PLEASE HELP! EOS R50 Water (Rain) Damage

[oceankishimoto]

Hello, I purchased my first Canon Camera (EOS R50 Refurbished Kit with the 18-45mm lens) and I bought it on April 9th. I am on a trip right now, and a few days ago while on a hike there was a heavy downpour that got my backpack with the camera wet. I didn’t think about it until a few hours later when I tried to turn the camera on and it didn’t work. I let everything air dry (opened all sockets, took out SD and Battery) and after a few days it still won’t turn on. Also, I’ll be on this trip for another week, so I won’t be able to ship the camera till after the trip.

My question is, since I probably can’t do anything about it, what do you think I should do?

- Can I buy the Carepak still? I technically can since it’s still in the 90 day period, but will that work?

- If I get it repaired from canon how much will it cost? I tried to do the estimate thingy and couldn’t seem to find an answer. Since the camera was $700, if it’s more than that is it worth it?

Also, When I tried to file a repair, I clicked other and explained what happened there and it told me the estimated cost was $0. But when I looked up what the warranty covers it says it only covers faulty on Canon’s end.

EOS R50 RF-S18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM Lens Kit 

[kvbarkley]

I am afraid you will need to get a new camera. Once a camera is damaged by moisture, it won't be repaired.

Getting CarePak at this point would be possible, but unethical. It would be like getting home insurance after your house burns down.

If it does come back, you may still get a lot of use out of it. My wife gave me a MacBook Air that had orange juice spilled on it. It came back to life and survived about 10 years before it finally died for good.

[stevet1]

oceankishimoto,

I am not in the business, so I can't say for sure, but my hunch is that Canon will not cover any repairs. Most companies will cover normal wear and tear, but they won't cover user error.

I'm not sure that the camera can even be repaired.

Your camera is a sensitive piece of electronic and computerized equipment. You can't get them soaking wet and hope they'll come back to life.

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you may be out of luck.

Steve Thomas

[wq9nsc]

You have to make your own ethical decision on buying CarePak after the fact.  I wouldn't do it but that is your call.

Rain is NOT great for cameras but what probably killed yours is the buildup of salt and other residue from skin contact got inside with the rain resulting in the water becoming highly conductive and far more corrosive.

Canon (and others) will continue to cede the simpler end of the imaging market to phones unless they catch up with the times and provide weather sealing like other consumer gadgets.  Almost any decent phone can be dropped in the water, retrieved within a few minutes, and it is ready to go again.

I definitely wouldn't want all touch controls on a pro series body BUT the lower end of the R line should be redesigned with touch screens instead of rotary encoders making it easy to obtain reasonable weather resistance.  I have shot in all sorts of weather with my 1 series bodies and the design/manufacturing process to provide environmental robustness for those is more complex and expensive.  But a lower end "real" camera could easily be designed to have the kind of weather resistance to withstand average consumer usage of consumer products.

Or from a marketing prof point of view, maybe design entry end products with features that consumers really desire instead of bunch of catchy features that add complexity and cost while reducing reliability.

I personally despise phone cameras for most situations because I am used to the responsiveness of my 1 series bodies.  But if I were growing up in the current phone camera era I would likely never try a traditional camera and if I did and it died the first time it got rained on, that would be the end of that experiment.

Rodger

[SignifDigits]

I'm sorry for your loss.  A pack cover and gallon plastic bags should be a part of everyone's hiking gear.  They weigh nearly nothing and can protect priceless contents (food, maps, first aid materials and dry clothing are things I would consider priceless when in the wilderness)

One lesson people should learn is that if an electronic device is wet do NOT EVER apply power.  

Drying on a drying rack in a dryer at low heat for several multiple hour sessions, or other forced dry air techniques (fan blowing on the device while sitting in the sun inside) and/or desiccant/vacuum techniques should be employed prior to turning anything on.  Impatience to discover "is it broken or working" is not your friend.

Many electronic devices will work fine after truly and properly dried (a "few days" if the device is unopened to air circulation inadequate).  Applying power will cause arching in integrated circuits and irreparable damage.

That said, the battery that keeps things like clock/date and firmware memory alive and working that is not removable is also likely to be beyond your control and ruin your devices.   Still, though, to have any chance, don't ever power it on "to see if it works" until you've taken every possible measure to ensure the devices is truly dry inside.

[kvbarkley]

"That said, the battery that keeps things like clock/date and firmware memory alive and working that is not removable is also likely to be beyond your control and ruin your devices. Still, though, to have any chance, don't ever power it on "to see if it works" until you've taken every possible measure to ensure the devices is truly dry inside."

Also, the battery is directly connected to the lens, so there are plenty of hot traces inside the camera when the battery is installed.