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02-06-2019, 05:49 PM - 7 Likes   #1
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Kerplop...Kerplop... DOH!

So I'm at a local wetland park yesterday, thinking of getting a shot of a pair of geese disgruntled by my stomping about. I pull off the lens cap and promptly drop it. Of course, it makes a bee-line for the water and I can hear gravity and the geese snickering. Oh, well... it was only a beat-up old lens cap.

Then I see a convenient stick on the shore, realize I can cleverly reach the cap with the stick, deftly snag it on the first try, and bring it ashore. YAY! That was when I hear kerplop, kerplop, look down and see two lenses have dropped out of my unzipped waist bag and are now underwater! ARGH!

They were only a M50/1.7 and a M28/2.8 but they were nice Pentax lenses and did not deserve a watery grave. Plucking them from the water as quickly as possible and shaking out the water, I was relieved to see no evidence of liquid on any of the internal elements. At home, I wiped off all the water I could find, tried to suction out water from various crevices, etc.

Putting them in the gentle warm breeze coming from my computer fan seems to have dried them out. There's no water spots or haze on the elements and the aperture blades seem snappy. The helicoids don't seem quite as smooth as they were but that might be my anxious imagination at work.

Time will tell whether corrosion or residual muck takes it's toll but I'm pretty happy with the outcome so far. Those old M lenses may not be WR, but their simple, non-electronic construction, and good mechanical tolerances on the barrel seem to have prevented total inundation.

-----

How about the you? Has your Pentax gear (or other beloved photographic accoutrement) had any near-death experiences?

02-06-2019, 05:54 PM - 2 Likes   #2
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Put them in a box filled with rice to absorb any internal moisture.
02-06-2019, 06:04 PM - 1 Like   #3
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Moral of the story.........zip waist bag before reaching for lens cap?
02-06-2019, 06:44 PM - 1 Like   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by photoptimist Quote
So I'm at a local wetland park yesterday, thinking of getting a shot of a pair of geese disgruntled by my stomping about. I pull off the lens cap and promptly drop it. Of course, it makes a bee-line for the water and I can hear gravity and the geese snickering. Oh, well... it was only a beat-up old lens cap.

Then I see a convenient stick on the shore, realize I can cleverly reach the cap with the stick, deftly snag it on the first try, and bring it ashore. YAY! That was when I hear kerplop, kerplop, look down and see two lenses have dropped out of my unzipped waist bag and are now underwater! ARGH!

They were only a M50/1.7 and a M28/2.8 but they were nice Pentax lenses and did not deserve a watery grave. Plucking them from the water as quickly as possible and shaking out the water, I was relieved to see no evidence of liquid on any of the internal elements. At home, I wiped off all the water I could find, tried to suction out water from various crevices, etc.

Putting them in the gentle warm breeze coming from my computer fan seems to have dried them out. There's no water spots or haze on the elements and the aperture blades seem snappy. The helicoids don't seem quite as smooth as they were but that might be my anxious imagination at work.

Time will tell whether corrosion or residual muck takes it's toll but I'm pretty happy with the outcome so far. Those old M lenses may not be WR, but their simple, non-electronic construction, and good mechanical tolerances on the barrel seem to have prevented total inundation.

-----

How about the you? Has your Pentax gear (or other beloved photographic accoutrement) had any near-death experiences?
Oh man, that would have been excruciating!

02-06-2019, 07:03 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by photoptimist Quote
How about the you? Has your Pentax gear (or other beloved photographic accoutrement) had any near-death experiences?
I have dropped an A50/1.2 opening the package the lens came in. The impact caused a hitch in the helicoid that was extremely annoying. I dropped a first-batch FA43/1.9 Limited on the terrazzo floor of the Missouri State Capitol Rotunda - same impact damage. I sheared the A pin off the aperture ring of a NOS brand new Series 1 105/2.5 Macro removing the lens from my K10D the first time I mounted it.

I was near death from heart failure each time.
02-06-2019, 07:04 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by photolady95 Quote
Moral of the story.........zip waist bag before reaching for lens cap?
This comment reminds me of an experience I had about ten years ago.

I was a Canon user when I switched from film to digital, so I just moved all my lenses over, and the 28-80 lens that had been my main lens on the film camera became an intermediate lens on my APS-C camera. One day my wife and I were walking a hilly trail when I tripped over an exposed root; unfortunately I had just switched from my wide-angle lens back to my telephoto lens ... and I hadn't zipped up my camera bag. As I landed stomach first on the ground, I watched that old 28-80 lens roll slowly out of my bag, then sideways across the trail, then down a hundred foot drop into some gully. There was no easy way down into the gully, so I decided I'd just abandon the lens, and hope the squirrels could find a use for it.
02-06-2019, 07:35 PM   #7
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I would have rinsed the lenses briefly in distilled water and not even turned the focus until the lenses had a chance to dry. Whatever minerals in the pond water will work their magic over the years and any water encapsulated into the helicoid grease may never dry out until the grease does first.

