# Happy ending



## tculotta (Aug 27, 2014)

I had to talk about this somewhere it would be appreciated. Almost three weeks ago, I had, what in hindsight, was a stupid accident, but I still feel that I was being careful to no avail. Before the happy ending, here's what happened. I was up early photographing falls/cascades in a stream. The stream runs year round and is quite slippery. However, I was being careful (or so I thought). Long story short, I slipped and dunked a 5D Mk. III and less than one month old 16-35mm f/4. They were _fully_ submerged for at least 5 seconds... enough that the lens took on water. I set them up to dry and after the body showed no visible signs of water (days later) I tried to see if anything would happen... nothing. I sent them both to Canon and they were returned within a few days without any repairs and indicating that they were not repairable. I set them aside and ordered replacements.

A quick commentary: I have purchased large, heavy duty ziploc bags to be used when moving from one place in a stream to another or in other instances where a "water landing" is a possibility.

Last night, I pulled a battery from the charger and, on a whim, put it in the 5D. The only thing I had to do was reset the date and time. Everything works and all the settings are as they were. Crazy. That led me to check the lens. Again, all good, except that the elements need to be cleaned (on the inside) so it'll have to go back to Canon to see about that.

Lucky day!


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## neuroanatomist (Aug 27, 2014)

Bullet dodged...maybe. All water has mineral content, water + minerals + metal = corrosion. Ever see a little spot of rust on metal? A few week/months later, it's a much bigger spot. Corrosion is like that. Unfortunately, that often happens after internal water in electronics. It dries out, the device works. Corrosion slowly spreads unseen, and a few days/weeks/months later, it dies for good. I suspect that's why Canon said not repairable – they can't stand by any repair short of complete internal replacement, costing more than new ones. 

>$4K loss is unfortunate. That sort of possibility is why I have my gear insured, something you might want to consider.


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