Well guys... it's broken...

[heiyoulianglaohu]

So I'm in a hotel in South Carolina.. I took vacation to the ocean and seeing as how I have never been to the ocean until now I decided to take my camera with me, so I took my Olympus E-510 and the waves got big while I was in the water, covered half the beach and RUINED MY CAMERA (it was on the beach at the time) !!!! I got water, salt, and sand all in the camera so now that it's done in.. I really need some suggestions on a camera that would do better in that situation.. it's amazing how something so dumb can ruin a weeks vacation so fast... any suggestions on what to get when I get back to Texas that could have maybe withstood this?

[LDB]

I don't know if any camera would survive unscathed if it was as bad as you describe. The Nikon D300 has good seals and the Pentax K20D is known for weather sealing. I believe the new Olympus E520 is supposed to have better sealing but I'm not sure. Good luck.

[Rocket]

Sorry that happened to you. Since it was your first time at the ocean, you might not have realized how far the tide can come in in a short amount of time. I don't know of any camera that can take being submerged in salt water (with the exception, of course, of those that have the waterproof cases for scuba etc., pics).

[heiyoulianglaohu]

Well.. it was on she shore but didn't get just DESTROYED.. it got wet but not submerged.. the water did cover the beach pretty well but I didn't mean for it to sound like it was as bad as could be envisioned from what I said I guess. Anyway, just camera's with the best weather seals would be nice.. I think this could have been prevented..

[CobyPhoto]

Originally Posted by heiyoulianglaohu

Well.. it was on she shore but didn't get just DESTROYED.. it got wet but not submerged.. the water did cover the beach pretty well but I didn't mean for it to sound like it was as bad as could be envisioned from what I said I guess. Anyway, just camera's with the best weather seals would be nice.. I think this could have been prevented..

I hate to be the one to point this out, but why do you think that "weather seals" would prevent this? The fault here lies with the operator...not the lack of weather sealing on the camera. No amount of weather sealling is going to prevent damage from a camera left on the beach and water rolling up on it.

This is a rather sensative piece of electronic equipment. Even the old Tanks of Film cameras would not withstand salt water and sand. I am fully insured against something like this and I STILL carry a large heavy duty zip lock and keep my cameras well out of harms way.

Your best bet is to take a little more care with your camera next time you are on the beach to insure that you aren't buying another.

CJ

[heiyoulianglaohu]

My OM-10 film camera survived it just fine...

[Daniel Bates]

I've got one for you:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_se...digital_sw.asp

[bondarnes]

If you are pretty sure it is toast and want one last ditch try, you can take out the battery and memory card and dunk the whole thing in alcohol two or three times. Give it a day or two to completely dry out, then clean every place you can reach. Open and clean anything that will open. Then put the battery back in and see if it will fire up and shoot. Only do this if you have totally given up on salvaging it. You still may have to have the lens and sensor cleaned by a professional.

This method has worked for me for a cell phone and also for a pocket wizard. YMMV

[merock]

Why don't you just get a Pelican case so next time you don't have to worry about your camera getting ruined and just take it out of the case when you want to use it..... :-)

[The Philos]

E-3?