A Flooded Camera Story

By PF Staff in Influential Photo Gear on Dec 22, 2012

Here is just an interesting story for anyone who has ever flooded their DSLR.

I had finished photographing a wedding in Cancun, Mexico, and was taking some time off to photograph the Mayan ruins with my favorite camera--the Pentax K-10D. It had been my constant companion, and a real workhorse for the past 2 years, but now it was getting a real workout in the hot, humid and rainy jungles of Guatemala. After almost a month of trekking through the rain forest, I fell out of a canoe with the K-10 and a Tamron 18 to 200 mm lens. I quickly did all of the right things to try and save the camera, but to no avail. By the way the SanDisk 8G card was fine and I was able to retrieve all of my images, but I would have to finish my trip without a camera.

When I returned to the states, I sent it off to Pentax for an estimate. It was out of warranty, but several weeks later they gave me a quote of $276.00. I said OK, but 3 weeks later when they shipped it back, they enclosed a note that said it was “not repairable.” No other explanation was offered. Thanks Pentax, for letting me know! I now had a very nice bookend!

So I bought a K-20D, which 3 years later, after a month long trip to the Suriname jungle, started acting erratically. With 1 month left on the warranty I sent I back to Pentax for repairs. Expecting the worst and not being able to wait, I bought a K-5. To my surprise they completely rebuilt my K-20 and shipped it back. I later sold it with the help of the Pentax Forum.

Just for grins, I loaded a freshly charged aftermarket battery in my K-10, and surprise-surprise it worked. It still has a little trouble on auto focus, and the flash appears to not be working, but I have tested it extensively, and it takes great pictures. In fact, I have even won a couple of contests with the pictures I have taken with it!

Moral of this story, if it has one, is never give up on your Pentax DSLR.

Here is even one of my award winning photos called “Playing for Money” shot with the "not repairable" Pentax K-10.