How the Aga failed to revive the M8

[chanyr]

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How about buying some desiccant and wrapping it together with your M8 in a cotton bag while its on the Aga?

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[eudemian]

Morning report, no joy, I am restraining the expletives.

 

Although it is on (near) an oven, it is a gentle heat certainly no more fierce than the average central heating. An Aga is an oven come heating device that is always on, No I was not tempted to bake it on a low heat!

 

Many thanks for all the positive responses and suggestions, hopefully it this alerts anyone to this potential pitfall this thread will have served a useful purpose.

 

Now let me vent a little. Light moisture should not let this engineering marvel buckle at the knees. It was a great mistake for Leica not to implement even mild water/moisture resisting buttons. It is one they have to rectify in the next model. Yes I know I should have dismantled the camera from the tripod but it was a light shower and I carried the tripod next to my body and was running for a plastic bag. I think that people should resist schadenfreude and direct their attention to another quirk in the M8 instead of castigating the hapless victim. Light moisture contact will harm this camera and it should not.

 

There, I feel a little better now, no offense anyone.

[wlaidlaw]

Morning report, no joy, I am restraining the expletives.

 

Although it is on (near) an oven, it is a gentle heat certainly no more fierce than the average central heating. An Aga is an oven come heating device that is always on, No I was not tempted to bake it on a low heat!

 

Many thanks for all the positive responses and suggestions, hopefully it this alerts anyone to this potential pitfall this thread will have served a useful purpose.

 

Now let me vent a little. Light moisture should not let this engineering marvel buckle at the knees. It was a great mistake for Leica not to implement even mild water/moisture resisting buttons. It is one they have to rectify in the next model. Yes I know I should have dismantled the camera from the tripod but it was a light shower and I carried the tripod next to my body and was running for a plastic bag. I think that people should resist schadenfreude and direct their attention to another quirk in the M8 instead of castigating the hapless victim. Light moisture contact will harm this camera and it should not.

 

There, I feel a little better now, no offense anyone.

 

Tom,

 

I also think you must have been unlucky. I got my M8 soaked in Dominica when I got caught in a tropical downpour. I expected the worst but it kept on working just fine. Try cleaning the SD card and battery terminals with iso-propyl alcohol (available from a good hardware shop or maybe in Guernsey a yacht chandlers, as an aerosol can under the name Servisol). Don't use chemists' shop 70% IPA as it has Bitrex in it, which leaves a corrosive deposit. You will do no harm by putting a tiny squirt of Servisol onto the power switch, just in case the damp plus current has caused some corrosion of the terminals, although I assume they are gold plated to avoid such a problem. Best of luck!

 

Wilson

[Vieri]

Now let me vent a little. Light moisture should not let this engineering marvel buckle at the knees. It was a great mistake for Leica not to implement even mild water/moisture resisting buttons. It is one they have to rectify in the next model. Yes I know I should have dismantled the camera from the tripod but it was a light shower and I carried the tripod next to my body and was running for a plastic bag. I think that people should resist schadenfreude and direct their attention to another quirk in the M8 instead of castigating the hapless victim. Light moisture contact will harm this camera and it should not.

 

There, I feel a little better now, no offense anyone.

 

Not being environmentally sealed is, IMHO, one of the worse aspect of the M8. Of course sealing would be as effective as its weakest point, and to my knowledge no M lens are sealed nor is the lens mount, thus making sealng the body less effective - however, the aim wouldn't be making the M8 completely weatherproof; just less sensitive to adverse weather conditions. Shading a lens in use under light rain or even showers is something, being stopped by moisture (light or not) is something else.

 

 

 

D2x at Niagara falls, with respectively 17-35 and 10.5 Fisheye, basically under the falls; camera not protected by anything, just kept under the provided raincoat until the moment of shooting - believe me, shooting a few pics meant having the camera completely soaked nevertheless. Not even a blink - the camera kept working perfectly, and so did the lens (both of which not sealed). I think Leica could easily reach this level of weather sealing on the M8 & Leica lenses...

[wlaidlaw]

Vieri,

 

Love the second shot. The Maid of the Mist looks like a fake tank shot for a Hollywood disaster movie.

 

Wilson

[marknorton]

Sorry to hear that it's still not working. Is there any condensation on the inside of the viewfinder window?

 

Unless you're prepared to take the top off the camera, there's not much else you can do other than to send it back to Solms.

[eudemian]

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There was a little condensation on the inside of the small viewfinder window next to the release button, about 4 drops. These have now gone so what does that indicate other than water has got in there?

 

I am not as technical as you Mark so I think it will have to go back. What is the length of the UK warranty and the Leica passport I am unsure about this.

