Minimal water on my Sony a7ii and it fried

Ken Sky said:

Ok, so what's it going to take to protect the camera aside from a hard underwater case which will only take one specific lens?

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I purchased this Kata cover years ago for my DSLRs. It works with my a7r and a larger lens (70-200/2.8 or larger), especially if tripod mounted. Kata makes a smaller version for mirrorless cameras as do other manufacturers.

Scottelb said:

Had my Sony A7ii for three weeks. Was tramped through the woods and had some water from a tree get on the camera. Maybe a tablespoon or two. Turned the camera off and dried it. When I went to turn it on the camera started clicking so I stopped using it, thinking it just needed to dry out. When I went to turn it back on it was dead

Took it to a Sony repair place and was told it had corrosion and the unit would need complete replacement. However, due to water damage there is no warranty coverage. Took it to the next level at Sony but was denied.

This is my fourth Sony camera and I've never had a issue like this after getting the exterior wet. Whether the use of their lens adapter has had an effect on its susceptibility to water damage is unclear.

After many years as a loyal Sony camera enthusiast, rather than replace the A7ii with a new Sony, I may move on to another brand. The company's response left me flat.

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Sorry to hear. Does your household insurance cover accidents like this?

Scottelb said:

Yep, it was the only water damage

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amazing, I hope you luck changes soon.

Ken Sky said:

Ok, so what's it going to take to protect the camera aside from a hard underwater case which will only take one specific lens?

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My experiences, described above, are "moisture and humidity", not water pe se. At 5500m+ altitude, you camped by a lake side, get up early before sunrise, to catch some shoots. That's most dangerous. The temperature inside and outside the tent is huge, and "moisture" inside the camera will condense on metals easily and happily, that's the mother board and other circuitry. The only action to take in such and similar situation is "to equalize" the temperatures inside and outside the camera before using it in the open air, much easier to say than done.

Steven

Scottelb said:

Had my Sony A7ii for three weeks. Was tramped through the woods and had some water from a tree get on the camera. Maybe a tablespoon or two. Turned the camera off and dried it. When I went to turn it on the camera started clicking so I stopped using it, thinking it just needed to dry out. When I went to turn it back on it was dead

Took it to a Sony repair place and was told it had corrosion and the unit would need complete replacement. However, due to water damage there is no warranty coverage. Took it to the next level at Sony but was denied.

This is my fourth Sony camera and I've never had a issue like this after getting the exterior wet. Whether the use of their lens adapter has had an effect on its susceptibility to water damage is unclear.

After many years as a loyal Sony camera enthusiast, rather than replace the A7ii with a new Sony, I may move on to another brand. The company's response left me flat.

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Bummer.

Very odd there would be any corrosion. Unless the electronics are made of substandard materials. Wonder if there is something in manufacturing process that would accelerate corrosion.
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Equipment? yes I have some....

True but I still can't believe at such low current and voltage
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Equipment? yes I have some....

Snikt228 said:

Scottelb said:

Had my Sony A7ii for three weeks. Was tramped through the woods and had some water from a tree get on the camera. Maybe a tablespoon or two. Turned the camera off and dried it. When I went to turn it on the camera started clicking so I stopped using it, thinking it just needed to dry out. When I went to turn it back on it was dead

Took it to a Sony repair place and was told it had corrosion and the unit would need complete replacement. However, due to water damage there is no warranty coverage. Took it to the next level at Sony but was denied.

This is my fourth Sony camera and I've never had a issue like this after getting the exterior wet. Whether the use of their lens adapter has had an effect on its susceptibility to water damage is unclear.

After many years as a loyal Sony camera enthusiast, rather than replace the A7ii with a new Sony, I may move on to another brand. The company's response left me flat.

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On a Sony sponsored shoot I saw someone's brand new A7 II die in a rain storm even though it was completely covered and didn't look like it had any water ingress at all.

All the while the Sony guy was talking about the great weather sealing.

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I think it's much harder to seal these tiny bodies relative to a large DSLR. I used to take my Olympus E-1 and Pentax K bodies into whatever rainstorms there were, no issues. The Olympus had a very specific high industrial level of environmental sealing. Nikon and Canon pro bodies probably do to. I've had my E-M5II in a couple rainstorms but I don't think it is as well-sealed as the DSLRs.

RichRMA said:

Snikt228 said:

On a Sony sponsored shoot I saw someone's brand new A7 II die in a rain storm even though it was completely covered and didn't look like it had any water ingress at all.

All the while the Sony guy was talking about the great weather sealing.

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I think it's much harder to seal these tiny bodies relative to a large DSLR. I used to take my Olympus E-1 and Pentax K bodies into whatever rainstorms there were, no issues. The Olympus had a very specific high industrial level of environmental sealing. Nikon and Canon pro bodies probably do to. I've had my E-M5II in a couple rainstorms but I don't think it is as well-sealed as the DSLRs.

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Yes, the dSLRs didn't have to maximize compactness-relative-to-existing-dominant-paradigm as a selling point.

At some point at least some MILCs will need to get past this early-market artifact to become better-rounded tools for heavier-duty use. And get the bigger batteries that they need. They will probably be professional-level (1DX/4D) products that won't even try to lure in anybody except the truly serious. Then trickle-down will happen.

And then we will see that the pro-duty MILC is only a little smaller than a dSLR... but by then the general photographic market should realize that's not the (primary) point.

