Broken Pentax wow - a few questions!

Hi - New user with a lot of questions that I hope you will be able to answer.

A bit of a long story...
While on holiday to Orlando, I took my K100D super on the 'Jaws' ride at Univeral Studios - Stupid I know. This was fine until the last moment when jaws reared out of the water and set a HUGE wave of water right over me and my camer (which was in a camera bag). The result was a dead camera for two days.

The camera now fires up but has a few problems. It wont switch off without opening the battery cover, it takes longer to focus and often doesn't - especially in dark situations and if I leave batteries in the camera they are dead by the next day (without taking any pictures). And (although not yet confirmed) I think it takes 'softer' pictures than before - the 50mm F1.4 lens on it doesn't seem to take as good a picture as before.

I have rung up my insurance company and they have told me to take it to Jessops to get a quote for mending it. So to my questions...

Q1 - Do Jessops repair Pentax? (I'm sure they wont as they dont stock them) Is it viable to get it mended?

Q2 - The problems that I have with my Pentax are ones that are not apparent at first, so I how can I convince the insurance that it is broken? What about the lens?

Q3 - If (When) I get money from the insurers, what do I do with it? Do I go for the equivalent current model, a Pentax K2000?

Q4 Will I miss the top LCD screen on the K2000 and the extra focussing points that IO have on my K100D?

Q5 Or should I go for the K20 and fork out the extra cash? My heart says Yes - my wallet No!

Sorry for the questions but I would appreciate any advice

Water and electronic cameras generally don't mix well. Salt water is death to a camera and normal water is too unless it gets immediate attention. Looks like a straightforward insurance claim to me!

Agree with you John - should be a valid claim. But Jessops - can't imagine they would be interested - may be wise for Nigel to check this with his Insurer.

If the camera and lens are taken to a repairer (Jessops or otherwise) they should be able to establish that damage was caused by water. There are specialist Pentax repairers (see link). Perhaps you could suggest this repairer to your Insurer and they would benefit from a 20% discount??

If the camera is a total loss (and the lens?) - I'd go for the K20D - 'You know it makes sense'.

Cheers

John

I'd go a stage further - water and electronics don't mix well.

If you do get electronics wet, get the battery out as fast as possible.

Put it somewhere warm such as an airing cupboard.

Leave it there for several days.

Cross all available appendages.

I would point out to the insurance company that the replacement for the K100 would have been the K200 - which is no longer available and the K-m or K2000 is not so they should be offering you te value of a K20 or you may settle for somewhere in between.

Also be careful as the insurance company may try and force you to have a camera from the Jessops range - which excludes Pentax.

I know this sounds mad, but I read yesterday of someone who revived a drowned mobile phone by leaving it in a bowl of uncooked rice for a couple of days. Usual disclaimers apply.

Not at all. The rice is dried so it draws moisture out of the air around it.

The caveat is that there will be a lot of debris in the rice, so it might be an idea to put the rice in the bottom of an airtight container then cover it with a tissue then put whatever you are trying to dry out in on top then put the lid on.

I've used a company called Lehmanns who gave very good service. Worth talking to them.

As John Riley says, salt water is death to a camera. I had a wave break over a Nikon F5 which immediately became very, very hot. It showed no signs of life again and was not repairable.

You could point out to your insurers that a K20D is weatherproof and future similar claims are unlikely!

Archie

Good point Archie - but will the Insurer fall for it??

Thanks for the help

Unfortunately it looks like I am only insured for upto £300 for individual items.

That sounds very low in this day and age - are you talking about a Travel Policy or your House Contents Policy (or both??)?

Travel Policy

Well - yes - Travel Policies are useless for photographic equipment - they have such low limits.

Do you have any home contents cover which may include personal possessions taken out of the house and can include cover on holiday? The limits here per item are usually much higher, typically £1,000 or more.

If not I'm afraid you're stuck - perhaps you should consider home contents cover and make sure this includes your possessions away from your home.

Alternatively there are specialist camera equipment insures some advertising in Pentax User - see Insurance link.

John

I am a bit wary of using my household insurance as the last time I made a claim they put my premiums up and I expect I ended up paying for the value of the claim over the next few years!!

Seriously,
I expect they will only value the K100D at £300 anyway.

I am now thinking that if I get £300 from then and then put £300 of my own money towards a K20 then I have upgraded to a K20 for only £300