Feebacks on the Weather sealing on our Cameras

[Emmanuel Rondeau]

Hi Guys,


I'd like to use this thread to gather some Good or Bad experiences you had with your cameras concerning the weather sealing. I currently own a Canon 40D and I'm not really pleased by how it goes from the weather sealing perspective. I'm doing more and more trips in the wild (next step could be the Costa Rica's rain forest) and I'm concerned about ending up in the middle of nowhere with a broken camera...


BAD Experience (Camera 40D):
Last year at Yosemite I was shooting Vernal Fall. 10 minutes later the main dial stopped to work for an hour or so...


GOOD Experience (Camera 40D):
During the outdoor shooting that I'm doing, my Camera usually is covered with humidity but it still works without problem.


Thanks for your future inputs !


Emmanuel.

[Keith B]

I've been caught in the rain a couple times with my 40D and never had any issues. I covered it up when the real heavy stuff came down. When the rain let up, I continued to shoot without issue. Afterward I let it sit out in the open over night to make sure the moisture was able to evaporate.


I think my 5Dmk2 may be more sealed than the 40D but that is my money maker so that gets sealed up at the first sprinkle.


All I can suggest is invest in a 1D if you are taken your camera into such exotic places then you'll have no worries.

[Emmanuel Rondeau]

Hi Keith,


Good to hear your good experiences with your 40D. About the 5D II, I read bad things about weather sealing on the Luminous Landscapes website, but it was in Antartica, probably the worst possible conditions, so I think it's not really surprising that a camera without full weather sealing is failing in such environment.


About the 1D, I know that it seems to be the good investment, but I'm really hesitating to put that much money on a Body...

[Bob]

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt;"]1Ds3 works well when wet - mist from falls, dust, light rain. I have used the camera in bad weather for hours with no issues. Just keep the lens' glass clean.<o></o>


<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; color: black; font-size: 9pt;"]Brush off the camera in dusty conditions when changing lens.<o></o>

[Emmanuel Rondeau]

Thanks Bob for your feeback.

[samoksner]

1D bodies are only a good investment if you either make money from yor photography or if you buy them used. I would always go with last generation's 1D series rather then the latest 40D , 50D or 60D... A new 50D costs very close to the same amount as a used in good condition 1D MkII true, the Mp count is not as high, but it's sealed, redundant memory cards, faster fps, faster AF... so on.

[Emmanuel Rondeau]

I'm making some money from photograph but it is not my first source of income. I'm planning to increase my photography activity but this is not going to be done in a year.


The 1D II is an amazing tool but I'm concerned about 2 things :
- 8 MPX is fine but doesn't give much space for cropping. I'm not too much into cropping anyway but still, I sometime crop 25%, I'll end up with a 6MPX file..which is way to short for a lot of agency.
- I'm also doing some short films and I'm pretty excited about the video coming to DSLR so I'd like my next camera to have this feature.


Thanks for your comment, even if we're deviating from the subject, I really appreciate it.


-Emmanuel.

[Matthew]

Emmanuel:


I have taken my 20D to Costa Rica many times without any moisture problems. It has been subjected to salt spray while deep sea fishing, ocean surf, sand from the beaches, light rain, fog and mist. It was never dropped in the water or used in heavy rain. I carry it and my other gear in a Lowepro DryZone 200. Enjoy Costa Rica, it's beautiful. The flora, fauna and people are very photogenic.


Matthew

[Benjamin]

I had experice with my 1V-HS in rain. Walked through without a problem when obvious water drops are on the body and lens (L lens). It seems like that the 1 series bodies can really do what they promised to do. The 1D series should have improved weather sealing than the older 1V camera, at least I can only imagine the 1D to be better not worse. So if your objective is to shoot in wild and rain, probably the 1D series bodies are the way to go. I have a 50D but I never get it wet as I will have mightmares when I see something electronic getting wet...


Personally I try to cover my gear no matter if it's water prove or not, the weather sealing is more or less just for emergency use -- I get my gear wet only when it's absolutely unavoidable. Canon does not recommend to get any gear wet even their cameras and lenses seem to be fully functional with water flow on them, so just for your reference.

[Emmanuel Rondeau]

Thanks for your feedback Matthew, sure it helps. I'll go there with 2 XXD bodies anyway, can't imagine being stuck there with no cameras...


Interesting thought Benjamin.


Concerning the 1D body, I think as I long as I'm not making 3 or 4 times the price of a 1D body out of my photography a year, I won't go for it, I kinda don't "deserve" it.


So I'll wait for the 60D and prey to get the feature I'd like:
- Same sensor size (Mpx).
- 1600 ISO usable without a doubt.
- Better Weather sealing.
- Video 1080p/30fps + manual control over it.
- New Grip with GPS included.
- New AF.
- 8fps ?

Back to the topic's subject, would love to get more feedback from people using XXD cameras.


Thanks !