Water Droplets Inside/On Camera - Did I Try The Right Remedy?

DF · Saturday at 3:13 PM

'Got trounced by a wave crashing on some rocks as I stood in ankle deep water shooting limestone boulders/breakers in foreground W/cityscape background.
Surprisingly, not too many water droplets were now on the outside of my SRT as well as on the lens/along the threads of the polarizer.
I quickly moved over to a safe dry boulder, grab a wad of napkins & Q-Tips and frantically wipe dry all possible. Some water might've seeped inside so I took than
what I considered drastic measure and rewound the film (Ektachrome frame#27) and yes, a few teeny-tiny drops were in the area of the bottom of the take-up spool I was able to get with a Q-Tip, as well as one faint drop strangely on the shutter curtain - which quickly dried by itself.
I thought that in case of any hidden water leftover, I'd leave the camera on a table with the lens off and the back wide open overnight for extra airing out.
Now, I suppose everything is OK, just that the advance lever is not as silky-smooth - it needs a tad more pull on the lever.

4season · Saturday at 4:32 PM

Minolta SRT is typical of film cameras of the era, in that it has very little in the way of protection from moisture or dust. If you are comfortable doing so, you might try also removing the bottom cover, as water will tend to collect there. It may take several days to fully dry.

BrianShaw · Saturday at 4:54 PM

With salt water your challenge only begins with drying out the camera…

Dan Daniel · Saturday at 5:42 PM

Along with opening it up as much as possible, a low heat source is a good idea. Sit it on top of a water heater? A stove with a gas pilot light? A heating pad for soreness or a reptile heating pad? Something in the 90-120 degree range (~32-45C). Too much heat could damage other parts, but a low heat for a few hours will hasten water evaporation.

Given the lack of electronics in those cameras. most likely things will be fine. Maybe a gear or two will develop some minor corrosion.

Sirius Glass · Saturday at 7:18 PM

BrianShaw said:
With salt water your challenge only begins with drying out the camera…

Salt water has to be removed with distilled water. With salt water or non salt water one after cleaning up as much as possible, put the camera in a sealed plastic bag and an open container of rice or a descant to remove all the moisture from the camera.

DF · Saturday at 8:48 PM

4season said:
Minolta SRT is typical of film cameras of the era, in that it has very little in the way of protection from moisture or dust. If you are comfortable doing so, you might try also removing the bottom cover, as water will tend to collect there. It may take several days to fully dry.

I'd never attempt removing the bottom cover - that might be a cinch but getting it back on again, not to mention what could fall off/out'a line, a gear or something who knows in between, I'd be stuck with it permanently off - then it's trip to the repair shop, $100+.

DF · Saturday at 8:49 PM

Sirius Glass said:
Salt water has to be removed with distilled water. With salt water or non salt water one after cleaning up as much as possible, put the camera in a sealed plastic bag and an open container of rice or a descant to remove all the moisture from the camera.

Lake Michigan - fresh water I should've mentioned.

grain elevator · Sunday at 6:19 AM

DF said:
I'd never attempt removing the bottom cover - that might be a cinch but getting it back on again, not to mention what could fall off/out'a line, a gear or something who knows in between, I'd be stuck with it permanently off - then it's trip to the repair shop, $100+.

You're waaaayyy overthinking this one, if you have a fitting screwdriver, nothing can go wrong. Many cameras have a little seal around the rewind button that can fall out, nothing else or more essential.

loccdor · Sunday at 6:20 AM

My Olympus Pen D got splashed with a freshwater wave a few months back. It's handled like 6 rolls of film since then with no issues.

What I did is similar to you, I wiped the outside of it with my shirt and made sure it was angled so that water would drip away from the innards. The film inside was fine and saw no impact.

It may have helped that I oiled the shutter mechanisms pretty thoroughly before this happened, any water that got inside would have faced a strong barrier. I also had a UV filter on the lens.

Maybe the advance lever will benefit from a drop of oil and some actuations.

Dan Daniel · Sunday at 8:01 AM

Oh, in case you haven't yet, I assume the SRT has a battery compartment in the bottom? Open it up and remove the batteries, dry out if need be, and leave open for some time.

