My 70D with 24-105L took a quick dive in the Pacific

[USinCA]

5 days ago I took a clumsy trip over a rock at the beach and my 70D along with the 24-105L landed in the surf. My heart stood still. I took the battery and card out right away and wiped everything dry. Back at the hotel I tried to wipe everything clean with a wet washcloth but sand is in all the crevaces and some of the buttons and switches on my camera don't move or only move with difficulty. The focusing and zoom rings on the lens sound horrible. 

Do you think I there's a chance the camera and lens can be salvaged?

[kvbarkley · Accepted solution]

Nope. 

Submerging in distilled water is bad.

Submerging in salt water is really bad.

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2020/08/the-fujifilm-gfx-100-vs-salt-water-teardown/

[shadowsports]

Adding...

Complete loss.  Don't bother with any types or repair.  

We are sorry.  

[USinCA]

Thank you!

[USinCA]

Oh boy, you don't know the half of it. I've had my eye on the R6 and was wondering how I could convince my husband that we needed it. I'm so glad that he saw what happened. I couldn't have faked that if i had tried. But still, I feel horrible and probably even guiltier now.

[John_SD]

Sorry to read of your mishap, but it is highly unlikely your gear can be salvaged. Accidents do happen, I'm afraid. Living in San Diego, I spend my share of time shooting near water, in the mountains and in the desert. All are far from clean studio, lab, or museum-like settings. So I have learned how to deal with the elements. Now that doesn't take into account an accidental fall into the surf of dropping your camera into the Pacific, hopefully a rare event. But if you are planning to spend much time on the sand, water, or dirt, I would suggest you get a protective filter on the front of your lens. I use an ND filter. Sure, you can get by for a time with a hood, but that's not going to protect your front element when the desert winds have been kicking up all day, or you're at the tide pools or oceanside taking spray and sand all morning long. Some people will poo-poo the use of filters. These are people who are in clean environments and don't need them. YMMV. 

[USinCA]

I'm in OC and shoot in the same environments and elements so thank you for recommending using the filter that's sitting in my gear bag and never gets used 🙂 I honestly had no idea that the sand came in through the front, I thought it entered at the rings since that's where I can hear it. Lesson learned!

[kvbarkley]

I had a camera just got splashed in an OC tide pool, and it stopped working. The lens was - and still is - fine though.