# D-90 Waterproofing



## tom beard (Nov 15, 2009)

Hello All,

I've ordered a D-90, but I noticed that it has little to no weather proofing.  Other much more expensive cameras have all kinds of gaskets on the body and the lenses.  I live at 6K ft. in a forrest and like to shoot 'weather' pictures.  We have rain, sleet, snow and fog so heavy the condensation falling from the trees seems like rain.  Should I consider wrapping the camera and lens in a zip-lock bag, or just using an umbrella?  I'm not talking about shooting in downpours,  just damp weather.  What are your experiences?

Many thanks,  Tom Beard


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## Atlas77 (Nov 15, 2009)

you could cover it in a plastic bag or buy a cover from a camera store.

if your not shooting in downpours or "extreme" weather I suggest you just cover it in a plastic bag before you go out. 

I dont have much experience with covers/covering camera but goodluck.


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## DScience (Nov 15, 2009)

D300 is probably something you would want to invest in. The weather sealing would be ideal for this.


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## IgsEMT (Nov 15, 2009)

look into these
Camera Armor | Camera Armor | CA35384-0MP | B&H Photo Video

Delkin Devices | Snug-It Pro Skin | DDSDPROND90-B | B&H Photo


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## MrRamonG (Nov 15, 2009)

I took my D80 on the Inca trail a couple of weeks ago.  I'm not positive but I thing the D80 and D90 are very similar as far as weather proofing.  It rained a little every day for the 4 days I was on the trail.  The D80 got a little wet and had to deal with misty days but it didnt seem to suffer any ill efects.  Took it in to get it cleaned the other day and everything is working fine.


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 15, 2009)

Pentax would have been the way to go.  The weather sealing is unbeatable, especially at the lower price brackets.  If weather sealing is something that is important to you, I would send the D90 back and buy into the Pentax system.  I've never put my camera away for weather.  I've shot in downpours for hours with no regard for my camera and making no effort to keep it dry except for the front element.  For more read a blog post I wrote on the topic.


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## IgsEMT (Nov 15, 2009)

> Pentax would have been the way to go. The weather sealing is unbeatable, especially at the lower price brackets. For more read a blog post I wrote on the topic.


VERY INTERESTING, THANKS FOR INPUT!!!


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## pez (Nov 16, 2009)

GeneralBenson said:


> Pentax would have been the way to go. The weather sealing is unbeatable, especially at the lower price brackets. If weather sealing is something that is important to you, I would send the D90 back and buy into the Pentax system. I've never put my camera away for weather. I've shot in downpours for hours with no regard for my camera and making no effort to keep it dry except for the front element. For more read a blog post I wrote on the topic.


 
I got caught out in a major deluge a while back with my K20, and unlike myself, it was completely unaffected.


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## itznfb (Nov 16, 2009)

GeneralBenson said:


> Pentax would have been the way to go.  The weather sealing is unbeatable, especially at the lower price brackets.  If weather sealing is something that is important to you, I would send the D90 back and buy into the Pentax system.  I've never put my camera away for weather.  I've shot in downpours for hours with no regard for my camera and making no effort to keep it dry except for the front element.  For more read a blog post I wrote on the topic.



What makes the Pentax weather sealing better than any other brand's weather sealing?

I've probably spent over 200 hours in complete non-stop downpours with my D90 and never had an issue.


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 16, 2009)

itznfb said:


> GeneralBenson said:
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> > Pentax would have been the way to go.  The weather sealing is unbeatable, especially at the lower price brackets.  If weather sealing is something that is important to you, I would send the D90 back and buy into the Pentax system.  I've never put my camera away for weather.  I've shot in downpours for hours with no regard for my camera and making no effort to keep it dry except for the front element.  For more read a blog post I wrote on the topic.
> ...



That's interesting.  What do you shoot that puts you in so much rain?  Were you shooting with just the body getting wet, or id you have a protective covering of some sort?  What lenses were you using?  The question is, can every D90 put up with that much rain, and reliably, or are you just lucky and/or more cautious than most users?  I'm really honestly, not trying to start a flame war.

