NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/rec/photo/24171

Text File | 1993-01-21 | 3.9 KB | 84 lines

Newsgroups: rec.photo
Path: sparky!uunet!news.uiowa.edu!news.weeg.uiowa.edu!goldis
From: [e-mail] (Al Goldis)
Subject: Re: Flimsy EOS cameras? ( was Re: **Another NEW EOS??**)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 22:01:37 GMT
Lines: 73

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Mike Coren) writes:

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Al Goldis) writes:
>>
>>Also, the EOS-1 is extremely well sealed against dust and moisture
>>(anecdote available on request).

>OK, let's have it.

Well, alright.  You asked for it.  Maybe you'd like to set your alarm
clocks in case you nod off while reading this.  ;-)

At a football game someone apparently threw or poured pop on my EOS-1
and 80-200/2.8L as I walked near a section of the crowd.  I say
apparently because although the camera was hanging at my side, I never
felt anything and didn't know until a while later when I picked it up
to shoot.  At the time I wasn't sure if it was water or something
else.  Later, as it began to dry and become sticky, it was obvious
that whatever the liquid was, it was not water.

I continued shooting the rest of the game and much later, cleaned off
the sticky residue.  Ill-effects: the lens was somewhat glued to the
body and the main AE-lock button was gummed up and would stick for a
while when pressed.  I cleaned the body and lens mounts but wasn't
able to do anything about the AE-lock button.  This was a bummer
because I usually use Custom Function #4 and use the button for AF
start.

I had the camera cleaned once, telling them about the problem with the
pop in the button, but when the camera was returned to me they said "I
guess the technician didn't have time to fix the AE-lock button.  It
seemed like maybe pop had been spilled in it."  No kidding--I told you
about that, remember?!

A month or two later at another football game, The Rain came.
Murphy's Law states:  "If you bring rain covers for your equipment, it
will not rain."  Of course, the inverse is also true; if there is
*any* chance of rain and you do not bring rain covers, it will most
certainly rain.  I know this.  But that day, for some unknown reason I
thought the Law would change.  I was watching the radar on the Weather
Channel before I went to the game.  Even though the forcast called for
a good chance of rain, there was none to be found on the radar.  The
nearest precipitation was 150 miles away and it was stationary--it was
not moving toward us.  The weather forcasters, as is so often the case
*must* be mistaken.

But I forgot that when conditions are right, precipitation can just
pop up out of nowhere.  In the press room about 15 minutes before
kickoff, I was absolutely incredulous when someone told me it was
raining just outside of town.  NO WAY!  It can't be!  There was
nothing on the radar.  It can't rain yet!

It rained...  A LOT!!

It started lightly just before kickoff and then got heavier.  It
rained throughout the entire game, sometimes very heavily, sometimes
lightly, but usually just a steady rain.  Unfortunately, I had to be
there.  The only times I sought shelter was to change film (and during
halftime) so everything got *real wet*.

I was carrying an F-1, T-90, and the EOS-1.  The F-1 and EOS-1 didn't
skip a beat; no problems at all.  The T-90 shorted-out and went down.
I left it in the press room at halftime.  After drying out, it's fine.

So, to make a short story very long and sleepy, the only consequence
of the EOS-1's drenching is it washed the pop out of the AE-lock
button and now it works fine.

Was that your alarm I just heard?  :-)
--
Al Goldis           [e-mail]
"Pictures are moments truth, touched by light, that show character."
                          --Annie Griffiths-Belt