Thankfully there was no major water ingress.

02-06-2019, 09:15 PM   #8
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K-3 with fa 35 f2 mounted in a small padded holster bag... Laid it on a desk 2 feet off the hardwood floor. It tipped over and rolled flopping off. Hit at an angle on the lens. Lens was bent at the seam. Repaired but now manual focus and M series like metering no a mode still makes a good image but makes me sad / mad to this day.
02-06-2019, 09:16 PM   #9
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Here's an old post of mine from 2014:

Typical Melbourne spring day yesterday: overcast punctuated by alternate patches of brilliant sunshine and frigid violent squalls. I was walking around Albert Park (the venue for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix at the end of summer but inhabited by people walking or running around the lake or playing various sports for the rest of the year) taking a few pictures. As I was putting my gear back in the car to leave, a squall hit, ripping a couple of cotton grocery bags from the boot (i.e., "trunk" to Americans) and sending them scurrying across the grass. I took off in pursuit, with my partially open camera bag bouncing on my back. Having retrieved the bags, I set off for home. Once there though, I noticed my DA 15 was missing!! My mind flashed back to the episode at Albert Park, and I guessed that it had jumped out in that wild few seconds. So back I went in forlorn hope that it might still be there (2 hours later) ... and it was! Just lying on a grassy hill, seemingly none the worse for wear. What a relief.

Nevertheless, it endured at least one bout of heavy rain. I have held it up to the light and looked through both ends with the aperture wide open (which isn't physically very wide on the DA 15) and can't see any sign of moisture, even with a magnifying glass. So, after that long background story:
What is the best way to inspect a lens for moisture? What should I look for?
How should I treat it, just in case? Put it in a warm place?


Read more at: How should I check my DA 15? - PentaxForums.com


The DA15 is still in full working order.
02-06-2019, 09:16 PM   #10
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I was walking a boardwalk through a swampy woods carrying my K50 with the DA 300*, and a Sony A6000, I stopped to change lenses on the Sony and somehow knocked it off the boardwalk without a lens attached. It did not get water in through the lens mount, but I think it was through the battery compartment. It quit working, but I opened every opening up and dried it out, it started working again and has been ok ever since. I was lucky.
02-07-2019, 04:22 AM   #11
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I will say that I am looking forward to the new "anti-gravity" tech that Pentax is going to be debuting with the K3 II sequel and will be available with all flagship cameras going forward. With this tech, if you drop your camera, it will actually not fall, but rather float in the air in front of you until you regain your balance and can grab it. It should come in handy. And the beautiful thing is that no one will need mirrorless cameras any more because regardless of how big Pentax cameras are, they will literally weigh less than the competition (although their mass will be more).
02-07-2019, 04:40 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by photoptimist Quote
. . .
-----

How about the you? Has your Pentax gear (or other beloved photographic accoutrement) had any near-death experiences?
[ raising hand, nodding vigorously ]

oh yeah

completely due to operator error as well

[ as detailed here: I have another boo boo, WARNING and seeking help - Page 5 - PentaxForums.com ]

I failed to check whether my equipment set up properly or engage a safety system I had developed and as a result, my then brand new SMC Pentax-DA* 300mm F4 ED [IF] SDM and K 3 dropped from where it was dangling from a sling at my waist onto a concrete walk way.

the connection of the sling and the camera had broken due to a sharp point of the split ring and as noted my " safety system " was not properly utilized.

luckily, since I was talking to a family with young children, I did not say anything not " family friendly " at the time and the scratches on a protective filter's outer rim and the damaged hood was easily ignored or replaced .


________________

query: I have heard that you should put a cell phone which has fallen into water into a bowl of rice which covers it. should I ever have a lens or camera body do the same would doing that help or hurt ?

just read the comment of tvdtvdtvd and Paul the Sunman's linked thread and I see that a couple of posters there did recommend the uncooked rice treatment

Last edited by aslyfox; 02-07-2019 at 05:43 AM.
02-07-2019, 04:42 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by Rondec Quote
I will say that I am looking forward to the new "anti-gravity" tech that Pentax is going to be debuting with the K3 II sequel and will be available with all flagship cameras going forward. With this tech, if you drop your camera, it will actually not fall, but rather float in the air in front of you until you regain your balance and can grab it. . . .
what about a wind, would the camera hover in front of you or be blown away ?

Last edited by aslyfox; 02-07-2019 at 05:07 AM.
02-07-2019, 05:26 AM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by photolady95 Quote
Moral of the story.........zip waist bag before reaching for lens cap?
Or.............don't drop lens cap in the first place
02-07-2019, 05:38 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by photolady95 Quote
Moral of the story.........zip waist bag before reaching for lens cap?
QuoteOriginally posted by timb64 Quote
Or.............don't drop lens cap in the first place
and stay away from water
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