Dropped 70-200mm f/2.8L in a stream...

Lightstalker

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Emmett
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Repairable?
 
oooh bad news mate!

Best thing to do is send it off for a no obligation quote. Lehmans in Stoke are quite good
 
Get it off to Canon or someone like Lehmans in Stoke quick smart, it may just be salvagable.

If not tell you insurance you where cleaning it and accidentaly dropped it in the washing up bowl.
 
in the meantime though get it in an airing cupboard or somewhere that is warm to dry it off
 
This is probably a very stupid thing to say and something that I wouldn't recommend trying - but if you rinsed it completely in the sink, with clean water - give it a really good soak and get all of the dirt out, could you then not just leave it to dry for a week in a warm place - or would the water kill the electrics?
 
JackMcIntyre said:
This is probably a very stupid thing to say and something that I wouldn't recommend trying - but if you rinsed it completely in the sink, with clean water - give it a really good soak and get all of the dirt out, could you then not just leave it to dry for a week in a warm place - or would the water kill the electrics?
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Yeah very bad idea....never give anything electronic a good soak. The damage would really make it irreparable
 
bad times mate :(

i would say its repairable
 
My daughter fell into a stream with my camera, which had the 50mm f/1.4 on it. The camera didn't get any water in it, but the lens seemed to have loads sploshing around in it. I put the lens on top of a radiator for a few days, to get it thoroughly dried out.


You might just want to send it in to be properly looked at, though.
 
Paulmack said:
Yeah very bad idea....never give anything electronic a good soak. The damage would really make it irreparable
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If it's off supply and is dried out thoroughly before being energised, it should be OK.
 
mr_pants said:
If it's off supply and is dried out thoroughly before being energised, it should be OK.
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agreed with you

most PCB's are fine aslong as there is no moisture on them when you power them up
 
Paulmack said:
Yeah very bad idea....never give anything electronic a good soak. The damage would really make it irreparable
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What would it do? Soak moister into the bits? Surely if you just let it dry for a long time afterwards all of the moisture would evaporate out?
 
for my peace of mind i would sugest getting it sent back to canon, they will strip it down and rebuild it, apart from labour, all it needs is the electrics replacing. It may work once it dries out but corrosion may set in and only noticed later on. If this is not an IS lens then the electrics my not be as dear as expected? why not give them a call wont hurt to find out.
 
It's on a piece of wood over the Radiator now, asked Lehmanns for a quote.
I'll likely get it sent to them asap. Being adventurous probably isn't the best idea at the moment.

It was completely saturated, you can hear the grit when focusing/zooming.
I guess it needs completely taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. Atleast that would be reassuring.
 
Do you have insurance? Home insurance would cover you dropping it in the sink, which you did right? ;)
 
I would get it to someone very quickly, drying it out will only help any corrosion to set in more quickly, the warm moist air inside the lens will only condense when it cools back down.
Silica Gel bags may be a better option, but off to the menders asap.

Paul
 
I read a thread recently either here or at POTN which strongly recommended the slowest possible drying out by resting the affected object in a bowl of rice (of all things) changing the rice daily. This by far in preference to drying it out quickly. Same for cameras, watches, mobile phones, iplayers etc. If I can find the thread again I'll PM the OP.
 
Rice works VERY well for drying out things :) I put rice in the salt pot at home to stop the salt from getting all wet and clunky. I know it's not a lens but the same should apply
 
The electronics are probably the least of the issue. A others had said as long as there aren't powered up while wet then they are unlikely to suffer. They go through far worse in the manufacturing process.

What will be the problem is the dry residue left on the optics and the later risk of mold forming from the organisms present in the stream water.

Dry it as much as possible and get it off to a Canon service centre asap.
 
While not drenched in water, but I've had some pretty good kit almost eaten by a sand storm; I've made a post about it here.

The thing that worried me were, a) the sand grinding the gears and rubber, b) sand residue on the optics, c) shorting out of the lens motors as they grind. Took the lot to Nikon for a good clean, and touch wood, been working perfect ever since. Just make sure they clean it out well.

This leaves the water bit, I know of one member here who's done something very similar to this, dropped his D200 [I believe it was], in to a pond. If it's fresh water (as opposed to salt water) then you're not that much at risk! The salt will just ruin it immediately due to corrosion, fresh water just dries out. I hope so :shrug:

I believe this is very well salvageable, though at a cost.
 