I searched around an could find nothing to back up the claim of that the D90 has any considerable amount of weather sealing.  The Nikon page said nothing on the matter at all, I found one reference to it having seals at the battery and memory card doors, and one reference to it having 7 strategic seals.  I also found lots of references to people saying, the D90 is not sealed, or not suitably sealed, or I wouldn't take mine out in the rain, or mine got wet and broke.  

The K-7 has 77 seals, and is sealed at every single junction, seam, button, door, hole, and any other place that water and dust could possibly get in.  A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and in my opinion a camera is either fully sealed, or not sealed at all.  And in searching for the K-7 and water, I got lots of people saying they use it in the rain all the time, and no people saying they ever had a problem.  

As for you and your experience.  That's great.  But would you recommend to all D90 users that they too can shoot in the rain for 200 hours and that nothing will happen to their camera?  That's a serious question, I'm not trying to be a jerk.  Is the weather sealing of the K-7 massively over-engineered and way more than is needed to withstand the rain?  Probably.  Is the D90 suitably engineered to a level that can withstand the rain and reliably perform?  Probably not?


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## itznfb (Nov 16, 2009)

GeneralBenson said:


> itznfb said:
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The D90 has no water sealing. That's kind of my point. While on vacation I do a lot of wildlife shooting and I have terrible luck with weather always finding myself in the rain. Hence the D300s now instead of the D90. Though I never had an issue with the D90 I figured it was only a matter of time. You would need water to hit just the right spot though. I always just kept a towel in a bag and wiped off the camera whenever it started to get soaked. I still do this with my D300s though. EDIT:  I should add that a friend with a 50D has been with me most of the time in the same rain and he never had an issue either. I don't believe the 50D is weather sealed.

Any camera body that claims to be water sealed though should be sealed at every possible spot that could allow water. I don't know of any that aren't this way.

What is it about the Pentax that is better than others? If anything I would say it's the same as say a D300 or .... I'm not sure which model Canon has water sealed. Saying that it's unbeatable is an exaggeration I hope.

I know on my friends 1D Mark III that thing has amazing thought put into the water sealing. That thing look like it would survive being dropped in a pond.


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 16, 2009)

What makes Pentax better?  I don't know.  Do I have any objective evidence? Not really.  But I'm just going of the sum of my experiences.  I talk to lots of Pentax user that fear neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, an have never had a problem.  And I seem to talk with lots other brand users that seem much more timid with the elements.  I've talked to plenty of 1D, 5D, D3 and so on user that are scared of the rain.  Doesn't mean those cameras can't take it, I'm sure they can.  Maybe Pentax users are the only ones stupid enough to subject their gear to scenarios where if you're wrong, you've wasted $1000.  All I know is that Pentax brags about and promotes their weather sealing heavily, and all the users seem to trust them and use it, with no problems.  Canon and Nikon don't seem to push weather capabilities of their bodies much at all (maybe because they have better things to brag about.  There, I said it before anyone else could...) and their users don't seem to trust it very much either.  At least that's my experience in the matter.  

I'm sure all high end bodies can put up with just about anything.  But I really think that on the lower end and middle of the spectrum, Pentax has the market on weather protection.  Fur under $1200 you can have a body and lens that are both completely sealed.  You just can't get that from Canon or Nikon.  For Prosumer bodies, Pentax are consistently, lighter, smaller, of equal build quality, equally spec'd, and equally or more weatherproof.  They seem to be intentionally targeting themselves at the outdoor enthusiast/hiker/backpacker/adventure shooter kind of crowd, and I think they have it nailed.


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## PhotoXopher (Nov 16, 2009)

So what is it about Pentax that doesn't really draw people to it (or so it seems)?

You always read about Nikon vs Canon, but rarely is Pentax in the loop.


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## itznfb (Nov 16, 2009)

Back to the OP though... various companies make products like these if you're really worried about it:
Video bags camera bags Kata - Manufacturer of camera bags


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 16, 2009)

Things I've observed...

The big two have epic amounts of advertising money.  

