Wet camera

So I screwed up last night and left my camera outside, and of course it rained a bit this morning before I realized where I left it. My camera is a Rebel XS with a Tamron 28-75 2.8 lens and battery grip. I don't really know how long it rained, but it was apparently very little. My son's inflatable pool is about 5' in diameter, and I would guess it had less than 2 cups of water in it. Here is where I found NO water:the battery, battery tray in the grip, battery slot in the camera, SD card, SD card slot, USB port, mirror and the things around it. Here is where I found small amounts of water: barrel extention of the lens (the lens was not extended over night), bottom of the battery grip, lens mount, various places on the body. And there are two places where there was more than a small amount of water, the main dial and the hotshoe. Those two places probably had 1/2 teaspoon of water. It was very little, but more than the other places. So here's my big question - how long should I wait til I put everything back together and test the camera? I'm thinking tomorrow morning or afternoon. Any thoughts? Oh yea, I think I left the camera on it's side, with the grip facing up, but I don't know for sure.


Lewis

I would be inclined to gently use a hair dryer on it, on a very low setting. Then afterwards, pack it in a plastic bag over the weekend with a couple of those pouches of dessicant that you get when you buy stuff.With the batteries, cards, etc.removed of course.


From the sounds of it I don't think it got very wet.

I think EdN is right that you have to remove the battery and card as soon as possible.


I know some that dropped his camera in a river, took it home, into the oven (stove) at 40-50 degrees Celcius for some time, and it was perfectly ok. But that was 20 years ago, and a film-based camera, that could take some more beating than a DSLR. Still, it could be worth trying. Using a hair-dryer you risk blowing dust into the camera, and in fact make things worse.


After the oven, I would use silica-pouches. I recon you can get a lot for free if you ask any shop selling electrical devices.


And of course, no microwave... [:P]

My 40D got very wet the other weekend photographing a local rally event. It took 7-10 days for the last of the water that was visible on the LCD screen to dry. I didn't do anything special just dried the surface water then left it next to the heater on a towel and placed it in the sun when there was some (winter here at the moment). I used it sparingly over that time just to make sure it worked but didn't rush it back into action.

I had a similar experience with a laptop getting wet, twice. The first time, there was water under the keys and around the screen, so I let it dry in the sun for about two weeks and then turned it on, no problems. The second time, myhelpfulroommate"turned it on to see if it still worked" and so goodbye laptop. I think the important thing is that no current goes through the wet circuits. On the bright side, if it is a goner, you are now eligible to buy a refurbished 50d at a good discount through the canon loyalty program! lucky....