Moral quandary. Need your help

[craracer]

I hope that this is an acceptable place to put this question. My apologies if it is not.

Recently I was on a dive trip out of the country. I did not have my dive camera with me so the owner of the dive outfitter borrowed me their personal camera.

The first dive went well and I was taking pictures like a crazy, happy monkey (96Ft). After the dive I realized that the owner of the camera still had their SD card in it. I didn't want to make extra work for the person (burning my photos to CD or emailing them to me), so I brought the camera to them and suggested that they swap out their SD card with one of my own.

The owner of the camera opened the housing and swapped my card for theirs.

The next day I went on a dive and brought the camera. At about 30ft I went to turn on the camera and yes, you guessed it, it was flooded.

I offered to purchase a replacement digital camera but the owner of the camera stated that they don't make the particular model anymore. Without a doubt, I could find either a used or refurbished like camera (Canon SD XXX 8.0MP).

The owner of the camera wanted to upgrade to a SLR with housing so, they ordered one.

My quandary is this: I feel horrible about the camera flooding. The owner of the camera told me "Don't worry about it. It happens. It would have happened to me if I had had the camera".

Should I pitch in for the new camera? If so, how much and how do I decide how much? Should I do something else for the owner?

Help! I don't know what would be the right and just thing to do??
It just doesn't feel right to simply chalk it up to "one of those things that happens."

 

[almitywife]

i think most lds reckon their camera gear is going to flood sooner rather than later and as they have refused your original offer to help pay for a replacement - i would be buying them a bottle of their fav as a thankyou instead

and...

as they have behaved so reasonably about this i would mention their name for being such a nice dive op and maybe an extra customer or 2 will come their way

cheers

 

[craracer]

I've sent many a person to their establishment! Unfortunately for me, as of last Friday, the person sold their dive shop. They will be moving out of the country within the next several months.

Thanks for your thoughts. I really appreciate it.

 

[Web Monkey]

i think most lds reckon their camera gear is going to flood sooner rather than later and as they have refused your original offer to help pay for a replacement - i would be buying them a bottle of their fav as a thankyou instead

I'd go for that too.

And if it's something like Scotch, you might want to see if there's something a little nicer that you could get as a gesture. For example, if the guy drinks 12-year old, maybe you can send him a nice bottle of 25 year-old and a little note.

It sounds extravagant, but even a really nice bottle is still less than a couple of boat dives, and you never know what effect a little extra unexpected "nice" will have or who or how many people it will touch.


Terry

 

[craracer]

Thanks for your suggestion as well.

I really feel horrible about it. In motorcycle racing we have a unwritten rule that if you borrow a bike and toss it down the track, you fix it to a condition that is better than when you borrowed it and you do it as fast as possible.

I guess that I'm just at a loss when someone doesn't want you to repair/replace something that got damaged while in my possession.

 

[Peter Guy]

I feel your pain. A while ago I offered to help out with a class by being the videographer. The instructor had just purchased a new camera and housing and at my suggestion, I took the housing on a dive -- no leaks. I gave the housing back to the instructor who then opened it and put in the camera. He was going to take it into the water but then decided to give it to me.

Of course after 10 minutes I noticed it was flooded.

The only saving grace for me was that I had not opened or closed the camera. The owner/instructor had done it.

He was very upset but at himself -- but I still felt somehow responsible.

The suggestion to give him an "appropriate beverage" sounds good to me.

 

[craracer]

I've seen several cameras flood during my short time in diving. I had a disposable flood during the trip prior to this one.

I guess the lesson is that it's not a matter of 'if' your camera will flood.....its 'when' will it flood.

Looks like I need to investigate her beverage of choice.

Thanks everyone.

 

[justleesa]

what a bummer

It is part of the risk of owning and OW camera. I'm sure he is insured so the loss is covered. As the others suggest a gesture would be nice.

Did your chip survive?

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Moved to UW photography forum

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[craracer]

It was a brand new 2 gig card that didn't have any photos on it.

I hear that the card might have been good even though it took a salt water dunk. I was told to rinse it off and let it dry out. Unfortunately I hadn't heard about this before I tossed the card into the trash.

 

[justleesa]

....bummer....how expensive are those now a days?