It sure seems like quite a few magazines review more favorably with the people that send them more advertising dollars.  

Just about every camera have a love affair with Canikon and won't even attempt to sell Pentax, or any other smaller brands for that matter, then will pull it off the shelves because it doesn't sell.  

It seems with bloggers and reviewers that some like nikon, some like canon, they all like leica, and no one likes pentax. 

When the digital thing started to happen, Pentax was slow to get on board, lots a lot of market share, and has suffered ever since.  

Pentax was slow to get into the P&S dept as well, which is ultimately where the majority of users come from, who tend to stick with the brand they had.

And so on...

Mostly it seems like a lot of people just already have their mind made up, and nothing pentax does will win people over.  For a while they were offering very well spec'd bodies or really low prices, and no one would buy them because people equate cost with quality, or because regardless of features, people actually like having expensive cameras.  Now they've been raising their prices closer to what market value is, and now people say, well it has all the same features as a d300 and it's the same price asa d300, so I'll just get a d300.  It almost seems like they're going to have to pull a lecia and just charge out the ass for everything.  Then people will say, wow it's so expensive, this camera must be amazing.


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## itznfb (Nov 16, 2009)

peekay said:


> are these plastic camera armor sets really effective against heavy rain? anyone tried them out?



The armor sets are not intended for protection against weather at all. I would think it will actually trap water between the armor and body.

However my dad's D80 tumbled down a cliff in Hawaii last year and suffered no damage while using body armor.

Benson... it's not the bodies that keep people away from Pentax...


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## inTempus (Nov 16, 2009)

GeneralBenson said:


> And I seem to talk with lots other brand users that seem much more timid with the elements.  I've talked to plenty of 1D, 5D, D3 and so on user that are scared of the rain.  Doesn't mean those cameras can't take it, I'm sure they can.


With the exception of the 5D, you're right - they can take it.  The 1D and D3 are two of the best built bodies on the market.  If people are scared to get them wet, it's out of ignorance and nothing more.

There's perception then there is reality.  I honesly don't care about what people perceive to be true.







I'll stick my 1D under running water to get sand off.  

As for the D90, unless you're caught in a down pour you have little to worry about.  I know lots of people that take their 40D's, D90's, etc. out into the elements without any side effects.  

If I had a D90 on the way, I wouldn't send it back for a Pentax.


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 16, 2009)

itznfb said:


> Benson... it's not the bodies that keep people away from Pentax...



What does, then?


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## itznfb (Nov 16, 2009)

GeneralBenson said:


> itznfb said:
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There really is no point in going down this path. :thumbdown:


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## itznfb (Nov 16, 2009)

peekay said:


> i need a solution to take pictures under heavy rain



I already posted a solution.... does this not work?

Post #15
Video bags camera bags Kata - Manufacturer of camera bags

Or you could just make one out of a garbage bag.


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## Derrel (Nov 16, 2009)

It's nice to see a picture of a camera coated with raindrops. I live in one of the rainiest areas of the USA. I personally think all this talk about weather sealing is a bit overblown at most levels. Tom, the amount of water your D90 would accumulate in a walk through the woods would be pretty minimal.

For extended, heavy rainfall, like say a three and a half hour football game in the rain, professionals typically use the AquaTech brand of camera rain gear. A sudden rain shower that lasts five minutes is one thing; 180 to 200 minutes outdoors covering a sports event brings out the camera raingear. All the TV news cameramen I've been around use camera raingear even if it's sprinkling and "looks like it might" rain, but then, they have an $80,000 ENG camera to protect. I have the AquaTech raingear that holds a pro body with grip and a 300/2.8 with lens hood, or other similar sized lens. It works pretty well. I bought the blue colored model

If you have $5,000 invested in a lens and $4500 in a body, it's just not smart to let it get wet when there is good camera raingear available like Aqua Tech. I definitely would not worry too much about condensation that accumulates while hiking. Check out what real professionals say about rain gear here  SportsShooter.com - Camera Rain Gear


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## TJ K (Nov 16, 2009)

peekay said:


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Well then if thats impractical go ahead and be my guest to buy a D3 and 1d mk3 and don't worry about it. If you don't want to or can't go out to spend 5k on a camera then you can get that cover or just go out with what you have and risk it but there isn't going to be this solution that is invisible that protects your camera and is only 20 dollars. 
tj


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 16, 2009)

TJ K said:


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Or buy a K20d for $650 and get it as wet as you want...?


