eudemian Posted March 23, 2008 Share #1 Â Posted March 23, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) My son pestered me to take him down to the surf this morning. It was cold, and as I waited on the shore taking photo's with my tripod I got caught in a sleety rain shower. Â Because my M8 was on the tripod I rushed back to the car but kept the camera on the tripod so it got a bit wet. It wasn't a torrential downpour but the camera had beads of rain on it when I got to the car. It is a long beach so I suppose it was exposed to the shower for a few minutes. Â Well the camera refuses to turn on, so when I came home the camera was brought to be revived on the Aga, surely that gentle heat would bring it back to life. Â So far the camera has blinked red even with the camera switched off, allowed me to see the menu and show a few photographs on the screen. What is weird is that all the menu items had been reset from my choices. I stress this is with the camera switched off. This is strange behavior and I do not know what it means. Â I have now left it by the Aga for another couple of hours and it is stone dead, no red flickering light, no menu shown. I have tried several new, fully charged batteries and no joy. Â So, what do I do? (apart from slit my wrists which looks very enticing at the moment) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 23, 2008 Posted March 23, 2008 Hi eudemian, Take a look here How the Aga failed to revive the M8. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
danyves Posted March 23, 2008 Share #2 Â Posted March 23, 2008 Having the M8 on a tripod was definitively not the best. Â I am not sure the AGA was the answer to rain, .. Cover under rain would have been better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eudemian Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share #3 Â Posted March 23, 2008 Sorry Danyves not sure how your response has helped me. Â Is the tripod hole on the M8 just for cosmetic reasons? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted March 23, 2008 Share #4 Â Posted March 23, 2008 No, but on top of a tripod, in the rain, is going to leave the camera as exposed as it can be. Â On your shoulder, under your armpit, would have been safer. Â Leave the camera in a warm room (not ON the Aga) overnight, and see what happens. Â If it's still not working, you'll probably have to send it back to MK or Solms. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted March 23, 2008 Share #5 Â Posted March 23, 2008 Stable-door advice, I know, but for many years I have liberated those disposable shower caps from hotels and I always keep one in my camera bag. It takes a second to whip it out and put it over my camera. I have continued to walk around more than once in quite heavy rain with my camera protected thus, whipping off the cover for a moment to take a photo before covering it again. Â With regard to your problem, I would take the battery out before continuing the drying out process. what you are trying to achieve is a dehydration rather than drying - a more gentle process, but still one to which I would not voluntarily subject a battery. Â Regards, Â Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrogers Posted March 23, 2008 Share #6 Â Posted March 23, 2008 Ouch. Â If my M8 misbehaved after getting damp, I'd remove the card and battery as soon as possible, and then let it sit in a warm, dry place for a couple days. Resist the urge to put in a battery, water inside could cause a short and fry something. Â If it didn't work after that, I'd send the M8 to Leica. I would also mentally kick myself several times, resolve to remember the lesson, and forgive myself for letting my camera get wet. Finally (silver lining), I'd load up the M6 with Tri-x and see what I've been missing. Â Best of luck, Â --clyde Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eudemian Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share #7 Â Posted March 23, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Ok, the battery is out and I will let it dry out overnight. Thanks for the responses. Â Just to reiterate, the camera was not dunked, it was not dripping wet I would have assumed before this incident that light exposure to the elements wouldn't bring it to its knees! M8 mk 2 or M9 should have proper weather seals as a necessity. Â I was going back to the car to get a plastic bag Bill, its a bugger isn';t it, in future I will have one handy if I feel the weather is uncertain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenerrolrd Posted March 23, 2008 Share #8 Â Posted March 23, 2008 You were just unlucky. My M8s have had much worse and never missed a beat. I do however get that moisture off the body as fast as I can. So if it gets rained on ..I dry it off immediately ..normally with my shirt . Any chance you bought it will a credit card maybe its covered under buyer protection? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hacker Posted March 23, 2008 Share #9 Â Posted March 23, 2008 Weather here is a tropical climate, and when there is a slight dizzle or the weather starts to turn for the worse, I'm often more worried about my lenses than the camera and I have shot in light rain for a few minutes without issues. I carry a small bag that is fairly weatherproof in the event I need to quickly store the camera/lens away. