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Digital Cameras and Washing Machines don't go well together

Posted June 4, 2008

broken camera

Yes, I did a very dumb thing last week.

After staying up late too many nights in a row working hard on the new site design I forgot that my camera was in my pocket when I put my clothes in the washing machine.

Result: one wet camera.

I immediately took the battery and SD card out, removed the case, used a hair dryer to dry the little visible water there was, then put it in a bag with some silica in a warm place for a week to dry out.

This morning I got it out, put it back together, put the battery back in, crossed my fingers, and hit the power button.........

No luck, it's a brick... a tiny svelte shiny brick, but a brick nonetheless. Anyone want to buy a slightly used Canon Powershot SD800 IS???

I really don't want to have to buy a new camera now, because you know what the worst thing is about running a gadget blog? you get to read all the reviews and hear about all the upcoming products so you are never satisfied with what is available now and you always want the latest hottest next-generation gadget.

Please learn from my lesson - check your pockets before putting clothes in the laundry... next time it could be your camera, or iphone, or HTC touch diamond, or eeepc (if you have really big pockets).