Flipped canoe with expensive camera in backpack- Lens cleaning?

Water spot on the lens of a camera.

My camera and I fell into a lake while canoeing. After an attempt to
dessicate the camera, there remained a water spot the size of a pea in
the middle of the lens. I sent the camera to Canon to get the spot
cleaned, and a month and a half later it was sent back, with pictures
of the internal corrosion and a claim that nothing could be done. The
camera works fine, the zoom lens works perfectly, the pictures are
fine, except that in every picture, there is a fuzzy spot in the middle
of the picture. The corrosion is minimal.

How should I clean the spot off the lens? Can I find dissasembly
instructions for the camera somewhere? Can someone reccommend a company
that can fix this sort of a problem?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help
Lauryn

What type of camera/lens. I assume it isn't a dSLR.

A few thoughts. First, assume the camera is broken beyond repair.
Therefore, there's nothing worse that you can do to it?. So, are you
game for a little DIY camera repair? That's likely your best answer.
In some ways it is very fulfilling. When you get done you can say, hey
I fixed it myself. Of course if you screw it up, you throw it out
because that's the likely alternative, anyway.

For some problems, just drying the camera out is the solution. But
even that won't work for you because you'll then have residue on the
lens (in all likelihood).

Did you talk to anyone at Canon. Why wouldn't they fix it? If they
had it apart, I can't understand why they didn't call/email you and say
that you had corrosion and give you the option of fixing it anyway.
Maybe a call to the factory service center might help. The send it in
and say "fix it anyway". Seems to me that if they wouldn't fix it,
they think it is beyond repair.

Good luck with it.

DoubleL wrote:
Water spot on the lens of a camera.

My camera and I fell into a lake while canoeing. After an attempt to
dessicate the camera, there remained a water spot the size of a pea in
the middle of the lens. I sent the camera to Canon to get the spot
cleaned, and a month and a half later it was sent back, with pictures
of the internal corrosion and a claim that nothing could be done. The
camera works fine, the zoom lens works perfectly, the pictures are
fine, except that in every picture, there is a fuzzy spot in the middle
of the picture. The corrosion is minimal.

How should I clean the spot off the lens? Can I find dissasembly
instructions for the camera somewhere? Can someone reccommend a company
that can fix this sort of a problem?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help
Lauryn

Could you get us a picture of the, erm, lens?.... wait... uhhh.. sorry.
:-(

Most cameras I've seen are held together with screws (good thing, too,
because disassembling and reassembling gear without screws SUCKS), so
would you be willing to try taking it apart sans instructions? As long
as you give it all of your attention when doing so, and are sure not to
take risky moves while doing so, you should be able to get to the lens
and put it back together safely after cleaning it.

....might want to wait for responses from others, but I wouldn't have
been afraid to do that before even sending it to Canon, myself. It's
just me, though.

-Drew

DoubleL wrote:
Water spot on the lens of a camera.

My camera and I fell into a lake while canoeing. After an attempt to
dessicate the camera, there remained a water spot the size of a pea in
the middle of the lens. I sent the camera to Canon to get the spot
cleaned, and a month and a half later it was sent back, with pictures
of the internal corrosion and a claim that nothing could be done. The
camera works fine, the zoom lens works perfectly, the pictures are
fine, except that in every picture, there is a fuzzy spot in the middle
of the picture. The corrosion is minimal.

How should I clean the spot off the lens? Can I find dissasembly
instructions for the camera somewhere? Can someone reccommend a company
that can fix this sort of a problem?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help
Lauryn

The repair people probably determined the cost of disassembling the
camera and lens, cleaning or replacing the spotted element, then
reassembling and getting everything in proper alignment and adjustment
was as much or more than the cost of replacing the camera.

Unfortunately, modern design and production methods that get the
purchase price down tend to come at the expense of repairability. Seems
a waste and a shame when in a situation such as yours.

Good luck.


DoubleL wrote:
Water spot on the lens of a camera.

My camera and I fell into a lake while canoeing. After an attempt to
dessicate the camera, there remained a water spot the size of a pea in
the middle of the lens. . .
Lauryn

DoubleL wrote:
Water spot on the lens of a camera.

My camera and I fell into a lake while canoeing. After an attempt to
dessicate the camera, there remained a water spot the size of a pea in
the middle of the lens. I sent the camera to Canon to get the spot
cleaned, and a month and a half later it was sent back, with pictures
of the internal corrosion and a claim that nothing could be done. The
camera works fine, the zoom lens works perfectly, the pictures are
fine, except that in every picture, there is a fuzzy spot in the
middle of the picture. The corrosion is minimal.

How should I clean the spot off the lens? Can I find dissasembly
instructions for the camera somewhere? Can someone reccommend a
company that can fix this sort of a problem?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help
Lauryn

Don't you have insurance of any sort? Mein Got!

DoubleL wrote:
Water spot on the lens of a camera.

My camera and I fell into a lake while canoeing. After an attempt to
dessicate the camera, there remained a water spot the size of a pea in
the middle of the lens. I sent the camera to Canon to get the spot
cleaned, and a month and a half later it was sent back, with pictures
of the internal corrosion and a claim that nothing could be done. The
camera works fine, the zoom lens works perfectly, the pictures are
fine, except that in every picture, there is a fuzzy spot in the middle
of the picture. The corrosion is minimal.

How should I clean the spot off the lens? Can I find dissasembly
instructions for the camera somewhere? Can someone reccommend a company
that can fix this sort of a problem?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help
Lauryn

Check into your household insurance. The camera may be covered.
EJ in NJ

wrote:
The repair people probably determined the cost of disassembling the
camera and lens, cleaning or replacing the spotted element, then
reassembling and getting everything in proper alignment and adjustment
was as much or more than the cost of replacing the camera.

Unfortunately, modern design and production methods that get the
purchase price down tend to come at the expense of repairability. Seems
a waste and a shame when in a situation such as yours.

snip
Seems like a practical decision. Making cameras is an
assembly line operation with cheap, semi-skilled labor.
Repairs are done by better-paid, skilled workers.

The original post didn't give the model or age of the
camera. For the cost of repairs, it is quite possible that
a much better, new camera could be bought now. Or one with
the same ccapabilities could be bought for much less than
the cost of repairs. I recently replaced a 4-year-old
digicam with one with 2/3 more pixels, a 6X zoom instead of
3X, and better color rendition, for half the price I paid
for the old one. And it is smaller and lighter, and has
image stabilization. It also takes better videos.

the newer version of the camera is still more expensive, and the camera
I have now still works fine so isn't it somewhat of a waste simply
buying another camera? Just a thought..

Lauryn

good advice, I might as well try to fix it...

Where could I find instructions on taking it apart? I'm willing to try
with detailed instructions...