now immerse the body in the rice. If the body is in a sleeve, you can leave the rest of the item of clothing hanging out, just make sure the body is immersed in rice.
9. Put the bag on a table next to a fan. This will help keep moisture from hanging around.
10. Leave the body in the bag of rice for as long as possible. Note that I haven’t said you can turn the camera on. That is the hardest bit – resisting the temptation. Give it a week. Seriously.
11. When you finally can’t wait any more and turn the camera back on, do not leave it on. Turn it back off and put it back in the bag of rice even if the camera seems to be working. CPR by rice takes time.
As I said, no guarantees any of the above will save your drowned buddy, but hopefully you can give it at least your best chance to survive. Bear in mind that repairing a drowned DSLR, if possible, can end up costing nearly as much as getting a new one, if not more.

Picdude Loc: Ohio

Just to ask, exactly what is incorrect with the camera info?

Picdude Loc: Ohio

Thanks for this link and the list, looks like a good page to bookmark. One thing I would think, somewhere about step 12 or 13, and assuming the CPR was successful, would be to take the camera in and have it professionally cleaned. If water got in all through the interior, you just know there are going to be water spots on something that will show up on every subsequent picture you take.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Having Nikon work on it might be a good idea. However, it you eventually get it working fine, I would save the time and money. Several people have posted that they sent their cameras in for service after they fell into water, and the service center returned them immediately. The idea was that they didn't want to deal with a submerged camera. I think that might have been Canon, though. You might make an inquiry with them before sending it.

sus Loc: Ripon,Ca

I was shooting a moonrise at Tunnel View. The light was changing and I needed to change my aperture and ISO settings. I use info screen in the dark to see what I was on and then adjust from there. Well... My info was nowhere near correct, it read settings but were not what I was using. So.. I adjusted by counting clicks of the dial. When I first pulled it out of the water the top view showed black bars then it turned to red lines then nothing.

sus Loc: Ripon,Ca

Nikon service centers across the country refused to even try to fix it. The local repair guy said he can't even get parts from Nikon as they only supply their own authorized dealers. My camera appeared to be fried. So far I don't see water spots. My message is to try your best to dry it with rice and be patient. The nay sayers from nikon should have more faith in their product and at least clean a camera that has come back. The Merced in Yosemite is crystal clear. Clear water and fast action helped an otherwise complete disaster.

sus Loc: Ripon,Ca

I was shooting a moonrise at Tunnel View. The light was changing and I needed to change my aperture and ISO settings. I use info screen in the dark to see what I was on and then adjust from there. Well... My info was nowhere near correct, it read settings but were not what I was using. So.. I adjusted by counting clicks of the dial. When I first pulled it out of the water the top view showed black bars then it turned to red lines then nothing.

Picdude Loc: Ohio

Yeah, it's a shame that manufacturers have, or feel they have, been put in a position to believe they have to cover their "tails" by refusing to perform that kind of service. That's when it's really nice to have a good local camera shop that knows what they're doing close to hand.

sus Loc: Ripon,Ca

Yes, now that I know it does not need parts I'll get lens and camera cleaned.

Picdude Loc: Ohio

The black bars and red lines were probably originally caused by moisture in the LCD display shorting some of the electronics that you later got dried out before it could do permanent damage.

If the info screen is now giving you information but it is inaccurate, you probably have either a dirty or damaged sensor (for the light meter?). It would be worth a telephone call to Nikon tech support to at least ask their opinion. You never know, it could be an easy fix.

sus Loc: Ripon,Ca

Thanks I will. Never give up right?

Picdude Loc: Ohio

You got it. What the heck, that D7000 is a pretty nice camera.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Whenever possible, I keep the camera strap around my neck when the camera sits on the tripod. (Well, not so much indoors, but definitely outdoors.) If for some reason the tripod falls over, the camera is spared from falling to the ground.

sus Loc: Ripon,Ca

Better than Nikon gives it credit for. If I was Nikon I'd make me their poster girl. Remember Timex?