What should you do when your lenses fall into salty water ?

Today a disaster happened: our producer fell into the sea carying all our lenses memory cards and batteries. Water came into all our lenses ? What should we do ? Are they ready to be thrown away ??
 
If they got wet they should have been quickly washed with fresh water, dried, and then sent to an optics house if ended.

Food for thought... I store my memory cards in a water tight Pelican case. My lenses in water tight Storm Cases.

All the Best!

Dave
 
If they get fully immersed in salt water then:

1) If they're old fashioned manual lenses. drop them in a pail of fresh (Distilled if poss) water and RUN to the nearest repair shop, waving loads of the green folding stuff. Unless it *was* only a spash, just rinsing probably wouldn't be enough.

2) If they're electronic autofocus lenses and they were immersed in salt, you may have to run to your insurance compay for a total write-off claim. If it was only a splash, you may get away with it, but electronics and salt definately don't mix.
 
If they get fully immersed in salt water then:

1) If they're old fashioned manual lenses. drop them in a pail of fresh (Distilled if poss) water and RUN to the nearest repair shop, waving loads of the green folding stuff. Unless it *was* only a spash, just rinsing probably wouldn't be enough.

2) If they're electronic autofocus lenses and they were immersed in salt, you may have to run to your insurance compay for a total write-off claim. If it was only a splash, you may get away with it, but electronics and salt definately don't mix.

+1, what Dave said.

When I worked for the local newspaper 30 years ago, one of our photogs slipped on a bridge and ended up in a saltmarsh. The cameras were toast immediately -- we used them for pranks (dropping them, swinging around corners and wacking them on door frames, etc. all just to see the horrified expressions on coworkers and passersby). The lenses can sometimes be saved, but you have to do what Dave says. Flush them with fresh water (distilled if you can) then keep them in the bucket fully covered by fresh water while you haul ass to the local repair depot. It may not do any good, but it's your best shot.

If you didn't know that ahead of time you probably didn't do it, so you can probably write all that equipment off as a total loss.
 
Back
Top