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 16, 2009)

itznfb said:


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I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, or why you would make a statement obviously meant to infer something, then not say what you meant when asked.  But whatever.


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## TJ K (Nov 16, 2009)

GeneralBenson said:


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Because he is saying how pentax isn't his top choice when it comes to looking at a new camera and most likely doesn't want to go on a rant about all this and tell you why not pentax. I agree with him for stopping where he did. You have many more and better lens choices with the other companies and they also make plenty good weather sealed cameras. I've seen lots of pro's shooting in rain and snow but yet to see there hands wrapped around a pentax not saying though that people should only shoot what the pro's do because you will go broke very quickly.


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 16, 2009)

TJ K said:


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Fair enough.


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## Bitter Jeweler (Nov 16, 2009)

peekay said:


> hey,
> i got a rebel xsi, anyone knows anything about this one being waterproof or not? i can't seem to find anything on the subject...


 
I don't think it has any water proofing, but I used mine all day in moderate drizzle, kept it wiped off, and haven't had any problems since.


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## icassell (Nov 16, 2009)

Two things ...

One ... camera armor, IMHO, is a waste of $$.  I got rid of mine.  All it seemed to do was act as a dust magnet.

Two ... even if your camera is weatherproof, that doesn't mean your lenses are too.  This is the issue I have now with my 7D -- the camera is, but none of my lenses are.


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## tom beard (Nov 16, 2009)

Thank you all for all the information.  I think I may e-mail Nikon and see what they have to say.  By the way;  I had an experience several years ago video taping (VHS) in San Francisco's Conservatory (of flowers).  The morning was cold (40f) and inside the conservatory it was about 85f and 80 to 90% humidity.  The camera was cold going in and after about 15 minutes it stopped and a water drop icon appeared in the view finder.  It took about two hours in a warm room to dehumidify it.  After that I put the camera in the car floor by the heater to warm it up before going in and it worked just fine.

If I get an answer from Nikon, I'll post it.  Thanks again,  Tom Beard


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## TJ K (Nov 16, 2009)

tom beard said:


> Thank you all for all the information.  I think I may e-mail Nikon and see what they have to say.  By the way;  I had an experience several years ago video taping (VHS) in San Francisco's Conservatory (of flowers).  The morning was cold (40f) and inside the conservatory it was about 85f and 80 to 90% humidity.  The camera was cold going in and after about 15 minutes it stopped and a water drop icon appeared in the view finder.  It took about two hours in a warm room to dehumidify it.  After that I put the camera in the car floor by the heater to warm it up before going in and it worked just fine.
> 
> If I get an answer from Nikon, I'll post it.  Thanks again,  Tom Beard



Even a weather proof camera does not want condensation. Never go from hot to cold ever! Water will build inside the camera in all the important electrical stuff. If going from cold to hot make sure to put the camera in a zip lock bag or even your camera bag and leave it to adjust for a hour or more to be safe and then open it from there and all will be good. gl
tj


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## DScience (Nov 16, 2009)

itznfb said:


> The D90 has no water sealing. That's kind of my point. While on vacation I do a lot of wildlife shooting and I have terrible luck with weather always finding myself in the rain. Hence the D300s now instead of the D90. *Though I never had an issue with the D90 I figured it was only a matter of time. *You would need water to hit just the right spot though. *I always just kept a towel in a bag and wiped off the camera whenever it started to get soaked.* I still do this with my D300s though. EDIT:  I should add that a friend with a 50D has been with me most of the time in the same rain and he never had an issue either. I don't believe the 50D is weather sealed.





That is so F*@%ed up! OMG!

You just had your D90 up on the for sale section for 800 with the battery grip. Wow, I know now NEVER to trust a word you say...geez, I feel bad for the person who purchased your D90.


