After 15 years of careful camera gear stewardship, you’re bound to slip up.
On a music video shoot last week in New York, I changed lenses and set my 24L on the grass beside me. We wrapped, and later that night, we had torrential rain. Just a complete deluge. Our friends’ kiddy pool filled to the brim with rain water.
The next morning, I walked across the lawn, and my heart stopped. There was my poor little 24L, sitting patiently on the grass. It was half-covered in mud, and completely soaked. There was water inside the lens… big condensation droplets inside the focus window. I was too freaked out to even take a picture of it. “There goes $1700…”
I ran it inside, unscrewed the UV filter and rear lens cap, and immediately buried the lens in a big box of dry rice.
I checked it every few hours, and prayed to the camera gods for mercy. After 12 hours, I couldn’t see any condensation inside, so I decided to wait 12 more hours.
After a full 24 hours in the rice, I inspected it all over. No water to be seen. I picked it up, brushed it off, and took a deep breath. I switched it to manual focus, and slowly connected it to my camera. It came up in the menu as the correct lens, meaning the camera was talking to the chip on the lens. “Well, at the very least I have a manual focus lens.”
I took another deep breath and switched it to autofocus. A half-press of the shutter, and the ultrasonic motor snapped the whole scene into focus! I don’t want to jinx it, but so far, it’s as good as new. And probably cleaner. I kept right on shooting the video with it.
So for that, zombie lens from beyond the grave, I hereby christen you “Ophelia.” May the rest of your days be as dry as the dustiest corner of the moon.