Also, did you know that the WD in WD-40 stands for water displacer? Hint hint....

(no. really, no, just kidding. don't even think about it.)

BrianShaw · Sunday at 8:10 AM

DF said:
Lake Michigan - fresh water I should've mentioned.

So how big are the waves on Lake Michigan?

Good luck with your camera’s recovery!

DF · Sunday at 1:37 PM

grain elevator said:
You're waaaayyy overthinking this one, if you have a fitting screwdriver, nothing can go wrong. Many cameras have a little seal around the rewind button that can fall out, nothing else or more essential.

OK, I'll put my faith & trust in you and follow through ...
OH - I need your address so if this goes awry, I'm shipping my SRT to you to...

DF · Sunday at 1:40 PM

BrianShaw said:
So how big are the waves on Lake Michigan?

Good luck with your camera’s recovery!

They can get fairly monstrous - 10-15 feet high, but this wasn't by any means what the NOAA weather service deems "high-action-wave-day-so-keep-out-of-the-water..." They were small 2 footers moving fast & furiously pounding the rocks.

250swb · Sunday at 4:20 PM

DF said:
I'd never attempt removing the bottom cover - that might be a cinch but getting it back on again, not to mention what could fall off/out'a line, a gear or something who knows in between, I'd be stuck with it permanently off - then it's trip to the repair shop, $100+.

The bottom cover is not attached to anything regarding the function of the camera, it's simply a baseplate to cover the internal workings of the camera. With a correctly sized screwdriver it should be a one minute job to take it off and check for any water inside. If however a screwdriver is a step too far (as it is with a generation of kids that hasn't ever created it's own amusement by making things), then silica gel or a bag of rice is the best alternative.

reddesert · Monday at 1:19 PM

In my opinion only: If you just got water drops or even a splash but only on the outside of the camera, just wipe it dry and be done with it. Water can wick into cracks due to surface tension if it is allowed to sit on the outside, but it doesn't force itself into the camera without pressure. It's a different story if the camera is even partially submerged, like being dropped into a puddle.

Although taking off the bottom cover is usually harmless, there are cameras where something (usually the rewind button) is only held on by the cover and can fall out. There are people unfamiliar with mechanical objects in all generations, no need to single out kids, and for those who demonstrate a high level of frazzle, let someone else do it.

DF · Monday at 1:37 PM

250swb said:
The bottom cover is not attached to anything regarding the function of the camera, it's simply a baseplate to cover the internal workings of the camera. With a correctly sized screwdriver it should be a one minute job to take it off and check for any water inside. If however a screwdriver is a step too far (as it is with a generation of kids that hasn't ever created it's own amusement by making things), then silica gel or a bag of rice is the best alternative.

No springs boinging out? No washers falling off rolling off the table? How about wires? I'd like to go ahead with this because I can be somewhat mechanically inclined in matters not too complicated- just as long as I can first view a couple of YouTube videos showing taking off the bottom cover - but there all about the taking off the top cover, and there's no shortage of surprizes with that operation !!

Dan Daniel · Monday at 2:29 PM

DF said:
No springs boinging out? No washers falling off rolling off the table? How about wires? I'd like to go ahead with this because I can be somewhat mechanically inclined in matters not too complicated- just as long as I can first view a couple of YouTube videos showing taking off the bottom cover - but there all about the taking off the top cover, and there's no shortage of surprizes with that operation !!

There's a reason that there are few videos dealing with the bottom covers. Not much to go wrong. Remove the battery cover. If there is a power winder cover plate, remove it, too. Unscrew and lift slowly.

Petrochemist · Monday at 3:07 PM

Sirius Glass said:
Salt water has to be removed with distilled water. With salt water or non salt water one after cleaning up as much as possible, put the camera in a sealed plastic bag and an open container of rice or a descant to remove all the moisture from the camera.

Freshwater removes the need for the rinse step, but the remainder of this is excellent advise. A warm location (such as an airing cupboard) is the ideal place to leave it while with the raw rice/desiccant.

Water Droplets Inside/On Camera - Did I Try The Right Remedy?

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