Water Is Not Your Camera’s Friend: If you don’t want to be disappointed about the time and money you just spent to ship your camera to be repaired only to find out it can’t even be repaired, then don’t bother sending in your camera if it’s been submerged in water (especially salt water) since the chance of it being able to be repaired is highly unlikely. Your camera is an electronic device and it is quite obvious that electronics and water (or any other liquid for that matter) are not friends. Not even acquaintances.

Bodily Fluids Are For Your Body, Not Your Camera: It should go without saying, but if your camera has been exposed to bodily fluids, your best option is to throw it in a hazmat bag and take it to the trash. The human body is made up of more than 30 different fluids and no one wants to receive a camera for repair that is soaked in any of them. For most service providers, technicians will not be allowed to even touch the camera if it has been exposed to such fluids. The same can also be assumed for animal fluids. No one wants to fix a camera that is soaked in your kitty’s urine or other excrement.

It’s All About the Power: Make sure your battery is fully charged when you’re checking the functionality of your camera. Many cameras will begin to slow down or lose functionality when the power source is drained. For this reason, many consumers will confuse this with being a defect in the actual camera. It sounds too simple to be true, but camera repair facilities process literally thousands of camera “repairs” each year that only had a faulty or uncharged battery. The honest facilities will send the camera back to you with no charge. Also, depending on the environment in which you’re accustomed to shooting and storing your camera in, the metal contacts between the battery and the contacts to the camera can develop a thin, non-conductive film (that can be invisible). This can be easily removed by rubbing alcohol-dipped (not soaked!) Q-tips over the contacts to remove this film. After the alcohol has dried, put the battery back in and try to power the camera up again.