Camera dropped in a bucket of water

How wet is "a lil" wet? If the device was submerged in water it likely has severe water damage, you can try putting it in a bag of rice for 24 hours but if that doesn't fix anything there is nothing you can do other than buy a new one, or replace the parts that were damaged, and I do not recommend trying that if you have never done so before. Good Luck!

First of all you should get (or have gotten) the battery out as soon as possible. You could try shaking excess water out of it. You should then put it in rice to draw all the moisture out of the camera. This may take a couple of days, maybe exchange with more dry rice after first day. When you are relatively sure all moisture is gone try reinstalling the battery. I will guess that you will only have a 20% chance of it ever working again.

If the camera took on salt water it is already to late, the salt corrodes the ic pins and eventually moves into the casing and destroys any delicate parts, the only option is replace the camera.

No, sorry. Seawater is every bit as bad as crushing or fire to any unprotected electronic devices.

Your camera is a total loss. The only faint chance of saving it would have been to immediately remove the battery and memory card and to immerse it in a large bucket of de-ionised fresh water (as used in car batteries and steam irons)... not exactly the sort of thing most folks have access to at sea or on the beach. Even then the chances of saving it would have been almost zero.

Sorry for the delay.

The two most obvious causes for your fault are damage to the microswitch which senses when the cover is closed and water ingress into the camera. The first possibility is often caused by the second one as any moisture getting into the switch can cause corrosion, but it can also "just happen".

From your answer, the camera would appear to be around two years old; the waterproofing seals and packing distort and harden with age so must be replaced annually. I don't know whether the camera has been used in seawater or pool water, but after use the camera must be submerged in a bucket of fresh water for about ten minutes. This flushes out traces of salt or pool chlorine; salt water dries out to leave salt crystals which distort the seals and may even physically damage them, pool water contains chlorine (sometimes ozone) which chemically attacks the seals. Either way, a damaged seal allows some water into the camera and it only takes a minute amount to damage it. Some people (myself included) find that carrying a bucket of fresh water to the beach just isn't practical and so rinse the camera off under a tap (US=faucet) or beach shower. This is not a good idea and every underwater camera which I use for snorkelling specifically forbids it. Page 65 of your camera manual also warns against it. The problem is that the force of the water falling directly onto a seal is enough to overcome it. Underwater, the pressure is steady and the whole camera is experiencing the same forces, but a modest gravity flow from a tap or water bottle puts uneven pressures on the seal and can unseat it just enough to allow a little water inside. Although I do break the rules, I normally protect the camera by thoroughly wrapping it in a t-shirt or even by slipping it into my shorts/wetsuit so that there's no direct flow of water onto the camera surface.

The other possible cause of water ingress is if the camera cover was closed without checking for sand or debris on the aperture or if the camera has ever been dropped. I know it's a tough shock-resistant camera, but the seals don't always survive rough handling. If the camera door has been opened before the camera is fully dry or if it's done when you have wet hands then it's also possible for a drop of water to get inside, and that's all it takes for the switch or some other component to corrode. The problem is worse if the camera has been stored between wet use with the doors closed and the memory card and battery in place: this camera is best stored open and empty.

Unlike most modern compact cameras, yours is designed to allow regular servicing even if it's only to replace the seals. I recommend that you contact your nearest Olympus Service Centre for an estimate. They can only give you the price of the re-waterproofing work, but you can stipulate that they try to fix the door fault first as the rest of the job is pointless if that cannot be fixed or proves to be too expensive to repair.

For servicing and repair, click here if you're in the USA and here if you're in the UK or Ireland. If anywhere else, then click here instead and navigate to your local page.

If you decide not to go ahead with the repairs and maintenance, then as a specialist model your camera will still have some value if you sell it online as a "spares or repairs" model.

Sorry that there is no quick fix option in this case, but I hope that my reply has explained what has probably happened and why and that it helps you to avoid repeating any mistakes which you may have inadvertently made. There is a very good chance that your camera can be fixed by Olympus; the repairs are unlikely to be cheap, but they're still far cheaper than buying another camera with equivalent underwater performance. The current Olympus Tough range descended from models like yours but are not as well made which explains why you'll see very few 720SW and 1030SW's on sites like eBay in any condition. Those which do appear sell very quickly and for good money, even when broken.

If you have any further questions about what I've written or if you think I've missed something, then please let me know via a comment. Otherwise, please take a moment to rate my answer.

My advice is as follows:
Ii the handycam was submerged without the battery on it the electronics may still be fine. you need to take it to the repairman who will open up all the circuit boards and dry them.
If there was a tape i the camera , the tape is damaged and cannot be used again.
The camera mechanism may also be damaged by the water through corrosion , so its absolutely important that you take it to the repairmen for drying as soon as possible.

However if the handycam was submerged with the battery on, then the electronic circuit boards are most likely damaged.

in this case you may weigh the costs of having the circuit boards replaced against buying a new camcorder altogether.

you can take the battery and the back off the device and place in completely submerged in a bag of white rice and leave it in there for 1 to 2 days this will help absorb the moisture, this should fix it if the water did not damage the circut boards if the water damaged the circut boards then the device is fried

You will need to contact Olympus Customer Service to discuss repair options and pricing. Their telephone number is 800-622-6372 option 2 and then option 3

I took mine surfing, and it leaked salt water (just a couple of drops) into the battery compartment. I rinsed the whole camera with fresh water, and the camera came back to life -- but had similar display issues.

I had the camera serviced at Best Buy, where I had purchased a 4yr maintenance contract. In addition to fixing the electronics, they replaced the door on the battery compartment with one that has a metal hinge instead of the original plastic.If you don't have a warranty, then getting a used replacement is by far the cheapest route.

My advice: buy another one on eBay or Craigs. I just got a second one two weeks ago for $70.00 and it is working perfectly. This is an awesome camera, and worth the hassle to repair or replace.

If you dry it out you may get it to work but I think the cards are stacked against you. The lens will be junk when the water gets into it. You would be better off to go on Ebay or Amazon and buy another used camera.