Rain in lens.

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horse.collier

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Andy
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Numpty here left his Sigma 70-200 1:2.8 APO DG HSM in the rain, (luckily camera was in the house), dont ask why, am beating myself up enough.

Can anyone advise me on the best course of action to remove the moisture fron inside the lens? Or is the lens a write off?

Many thanks in advance.

Now stood in front of mirror chewing myself a new *rse hole.
 

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If the professional service is not an option for you, I have had success with telescopes in the past using dehumidification substances such as the gel packs or bicarb boxes. I have also used rice. Sealed boxes, warm environment and lots of time.

On small scopes I have warmed the fan oven (and I mean warm not hot - you can easily touch the racks with your bare hand) and placed the scope inside a container that had a bed of rice in the bottom. Left it there for a few hours with a large note on top of the cooker saying do not turn on the oven!! Rinse and repeat so to speak.

Now, none of these scopes had electronics inside of course but I have also used the latter technique twice for mobile phones that had been fully submerged. Both worked fine afterwards and this was back around 2010 when phones didn't like water.

So, my advice would be get a service if it's affordable otherwise try the above and see what happens.

Good luck.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I'd send that away for a professional opinion / service
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And I'd do it right away. It'll need disassembly to dry out properly, and have the elements cleaned. It could cost you £100 - the price of your mistake.
 
:agree: with @GreenNinja67

Make contact with Sigma UK ASAP to get their view.

Having said that IMO you have little to lose but putting in a plastic box or bag completely buried dried white rice. It may not be as efficient as bags of silica gel but I have on a few occasions that the rice treatment can help, though can take some days

PS when you say left in the rain....do you mean soaked to complete water ingress or just very wet and what you are seeing condensation due to temperature change once brought back in the house???
 
droj said:
And I'd do it right away. It'll need disassembly to dry out properly, and have the elements cleaned. It could cost you £100 - the price of your mistake.
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If that is what it would cost I would find the money from somewhere; that is very good value.
 
Forget just drying it out - send it to Sigma. Just look at the state of your car windows after rainfall; they're covered in crap and need a polish - it will be the same for your lens glass.

As for the electronics inside; unless there was current flow (it was being used) at the time, these could be dried OK.

Lastly, any grease/oil that has been used in the lens may be contaminated and need replacing.
 
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I've had some success using dried rice with the lens wrapped in a hankerchief to keep dust out.
I dropped a 17-35/2.8 in a river once - well, technically I fell over while fording a river while carrying two D2x bodies, a 17-35 and 70-200 - one camera I managed to hold up high enough, but the other took a swim.
A week in a sealed zip-loc bag got all the visible drips out and I was able to continue using them...

That said, these were not my personal cameras or lenses and were returned to stores a few months later on upgrading to D3 bodies... I was unaware of any future malfunctioning due to long-term corrosion, but it's something to consider.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. Contacted Sigma. Cost of repair estimated at £168. So now on the way via DPD. Turn around time is about two weeks
Sky said:
Forget just drying it out - send it to Sigma. Just look at the state of your car windows after rainfall; they're covered in crap and need a polish - it will be the same for your lens glass.

As for the electronics inside; unless there was current flow (it was being used) at the time, these could be dried OK.

Lastly, any grease/oil that has been used in the lens may be contaminated and need replacing.
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Took your advice Trevor. They also mentuioned about fungal growth happening.
 
Box Brownie said:
:agree: with @GreenNinja67

Make contact with Sigma UK ASAP to get their view.

Having said that IMO you have little to lose but putting in a plastic box or bag completely buried dried white rice. It may not be as efficient as bags of silica gel but I have on a few occasions that the rice treatment can help, though can take some days

PS when you say left in the rain....do you mean soaked to complete water ingress or just very wet and what you are seeing condensation due to temperature change once brought back in the house???
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very wet mate.
 
horse.collier said:
They also mentuioned about fungal growth happening.
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Ah! Of course. I forgot to mention that. :facepalm:

Just damp is enough most times, but a good soaking. :rolleyes:

Anyway, it's great they can fix it OK for you. (y)
 
The problem is that even if you do get it dry by putting it in a warm place, rice, etc. is that quite often the water has impurities dissolved minerals, dust and the like in it which gets left behind when the water evaporates
 
Have never left out a lens but the other night I left my MacBook on the sofa by an open window and the night rain blew in and wet the keyboard. That's the end of a 2.5k machine.. You would have thought by now that the various companies, especially the higher end ones like Mac, would have figured out how to make the ruddy keyboard at least splash proof. Luckily I keep my laptops specifically insured inside my home insurance. And you might want to check as your home insurance my well cover the cost of that repair.
 
The rice thing always comes up, it is best avoided with electronics there is too much sticky dust.
Gentle heat like over a radiator or airing cupboard hot water tank is as good as anything
 
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4wd said:
The rice thing always comes up, it is best avoided with electronics there is too much sticky dust.
Gentle heat like over a radiator or airing cupboard hot water tank is as good as anything
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Now that you say that.......I can see the logic, as the rice production process does leave starch dust on the rice that once wetted and dried would be almost impossible to remove easily!
 
It could have been a lot worse . . . (y)
 
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