5D Mark II in a rainstorm!

<p>How long do I leave it in the bowl of rice?<br />So this morning I wound up with my 2 month old 5-D mark II and 24-70 2.8L managing to stay outside during a heavy shower for about a half hour while I was inside. Once I went into emergency action mode, I immediately removed the battery, toweled it off, and researched what I should do next.<br />I am not so worried about the lens, I know it is supposed to be moisture and dust sealed (just got it 3 days ago btw, awesome lens!) I racked it all the way out and toweled it offand it seems fine.<br />The body has spent the day in a sealed bowl of rice, after drying it the best I could, there was no water in the battery compartment or the housing that I could see.<br />So the question is, How long does it need to stay there?<br />Thanks so much for your help, I hope this is a warning to everyone, it can happen, easily!</p>

<p>Justin,</p>

<p>Personally, I'd leave it in some (new) fresh rice for a week. After that you are good to give it a go. By the way, does the 5D MkII have a memory battery? If so I'd pop that out too to make sure it is dry inside there.</p>

<p>Good luck, Scott.</p>

<p>Your answer (or a better answer) may be here: http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00WVz4.</p>

<p>Hmm, I eat rice 3 times daily and it's kinda sticky as a camera receptacle, especially if you enjoy it with kim-chi. Maybe a bowel of granola would be safer?</p>

<p>do not cook the rice</p>

<p>The lower-starch (less sticky) varieties seem to work the best, I've used Basmati in the past. Plus it doubles as food.....</p>

<p>I have come up with a couple of articles mentioning that the 5-D Mark II is weather-resistant, but I can't find anything on Canon's site to confirm that. Hopefully all is fine and I'm over reacting. <br>

It seems there's always that new camera mishap for me, dropped my first DSLR and lens off a tripod (at eye level)and down a set of brick steps, it's still kicking years later, hopefully I will look back on this and laugh, sooner than later preferably!<br>

Thanks much for all the serious responses!</p>

<p>I had my 50D out in a storm a couple of weeks ago, while hiking. It is not considered a sealed body, although it is said to be better than the previous xxD models. I was using a pair of sealed L lenses (I even changed lenses during the rain, using my body to keep the drops out). The rain was strong enough to soak my backpack (it took 3 days to dry it out). I kept using the camera during the rain and have not had a single problem.</p>

<p>Your 5D mark II has better seals... so I suspect your camera is fine.</p>

<p> </p>

Ok, I'm curious, how on earht did you manage to leave it outside while you were inside? :)

<p>As for the rice, Chinese stir-fry is my favourite. I can give you some recipes ;-) On a serious note, all the best. Let us know how you fare. I personally use my 5D2+24-105 in the rain on occasion, but have never had it rained on for more than a few minutes at a time. It will be interesting to see how it copes. I've a feeling it will do just fine :)

<p>I was hoping no one would ask how I managed to leave it outside, but here it goes...<br>

I live in a very rural area (read just me and the dogs) and had been gardening and photographing all day, blackberries just ripening, the tiny little turtle in the garden, etc. Later in the afternoon I walked over to eat dinner at a neighbor's house. It was light out when I left, but I stayed longer than I planned and it was dark when I got back. I put up all the tools, but left that black camera and lens sitting on the trunk of a black car in the dark.( thank god I saw it before I drove off!) It was dry overnight, but a storm came through the next morning, and that's when I saw it was still out there. (and yes I threw up in the back of my throat just a little!)</p>

<p>I think I am going to try the camera tomorrow evening after about 60 hours in the rice, and will post an update then.</p>

<p>You may find you have no problem. I have had mine out in heavy rain on more than one occasion without any issues. Did your camera actually fail to operate or is this just a precaution?</p>

<p>I am hoping to not have a problem, I have not tested it. There was no way I was going to power it up without being overly cautious about having dried it as well as possible.</p>

<p>The Canon 5D mkII is weather sealed. Its sealing has a bad reputation due to the infamous Luminous Landscape Antarctica trip. However, I believe those failures were due to a combination of bad behavior leading to internal condensation (easy call given some of the details, such as photographers changing lenses and batteries immediately after walking into a warm room) and a problem with the Canon battery grip (see the 5D mkII comments in this post: http://canonfieldreviews.com/7d-1-weather-sealing/).</p>

<p>It's conceivable that a severe storm over time would get past the seals. No camera is water proof or even water resistant, only weather resistant. That said, if your camera was working when you brought it in, it's probably fine.</p>

<p>Here is a diagram of seals on Canon Japan's site: http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/eos5dm2/03.html#03</p>

<p>Rice for a few days is a good idea. A low heat, low humidity environment also works. I used a warming oven set to a temp of about 100-110 for a day when my daughter put her new P&S digital camera through the wash. Worked like a charm. This has also worked well for cell phones that get dunked in clear water. </p>

<p>Rice?<br>

Once the camera had been inside long enough to warm up and look dry, I'd just turn it on. I doubt you have a problem.</p>

 

<p>UPDATE: I couldn't wait, I tried it this morning, and the camera is FINE! Thank god for good engineering!<br>

All buttons and functions are perfect, images are as great as ever!</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for your help!</p>

<p>Good. Now get yourself a rain resistant camera bag. And/or one of the raincoats they make for cameras.</p>