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielchow Posted March 23, 2008 Share #10 Â Posted March 23, 2008 try this: Â i got this idea from an iphone blog site where some posters have suggested using rice to help their iPhone dry. rice because it absorbs moisture. Â first remove as much moisture you can, and then wrap the M8 in a light cloth. the cloth will keep the rice bits out of the M8, although it won't keep the finer particles out. Â in a large plastic bag fill it with dry raw rice, but leaving enough room to fit the M8. place the M8 in the plastic bag with the rice. allow it to sit in the bag for several days. the rice should help absorb the moisture that's still evaporating from the interior of the M8. Â i hope this will help. Â good luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted March 23, 2008 Share #11 Â Posted March 23, 2008 Key to understand is that the M8 is powered all the time a battery is in the camera, even if the mode switch is set to "Off". If the camera gets wet, take the battery out immediately; placing it on the cooler part of an Aga is a good idea and working the mode switch and shutter speed dial while it is drying out will help. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eudemian Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share #12 Â Posted March 23, 2008 Ok Mark, I am going to try this overnight on the cool part of the Aga. It is the top dial and release button that seem the vulnerable parts to water ingress. Â I hope this works. Â Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchell Posted March 24, 2008 Share #13 Â Posted March 24, 2008 Sorry about your bad luck, and chastened as well. I've had my M8 out in moderate, not light rain with no problems. I'll take more precautions in the future. I hope it turns out well. Â Best, Â Mitchell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan States Posted March 24, 2008 Share #14 Â Posted March 24, 2008 I don't mind looking stupid, so what the hell is an AGA? Â Sorry to here of your water trouble. Give the camera time to dry out and I'm sure you will be back in business. Â Best wishes Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick.karras Posted March 24, 2008 Share #15  Posted March 24, 2008 I don't mind looking stupid, so what the hell is an AGA? Sorry to here of your water trouble. Give the camera time to dry out and I'm sure you will be back in business.  Best wishes Dan  An Aga is essentially an oven. (Yes the camera was actually put on an oven )  EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention, best of luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Ortego Posted March 24, 2008 Share #16 Â Posted March 24, 2008 What is an AGA? Oh, I see somebody already explained it so disregard. Regards, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted March 24, 2008 Share #17 Â Posted March 24, 2008 If damage has been done this might come a bit late, but...Most camping or hiking shops sell satchels of dessicant for drying things (like wet socks) overnight. Expensive but it might be worth getting hold of a sack and throwing it into a sealed tupperware. It will outperform the rice trick ten to one and safer than cooking the camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jet Posted March 24, 2008 Share #18 Â Posted March 24, 2008 Tom, I know exactly what you experienced. I shot my M8 in light snow on Saturday. My LCD remained active, both in play and menu mode with power switch in off position. Than it scrolled through several pictures and just froze. I placed in it in my bag, removed the battery for about 20 minutes, installed a newly charged unit and continued shooting. Mine was slightly wet from the snow, but worked fine. Thanks Mark, I did not recall the M8 is internally powered and remains activated when the powers switch is off. Â Hopefully yours comes back too! Â Jet Jet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted March 24, 2008 Share #19 Â Posted March 24, 2008 Jet: Your issue may have more to do with the cold effects on the battery than moisture - see recent thread about Sudden Death Syndrome (actually pseudo-Sudden-Death-Syndrome). COld can casue a battery to shut down before its time - causing those weird effects in the process. Â Tom: I've definitely had exterior droplets all over my M8s from time to time with no ill effect - fountains, light rain, light snow. Â But I've only used an oven (lowly GE) for an M4-P that got firehosed by a fountain. In that case it worked - but the M4-P, of course, has no battery and no electrics at all. Â I won't quit shooting in wet weather - but I will make sure the camera has a hidey-hole to crawl into between shots. Â If one more day of quiet bed rest doesn't fix it, sounds like it will have to go to the shop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stnami Posted March 24, 2008 Share #20 Â Posted March 24, 2008 Aaahhh...!.... what the heck, sit down and have a good cry!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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