Help! Wet camera! I just dropped my Nikon D810 and Nikkor 28-300 lens in my fish pond. It took me about 20 seconds to retrieve it. The power was on when it went in, and though the...

cogerox Loc: Northern Cal

I just dropped my Nikon D810 and Nikkor 28-300 lens in my fish pond. It took me about 20 seconds to retrieve it. The power was on when it went in, and though the switch is still in the On position, there is no readout on the top LCD. It is sitting outside in the warm air drying off. What do I do now?

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Put it in a bag of rice or kitty litter and pray!

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Easy: B&H and Adorama are awaiting your order. They suggest you use the supplied neck strap.
Sorry this happened.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

cogerox wrote:

I just dropped my Nikon D810 and Nikkor 28-300 lens in my fish pond. It took me about 20 seconds to retrieve it. The power was on when it went in, and though the switch is still in the On position, there is no readout on the top LCD. It is sitting outside in the warm air drying off. What do I do now?

First thing should have been remove the battery.

Take it to a good camera repair shop, check with Nikon for one in your area that they deal with or to see if they will work on it. Oh, the lens also.

ricardo7 Loc: Washington, DC - Santiago, Chile

Remove battery and card. Rinse it in a bucket of distilled water and drain well. Leave in a warm dry location for about 5 days or until it dries completly. Should work just fine.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

cogerox wrote:

I just dropped my Nikon D810 and Nikkor 28-300 lens in my fish pond. It took me about 20 seconds to retrieve it. The power was on when it went in, and though the switch is still in the On position, there is no readout on the top LCD. It is sitting outside in the warm air drying off. What do I do now?

When you get it back from the repairman, check this site: http://www.ikelite.com/housings/

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

cogerox wrote:

I just dropped my Nikon D810 and Nikkor 28-300 lens in my fish pond. It took me about 20 seconds to retrieve it. The power was on when it went in, and though the switch is still in the On position, there is no readout on the top LCD. It is sitting outside in the warm air drying off. What do I do now?

Call your insurance company and start the claim process. You do have insurance coverage, don't you?

cogerox Loc: Northern Cal

kpmac wrote:

Put it in a bag of rice or kitty litter and pray!

Thanks, kp. It is currently resting in 20 lbs of rice with battery and cards removed. It'll stay there until at least next Wednesday!

cogerox Loc: Northern Cal

Gene51 wrote:

Call your insurance company and start the claim process. You do have insurance coverage, don't you?

Thanks, Gene. I'm currently searching for the 5 year warranty I purchased with the camera to see if accidental water damage is included.

cogerox Loc: Northern Cal

Good news! The 5 year warranty I purchased through Adorama (good 'till 11/19) covers accidental damage up to $6500 for camera AND lens! Hopefully, I won't have to use it, but...Great! Thanks to all for your assistance and concern.

GraveyDave

I took a dunk in a waterfall with my flash, Nikon D750, and my 24-120 Nikkor lens. Completely submerged for 20-30 seconds. I immediately opened everything up, took off the lens, and started air drying it as I was hours away from home. When I got home I used a hairdryer on full power for many hours until everything appeared to be dry. My Metz 60CT4 was smashed but the battery pack still works. The 24-120 I sent to CRIS camera in Arizona (authorized Nikon repair) and it cost $200 to fix and clean. The D750 they said would cost more to fix than to buy a new one - - - It is still working close to one year later! Don't know when it will go kaput but in the meantime I'm getting great shots from it and it was also one that Nikon listed for a new shutter which I got. I have a back up body which I always bring just in case.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

cogerox wrote:

I just dropped my Nikon D810 and Nikkor 28-300 lens in my fish pond. It took me about 20 seconds to retrieve it. The power was on when it went in, and though the switch is still in the On position, there is no readout on the top LCD. It is sitting outside in the warm air drying off. What do I do now?

Wet camera salvation -

http://www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/9049428-how-to-perform-cpr-on-a-drowned-dslr

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

Rice is a bad idea, though very, very commonly recommended. It is simply a source of dust and dirt.
Moderate heat and airflow are the best bet. The hair dryer suggested above should work. The temperature should not exceed around 150º f.
I've had the same issue after being caught in a bad storm in the mountains. I separated all easily removable items (battery, lens, filter, memory cards) and put them all under a desk lamp with a 100 wall mazda bulb placed about 8-9" away over night, and with a fan directed from several feet away at low speed. In my case the camera and everything except the lens recovered fully - the lens required professional repair. The latter is what I would have done with the camera as well, if it had not recovered fully.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

GraveyDave wrote:

The D750 they said would cost more to fix than to buy a new one...

People sell broken photo gear on ebay. You'd be surprised how much you can for get for a broken camera.

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I had a similar situation a few years back with a D90, although it was only underwater for @10 seconds. In addition to the rice, I also did a series of two to three minute blow dryer treatments on a cool setting. The camera did come back to normal but when the lens dried, the inner elements were covered in microscopic dried water sediment dots, it was a total loss. Good luck.