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## itznfb (Nov 17, 2009)

DScience said:


> itznfb said:
> 
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> > The D90 has no water sealing. That's kind of my point. While on vacation I do a lot of wildlife shooting and I have terrible luck with weather always finding myself in the rain. Hence the D300s now instead of the D90. *Though I never had an issue with the D90 I figured it was only a matter of time. *You would need water to hit just the right spot though. *I always just kept a towel in a bag and wiped off the camera whenever it started to get soaked.* I still do this with my D300s though. EDIT:  I should add that a friend with a 50D has been with me most of the time in the same rain and he never had an issue either. I don't believe the 50D is weather sealed.
> ...



:er:
What makes you think the 2 D90's I've sold in the past 3 months ever saw any rain?

My primary D90 has over 200,000 clicks. Why would I sell that to someone?

Oh... and thanks for trying to attack my character while not having any clue what you're talking about.


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## inTempus (Nov 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> :er:
> What makes you think the 2 D90's I've sold in the past 3 months ever saw any rain?
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> My primary D90 has over 200,000 clicks. Why would I sell that to someone?
> ...


That's how things go around here at times...


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## DScience (Nov 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


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lol so you're saying you have (had) 3 D90's? LOL


I don't believe you.


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## PhotoXopher (Nov 17, 2009)

I actually thought he had 4 at one time...


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## itznfb (Nov 17, 2009)

DScience said:


> lol so you're saying you have (had) 3 D90's? LOL
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> I don't believe you.



1 primary, 1 backup and 1 for my girlfriend... how is that so hard to belive?
I sold my backup and got a D300s and sold my girlfriend's and got a D5000 because it was smaller/lighter for her. SHOCKING!

Oh... and I have a D50, a D80, and a Gold D60 that is in a box in the basement somewhere... OMG LIES!



N0YZE said:


> I actually thought he had 4 at one time...



Including the one I purchased for my dad I did...


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## TJ K (Nov 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> DScience said:
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shhhh people can't handle the truth


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> :er:
> What makes you think the 2 D90's I've sold in the past 3 months ever saw any rain?
> 
> My primary D90 has over 200,000 clicks. Why would I sell that to someone?
> ...



And also you're mean to babies, and you kick unicorns, and you club baby seals with other baby seals, and it's you fault that people around the world don't have food and medicine, and that Pentax doesn't sell more units.  

:lmao::lmao:  JK...


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## itznfb (Nov 17, 2009)

GeneralBenson said:


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The only true part of that is the kicking unicorns...


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


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Well look at them.  They're just asking for it.  Walking around like that, looking that way, thinking they better than us just because they don't even exist and still get more babes.  I kick them too.  Right in the jugular.


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## PhotoXopher (Nov 17, 2009)

This has to be a new distance record for a thread going off-topic.


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## inTempus (Nov 17, 2009)

DScience said:


> lol so you're saying you have (had) 3 D90's? LOL
> 
> I don't believe you.


Seriously man, is it really necessary to call another user a liar?


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## GeneralBenson (Nov 17, 2009)

N0YZE said:


> This has to be a new distance record for a thread going off-topic.



I don't know, man.  I think kicking Unicorns has everything do with how waterproof a D90 is.  One time my Pentax was at the bottom of the Marianna Trench for a week.  So I found this Unicorn, and kicked it, and said, 'you can swim down there, go get my camera'.  So it did.  But one drop of water had gotten in, so I kicked it again, and said, 'Use you magic and fix my camera'.  And it did.  Problem solved, thanks to a Unicorn.


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## TJ K (Nov 17, 2009)

GeneralBenson said:


> N0YZE said:
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The unicorns around here are lazy you're lucky he even went in there for ya


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## PhotoXopher (Nov 17, 2009)




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## GeneralBenson (Nov 17, 2009)

TJ K said:


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It took a few kicks...


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## TJ K (Nov 17, 2009)

Noyze the pic isn't working for me.


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## PhotoXopher (Nov 17, 2009)

Just says 'Pics or Ban' (emoticon I swiped on a Google search)


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