[Leica] Wet cameras

[lrzeitlin at aol.com (lrzeitlin at aol.com)]

Tina says she has no problem with wet cameras. I have had plenty of 
problems. But then I take a lot of marine photos.

It's all in the nature of the water. Sweat and sea water contain salt 
which remains in the innards of the camera even after the liquid 
evaporates. Salt facilitates corrosion and absorbs additional water. 
Wet salty surfaces conduct electricity. Not a good thing for electric 
cameras. Even the mechanical Leicas don't like salt water environments. 
Sherry Krauter did a CLR for me after I had used my M3s near salt water 
for several years. Her comment after doing the job was "Stop pissing on 
your cameras."

At least for mechanical cameras, if dried immediately, cameras immersed 
in fresh water usually suffer little damage. If the water is salty, 
most repair persons advise flushing the camera in fresh water to remove 
the salt residue before any repair attempts are made. I've also been 
told by repair persons that if you immerse a digital camera in salt 
water, your best bet is to call the insurance company. Repair costs 
usually outweigh the value of the camera.

By the way, I use a Nikonos if there is a good chance that my camera 
will get wet by salt water.
Larry Z

Larry Z