That's also probably the point when you will begin to see native f/1.4 primes and f/2.8 zooms that won't be so much bigger than the body (because the body is now bigger) as to be ridiculous and counter to the point of the minimally-small body paradigm we have now.

Your credit card company will most likely have a product protection for you if it's less than a month old. American Express will go as far as provide 90days even for theft. But I have a feeling you probably paid cash for this particular incident

DVT80111 said:

Corrosion will happen in minute. Even gold plated terminals are not immuned. I had this experience as an engineer.

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rust will certainly flash over clean bare iron in less than a day, even in a matter of hours.

is electrolysis possible here? i thought that it required dc current passing through an impure substance, like water.

in the case of an electrical connection, current will take the shortest path of least resistance, which i would assume is through the connector, not moisture droplets.

if the water bridged a gap between circuit board traces of unequal voltage, and it carried current, you'd have bigger problems than electrolysis.

an example of seeing the potential for electrolysis would be sticking a multimeter probe in the radiator water of your car, then ground the other probe on the negative battery connection... in some cases you can even measure a voltage difference with the engine turned off.

Interesting reading here. IMHO something would need to be present to accelerate the corrosion rate. This is only an example of industrial methods used now causing increased corrosion rates.

(http://chavant.net/new_site/files/pdf/HP_ImAg_Corrosion_Paper_ISTFA_20061.pdf)

If you bought with a credit card, you may have coverage through your card's buyer protection program.

Brad Herman said:

I don't know, but my previous FujiFilm XT-1 was almost completely submerged by a wave in Acadia National Park, not once, but twice. I dried off the camera and it worked just fine. Many of my Nikons suffered the same, but no water damage at all.

If Sony wants to play with the 'big-boys', then their cameras should most definitely be weather-sealed, and shouldn't be so sensitive to moisture.

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I don't doubt the quality of the X-T1 but you can you easily find plenty of people here to tell you the same kind of stories about their A7x cameras....... one persons story (good or bad) doesn't tell us whether or not Sony is "playing with the big boys".

machz said:

I have my A7II out on the boat every weekend while we are wakeboarding and it gets sprayed all the time, So far no problems. I hope it stays that way

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You might want to wrap the bayonet with black electrical tape, to seal the mount. It come off easy later when you want to change lenses.

The trick is don't let your camera get wet. any other brand is going to be the same. Weather sealing doesn't mattern they won't cover water ingress under warranty. weather seals work great right to the second that they don't work then it's a loss. if you use your camera regularly the weather sealing becomes less reliable

All the internal connectors are tiny with many leads only less than 1 mm apart. Within those terminals, there are multiple grounds and positive. Only need one droplet between those terminal, it will short the digital signal. When the processor cannot read the data, it will cease like a Blue screen of death.

Open it up and let the water evaporate, may work.

Ken Sky said:

I am disappointed with this response of Sony on 2 counts:

If there was an adapter that allowed water in, they should have warned of this possibility in the manual as they tout water sealing in the ads.

If there was no adapter, then there was a clear breach of the weather sealing which they should be responsible for. The only caveat being was this the first & only exposure to water.

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They don't tout weather sealing, they tout moisture and dust sealing - meaning if it sat on a shelf it would be fine not if it was in a rain storm.

Clayton1985 said:

Brad Herman said:

I don't know, but my previous FujiFilm XT-1 was almost completely submerged by a wave in Acadia National Park, not once, but twice. I dried off the camera and it worked just fine. Many of my Nikons suffered the same, but no water damage at all.

If Sony wants to play with the 'big-boys', then their cameras should most definitely be weather-sealed, and shouldn't be so sensitive to moisture.

Click to expand...

I don't doubt the quality of the X-T1 but you can you easily find plenty of people here to tell you the same kind of stories about their A7x cameras....... one persons story (good or bad) doesn't tell us whether or not Sony is "playing with the big boys".

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agreed




interesting fact. My iPhone (pictured left) died in the cold (revived later in the warmth of the car) way before the A7R even thought about having issues.















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Scottelb said:

Had my Sony A7ii for three weeks. Was tramped through the woods and had some water from a tree get on the camera. Maybe a tablespoon or two. Turned the camera off and dried it. When I went to turn it on the camera started clicking so I stopped using it, thinking it just needed to dry out. When I went to turn it back on it was dead

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Something most people don't realize is that moisture intrusion usually doesn't happen from water simply landing on an unsealed interface between two parts. Surface tension effects will actually resist water infiltrating a dry interface. However, if you actively try to dry the water, it's pretty easy to accidentally force water into those interfaces. This can happen by either wiping or blowing. You really want to dab the water off, being careful not to work it toward seams.

Incidentally, non-dry interfaces essentially suck water in. So, for example, a tiny amount of condensation on a lens mount could cause rain on the outside to be drawn inside by capillary action. In fact, this is even true of O-rings; a wet O-ring generally doesn't make a valid seal no matter how tightly you press against it. This is why waterproof cameras and housings make such a big deal about checking the seals are clean and dry. In fact, after using my waterproof cameras, I let the camera's compartment door(s) sit open for a few minutes (after hand drying the rubber seal) to allow the seals to become completely dry before I will swap in a new battery and/or memory card and close the door.

All that said, I'd bet you had humidity and condensation inside the camera before it got "a tablespoon or two" of water on the outside to get wicked in. Condensation is certainly a more likely cause for corrosion than water droplets magically penetrating an internally dry camera....