Water spilled on 16-45 DA

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<p>My son has managed to knock some fizzy mineral water over the zoom and there are droplets on the internal surfaces of the lens elements. I'm guessing that these will evaporate over time but I'm wondering what damage they could lead to. With all that dampness inside, I suppose there's a chance that it might become a perfect breeding ground for fungus. What's the best way of dealing with this problem? Should I just wait for the water to evaporate or would I be better sending it off to have it sorted professionally? Anyone know?</p>

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[jpo3136b]

<p>All I could offer would be to set it so that the lens elements are expanded, by turning the focusing ring and the zoom. Don't use the lens with electricity. If you carefully roll back the rubber grips on lens assemblies, sometimes you can expose tiny vents; they will look like holes drilled in the side of the barrel. Perhaps this would encourage evaporation. On the Pentax lenses I've seen, the rubber grips will reveal just holes. I found a small snapshot in my archives of such a vent on a Promaster one-touch zoom; on those models the vents are covered by brass shims. It will take some manual dexterity and mild to moderate hand pressure to move the rubber grip, because it's designed to fit the barrel snugly. It rolls on and off; just a form-fitting rubber tube. Be careful; it's polyvinyl, but it's a camera part.</p>

<p>Just kind of pluck at the end of the rubber grip, and roll it back on itself to expose the vent.</p>

<p>Beyond that, I'd say camera repair and cleaning.</p><div></div>

[jpo3136b]

<p>With mineral water, I bet it's going to need a pro cleaning from a repairman.</p>

[leo_papandreou1]

The mineral component might leave spots after the water evaporates. I doubt they'll make a difference but I don't know for sure.

 

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Your lens probably contains fungal spores inside of it already. If you're worried about them germinating, you can put the lens in a plastic bag with silica gel. This will desaturate the air inside the lens.

[michael_kuhne]

<p>Was the lens on a camera body at the time??</p>

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<p>The lens seems to have been off the camera at the time, Michael.</p>

[orly_andico]

<p>You can wait for the water to evaporate (I've heard of people using an oven on very, very low heat...) then if you're worried about fungus, leave the lens under a UV light (like a money detector, or a baby bottle sanitizer) for several days to kill the spores.</p>

[jtk]

<p>Unless it was distilled water (as opposed to filtered), with no flavors or minerals, evaporation will leave something on the lens. Distilled water isn't "fizzy." </p>

[mehmet_konar_steenberg]

<p>Once, my FA 50mm f1.4 rolled out of my camera bag and into about an inch of Lake Superior during a camping trip. I put the lens on the dashboard of my car, which was baking in a nice sunny parking lot. A couple of days later I couldn't detect any moisture inside. That was seven years ago, and I've had no problems with fungus (or anything else). FWIW.</p>

[leo_papandreou1]

A germicidal lamp will have a statistical effect but will not reach large numbers of spores deposited inside the lens on the barrel, seals, crevices, etc. It might also create a strain of Pentax-eating mutagens set loose on an unsuspecting world. Eradicating spores is futile --- lenses suck in new air-borne fungus spores when they're zoomed or focused --- and pointless, since ordinary spores won't germinate unless the lens is <i>stored</i> in a warm, damp place. Spores need some convincing to germinate; a few water drops that suddenly condense or spill on the lens then evaporate are not by themselves persuasive. Mineral water, which fizzy water need not be, is officially bad but probably no worse than distilled water that's contacted dust in the lens. If the lens still works then I honestly don't think you have any reason to worry about it.

[jtk]

<p>Pay somebody to clean it.</p>

<p>Why tolerate the absolutely certain (science, right?) residue from evaporated fizzy water on the elements? Fizzy water got that way by injection of carbon dioxide and probably more. Something will remain when the H20 evaporates.</p>

<p>You wouldn't put a cheap filter on it, you wouldn't polish dust off with your pant leg...</p>

<p>Fungus is unrelated...the issue is immediately lost resolution.</p>

<p>If you wanted kit lens fuzziness you wouldn't have bought this lens. </p>

[mountainvisions]

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<p>You wouldn't put a cheap filter on it, you wouldn't polish dust off with your pant leg...</p>

 

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<p>If you're using the cheap filter, why not use your pants leg? After all, that is precisely what cheap (disposable) filters are for!</p>

[pbarnes]

<p>Justin, I think John is saying 'you wouldn't put a cheap filter on it OR polish dust off it with your pant leg'. Anyway that's how i read it .</p>

[leo_papandreou1]

<p>Water spots are caused by dissolved salts --- minerals -- <em>dirt</em> -- left behind as solvent -- <em>water</em> -- enters the gas phase to become vapor and disperse into the atmosphere. Fizzy water is carbonated water, not necessarily mineral water, and CO2, being a gas, has no mineral content to cause spots. Mineral water is so-called because it is drawn from an underground source. Depending on where you live, mineral water may be cleaner, i.e. contain fewer ppm dirt, than tap water. Doesn't matter: in the volume occupied by the water beads on a lens, the difference between potable tap and mineral waters amounts to maybe -- maybe -- a thousand MOLECULES of "dirt" either way. That is nothing compared to the molecular quantity of ambient dirt that gets on your lens and sensor every day. It's this ambient filth that dissolves in water, tap, mineral or distilled, to subsequently cause spots. Will the spots, should they happen, affect image quality? Maybe.</p>

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<p>Thanks, guys. I have the lens sitting on a windowsill in the sun at the moment and I'll wait and see how it looks before I decide whether to take it further. I use a Nikon D700 outfit now but I kept my K10D and lenses in case my sons started to develop an interest in photography. I was a bit wary of letting my 17-year-old go off camping for the weekend with the Pentax gear as he's not particularly good at looking after his own stuff. This has confirmed my suspicions!</p>

[jtk]

<p>fyi carbon dioxide gas, like any commercial gas, brings oil and various other pollutants with it. "fizzy water" often includes acids and flavorings. It's rarely distilled, more often filtered...and that's not nearly as effective as you know if you scan film that's final-rinsed in distilled vs filtered water.</p>

[leo_papandreou1]

This is all by-the-by, drinks are carbonated with reagent dry ice or liquid CO2, but anyway: there is food grade CO2 gas and commercial grade CO2 gas. Both are 99.97% pure; 0.03% is Earth's atmosphere -- oxygen, nitrogen, etc. The difference between them is the container. Commercial grade CO2 is contained in steel vessels. During use, as gas is depleted, product (water, coca-cola, whatever) can be sucked into the vessel to possibly contaminate the system, for example with rust. For this reason food grade CO2 gas is contained in glass-lined vessels which are cleaned between fillings. (P.S. distilled water is condensed water vapor, therefore tap/fizzy/mineral water is never distilled, by definition.)