What To Do When The Camera Is Dropped In Water

If your camera is accidentally dropped into the water, you need to act swiftly in order to give your camera the best chance of survival.While we hope that this does not happen to anyone here, this post will outline the steps you need to follow to try to rescue your camera.

Step 1 – Get The Camera Out Of The Water Immediately

When your camera falls into the water, it is important that you move quickly to get it out of the water. If your camera is switched on, make sure you turn it off as soon as you get it out of the water. AVOID turning the camera on at all cost.

Step 2- Remove The Battery

To prevent your camera from turning into a brick, remove the battery from the camera immediately. If the battery is not removed, there is a chance that your camera could short circuit.

Step 3 – Dry Off Excess Water

Find a cloth, t-shirt or paper towel to dry off all the excess water from the exterior of the camera and battery.

Step 4 – Get It Home

When you are back at home, you will then need to find some RICE… Pour the rice into a tub / container / shoebox/bucket that is big enough to cover the majority of your camera. Please note that we are referring to uncooked rice grains here!

Step 5 – Place Camera into the Tub / Container /Shoebox of Rice

Place your camera into the tub/container/shoebox/bucket and ensure that your camera is covered completely by the rice grains. If possible, cover the tub/container/shoebox up after you are satisfied that the camera has been covered by a layer of rice.

Step 6 – Pray and Wait

It is important that you do not rush this process. You should leave the camera in the rice in a dry spot for at least 3 days. Rice is very good at absorbing moisture, so please allow it to work its magic.

Step 7 – Turn On and Test Camera

After waiting for what seems like a lifetime (3 days), you should now insert the battery back into your camera and then try to turn it on. If the camera turns on, it is your lucky day. Make sure you test all the functions to ensure that everything still works.

If the camera does not turn on, you may wish to try it with a different battery. If it still does not turn on with the new battery, then we have some bad news for you…. Your camera didn’t make it.

Things to Avoid

• Avoid using a hairdryer to dry the water from your camera – even if it is set to cold air setting. Sometimes this may do more damage to the camera and lens as it may force the moisture further into the crevices and spreading the water into other areas.
• Avoid moving /shaking the camera. If water has entered the body of the camera/lens and into the electrical circuits, then this may spread the water onto other areas that may not have been affected yet.

What To Do When Camera Is Dropped In Water Video

To further highlight the process, please watch the video below by funcfish. It shows you a very similar process with a small digital camera.

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