I believe this is very well salvageable, though at a cost.
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Any rough estmates? *braces myself*
 
mr_pants said:
If it's off supply and is dried out thoroughly before being energised, it should be OK.
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jay1601 said:
agreed with you

most PCB's are fine aslong as there is no moisture on them when you power them up
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JackMcIntyre said:
What would it do? Soak moister into the bits? Surely if you just let it dry for a long time afterwards all of the moisture would evaporate out?
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Agreed but you would have to make pretty damn sure that it all dried out and within a reasonable amount of time to prevent any corrosion or rust. Also you would have to be able to strip the whole thing down to make sure it was dry and then clean the optics.

What he has now is a half decent chance of getting the lens repaired. Go and stick it under a running tap then leaving it to dry means you will have a bloody big expensive paperweight.

Its not all bad though, if it is well and truly knackered then you could always use it like this

6a00d8341ce76f53ef0120a8f1e5e7970b-800wi.jpg
 
I have a (slightly) related question....

There's been a couple of statements of "if you have insurance, then tell them you dropped it in the sink" etc etc.

If you have insurance, what difference does it make where it was dropped? Stream, sink..... toilet? :shrug:
 
OutLore said:
I have a (slightly) related question....

There's been a couple of statements of "if you have insurance, then tell them you dropped it in the sink" etc etc.

If you have insurance, what difference does it make where it was dropped? Stream, sink..... toilet? :shrug:
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none really an accident is an accident at the end of the day.. although if its household insurance it may not cover outside of your property?
 
OutLore said:
If you have insurance, what difference does it make where it was dropped? Stream, sink..... toilet? :shrug:
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Depends on the insurance. If it's covered on his home insurance and he was out shooting commercially (even if he was shooting for his own benefit and selling prints on his website, for example), then they probably wouldn't cover him. Some will cover it outside your home (for non-commercial shoots) though depending on the circumstances (stolen from your car, if you get mugged, accidentally fell off the roof of a 20 story building, etc).

You'll have to check with your insurer.

You'll also have to check the per-item value, some have a pretty low per-item limit, even though the overall gear limit may be quite high. If you have 10 grand's worth of gear & coverage, but a £1,000 per item limit, it's not going to completely replace something like a 70-200 f/2.8. :)
 
On the insurance question...

DON'T lie to your insurers. IF you get found out, you might find you have all sorts of problems - not least, finding that all insurers (you do know they share information) refuse to cover you and that employers (both current and future) take a rather dim view of fraudsters. Quite apart from that, fraudulent claims are just one of the reasons all our premiums keep going up every year.
If you're legitimately covered, then claim - that's why you pay your premiums but if you're not, is it really worth the risks involved when you defraud the insurance company?
 
Re Insurance, chat to your home insurers. I did when I worked out I had £7k of kit at new prices and it really wasn't very much to up my cover for the camera kit.
Beware some insurers have a maximum price limit as well, so you may find your lens is only insured upto £500.
 
I've done the same thing - dropped a D200 plus lens in a lake.

D200 was fine after drying out. Lens a total write off.
 
ChrisJ_SLH said:
To be honest I've not had a stellar service from them either.
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Oh right fair enough, can only comment on my experience with them and so far not had any reason to complain but only used them twice. Good thing is there are plenty of other Canon approved repairers about :thumbs:
 
"Yeah very bad idea....never give anything electronic a good soak. The damage would really make it irreparable"

I spent many years fixing electronic gear and we used to rinse stuff under the tap when people had spilt orange juice or something all over it. Electronics don't like water but they like what might be in the water a lot less so I suppose it depends upon what's in the water in your area.

I wouldn't soak anything though, rinse maybe but not soak.

I wonder thought...this is an L lens, I thought they were sealed?
 
woof woof said:
this is an L lens, I thought they were sealed?
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Weather sealed. This is the difference between "water proof" and "splash resistant". :)
 
Likewise I've worked in electronics repair and we used to clean water damaged equipment in a degreaser bath and gently scrub the board with a washing up brush then a good rinse off in soapy then clean water, followed by a good drying out, we had a good success rate with that. I'm not suggesting you do that to your lens but time is of the essence to stop corrosion forming, I'd probably send mine to Fixation as I've had good repairs done by them in the past.
 
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