 

Thanks for the concern Mark.

 

I am going to start another thread about this, it is a form of therapy after all.

[marknorton]

There was a little condensation on the inside of the small viewfinder window next to the release button, about 4 drops. These have now gone so what does that indicate other than water has got in there?

 

I am not as technical as you Mark so I think it will have to go back. What is the length of the UK warranty and the Leica passport I am unsure about this.

 

Thanks for the concern Mark.

 

I am going to start another thread about this, it is a form of therapy after all.

 

Well, it's proof that water did actually get in there. The issue is that heating it up causes the water to evaporate and without the ability for air to circulate, it will simply condense when it cools and the inside will never get dry. You need heat and air circulation to dry it out.

 

I've never paid much attention to the Leica passport and whether it would cover a mishap such as this but I certainly accept that taking the top off is not for everyone. It's 7 screws, 5 of which you can see by removing the base-plate. Is there a camera repairer or watch maker locally who could do this for you?

 

If there's no salt water in there, I doubt there's anything causing permanent damage - there are no high current contacts to cause any form of electrolysis and corrosion, for example, but the sooner it's dealt with, the better.

[Vieri]

Vieri,

 

Love the second shot. The Maid of the Mist looks like a fake tank shot for a Hollywood disaster movie.

 

Wilson

 

Thank you Wilson! speaking about disasters, I gotta tell you, when ON it going towards the falls, one only can hope that the captain will not forget to pull his brakes and turn around... LOL

[jonoslack]

Hi There

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble - maybe partial sealing is worse than none.

My wife's Canon G7 got flipped into a pond by the dog- we got it out within seconds, but it was actually full of water (lens included). We switched it off and took it home, then we put it in the airing cupboard.

 

After 3 days it switched on (but didn't take a picture)

After 5 days it took a picture (but the LCD was white and milky)

After a week the LCD began to dry out.

After a fortnight it was back to normal. That was around a year ago, and it's still going strong.

 

As Mark says, if the air can't circulate then it won't dry out properly (maybe the airing cupboard with the base off would be a better bet than the AGA (is it a 2 oven or a 4 oven) .

 

I remember reading that farmers use the coolest oven of the larger aga for resuscitating lambs . . . we use ours for cooking 'em!

[grduprey]

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.

 

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.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

Another thought here...Have you checked the battery? Recharge it and see if the problem persists.

 

Gene

[ericperlberg]

The same thing happened to me on Saturday in a drizzly mist my M8 died. I've certainly had it out in harder rain. It's perplexing.

 

After 2 days of sitting on a radiator (cheaper to buy a new M8 than an Aga) the camera still won't turn on unless I power it on without the bottom plate and then install the bottom plate. At that point the meter works and I can take a photo but I can't review it and can't call up the menu, delete, etc.

 

This thread a bit reassuring as I'm praying the M8 will come back to form.

 

I'm leaving it to sit on a radiator and working the 2 dials as suggested every few hours. As it powers up and functions somewhat, I'm hoping that it's just a matter of time till some minute drop of water lodged in some dark crevice dries. The thought of sending the camera away and being without my M8 has been paralysing. Yesterday I walked around with my IDsII and all I could think of is "this is too heavy, this is ridiculous, I gotta sell this thing" (note I walk miles each time I go out shooting, not the forte of a large dslr). I've now got the old LC1 out but I can't believe I ever used that finder. It's ok all things considered but yikes.The adventure sent me to thinking about what else I could buy to use if I had to send away the M8 (Invariably for months) and the answer is, nothing really, another M8 or maybe a used RD1.

 

I have a heavy dose of what Joni Mitchell meant when she sang "...you don't know what you've got till its gone...

[eudemian]

I hope it does the same as mine Eric. After the mini dousing with a few rain drops it has recovered and is not functioning as well as ever with just the occasional bizzare happening.

Keep working the dials and try a hair dryer at low heat on the camera without the bottom plate on to aid the flow of hot air around the camera.

 

I know how you feel, those few days without the camera and I was totally lost.

 

Keep us informed. I am rooting for you.

[ericperlberg]

Keep us informed. I am rooting for you.

 

Cheers Tom!

[ericperlberg]

oh well, no luck... and today was the last day of my passport warranty so off it went to Milton Keynes where they'll misplace it and then eventually send it off to Solmes where it will sit in a queue waiting for attention. My guess is a 2 month wait but getting my 35 1.4 fixed took 6 months.

 

On the other hand I was found a pristine used M8 which I bought by selling off my 1dsII. I figure that after my M8 eventually returns and I re-send it to Solmes to get my new saphire rear LCD I'll sell off the new M8. Quite a number of consequences just because I don't have an Aga...