Perrier (Mineral Water) + DMC-FX30 = No Work.

[KonnMan]

Hi all,
I read all there is to read about water damage to cameras, but still didn?t find anything that helps me out. I got a Panasonic DMC-FX30 Black digital camera. While I was on my vacation (with my sister), my camera got wet. My sister put Perrier (mineral water) in her back. The bottle was close or so we thought, and when it came time to take a picture, is when we seen that her bag was wet. I reached for the camera. When I pulled it out, the switch was in ON possession and it did not turn on. We immediately went to the hotel, where I took the battery out and my SD card. The battery was dried and recharged, and my SD Card was working fine. I set the camera on a fan and it was getting dried. Next day I tried the camera but through a USB cable, not the battery and nothing happened. My questions are as follows. Will Panasonic fix my camera? Should I just go and buy a new one? (Bought it at $300, now valued at $225) Can I fix this myself? If yes then where can I get the service manual or how to do it? Someone help. I like this camera; a new model came out, DMC-FX33, this month. Do not want to see this baby go.

[Photo-John]

I think your camera is dead. You did all the right things, taking out the battery and memory card and allowing it to dry. If it still won't start up, then I think you're going to have to buy a new one. I would be surprised if Panasonic will fix it under warranty since it's not defective. And I have no doubt it will cost more than it's worth to fix it. If I were you, I'd look at the new Panasonic models and buy a new camera. On the positive side, the cameras that came out this year have significantly better high-ISO and low light performance than last year's cameras. So you should be able to get a new camera that's obviously better than the one that got ruined.