My old K-200D used to spend hours on the snow shoe trail with me at -25-30 C. When I got home I'd take out the memory card, wrap the camera in my coat and take it inside leaving it in my coat for an hour or so. It also took a couple of quick baths in the river when I fell through the ice on a couple occasions. Mind you, the camera was in the water less time than me, but was none the worse for it's sudden baths. The camera did a lot of mushroom photography and spent lots of time base deep in swamp ooze, wet vegetation, tree pitch and whatever else was on the forest floor. While other people covered their cameras up in the rain, I never did. I thought that was silly. I did replace that camera after ten years and since it still worked flawlessly, planned on using it as a second camera, but my wife's almost new Canon decided it would rather be a brick than a camera so she now uses the old Pentax. If you check the internal temperature of the camera in the EXIF data, even after hours in the frigid temps, the interior does not get as cold as you would think. To me, weather sealing is a big deal as we spend many hours beach walking on the Bay of Fundy in all sorts of conditions in the presence of sand and salt spray. And I like to shoot in the rain, because life is too short to sit on the couch and watch someone else's life go by. Get out and enjoy it rain or shine.
Stephen MacIntosh I used a K10D, a K20D and a K7 under extreme cold conditions with no problems. Even an old *istDL handled the cold well but I wouldn’t want to get is wet. My K20D once took a sticky drink spill, I had to rinse it off to unstick the button on the back. They are tough as well as well sealed, the K10D took a drop out of a pickup truck to a paved driveway, at least a meter or more, no ill effects. You have to pay big bucks to get that level in Canon or Nikon. Thanks for the comment.
You describe that you take your camera out of the bag after an hour to look at the pictures, I leave it closed until the next day, but I take my memory cards and battery out of my camera while I'm outside, so I can see my pictures immediately when I'm in and when my batteries have reached the living room temp (about 30 minutes), I charge them so they are ready ...
THANK YOU !. I have not heard this mentioned since the film era. I always let my camera and lenses get climatized for at least 1 HR depending on the conditions outside. If you want to look at the images right away, take the card out while still in the cold. My old trick is to use the plastic bags that newspapers are delivered in. They are big enough for my 400mm f 5.6 Don't under estimate the Pentax kit lenses. I have found that the 18-55mm and 50-200mm to be outstanding lenses when it comes to sharpness and color. For the price they can't be beat. I'm retired and shoot for fun, and buy all of my gear used. Lots and lots of gear. I can't resist a good deal. I shhot Pentax and Nikon DSLR's and so far the dynamic duo from Pentax is my favorite. My super zooms sit in a box (except for the Pentax 18-250mm) while the duo is in my bag(s) ready to go.
Yeah WR is something sometimes needed. Never thought I need it but yesterday I went out shooting with my Fuji X70 and unusually for this region we have a very cold weather here (I think it was -5 or -6°C). After half an hour the camera worked fine though a message popped up that it there was a write failure to card and the card could not even be read anymore. So I stopped shooting went to a warmer place took the card out and used my breath to make the card warmer. After putting it in the camera it worked again. So I guess technically the card failed. I wonder if weather protection could have prevented that problem (with the rubber keeping it warmer in the card slot)
I'm going to buy Sony a6100 But Sony a 6400 is weather sealed That's the only difference I'm worrying about There's a $300 difference between these two cameras Should I buy Sony a6400 ?
Greetings from India, Sir, thanx for sharing the valuable information... I recently broke my Sony a7iii due to moisture. I wish I would have come across this video a couple of months ago.
I think that one thing needs to be added. Although WR has its limitations, usually a WR body or lens is somewhat better built. Than its non-WR counterparts. I know this is true of the Pentax kit lenses and the Olympus lenses as well.
My Pentax Cameras e.g. K3, K5, K70, K50 & K30 will outperform any and all of the Nikon consumer dslr's that is the D70, D80, D90, D100, D200, D300s, D3100 & D5000; I have owned! I gave all my Nixon's away to friends and only use Pentax Cameras.
You nailed it, this is marketing and barely works. Having electronics components in body and lens increases risk for moisture development, especially in body due to the heat proceeded by the sensor. WR lenses is a joke because they only have a seal at the back, some in the front element, but rarely and anyway never where the barrels overlaps and extends during focus and this is exactly where it's needed the most. My 40 years old film camera still works, I am not sure the one I have now will still work in 15 years due to internal corrosion. And this has nothing to do with WR or not, but difference in temperature while using it during cold weather, especially during long videos where the heat can go crazy. Than you for the video. BTW the audio level was very low...
Thanks for the comment on the audio. I unfortunately shot this with the noisy computer on so I had to cut back the audio to get rid of the background noise. Another lesson learned.
Ira Crummey A few more suggestions if needed: Macro? Special lens or extenso tubes? Portable LED panel for light assist for portraiture outside (with bright background)? Why we need High speed sync for flash using wide aperture? Thank you
Jerome Badinter , allow me to disagree. I have an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark 1, with the 12-50mm weather sealed kit kens. I bought this system about 3 years ago and the weather seal was a big selling point to me as I had plans to go to Iguazu Falls at the border of Brazil and Argentina. About 1 year ago I finally went to Iguazu Falls and I fully trusted the camera weather sealing. I shoot hundreds of pictures close to the falls with this system for several hours, under completely soaking wet conditions, with absolutely no extra weather protection. The weather sealing worked marvellously. This was and still is my main camera and I took thousands of pictures with it before, during and after that trip and the camera and the lens are still working perfectly. So is weather sealing a must? As Ira mentioned, probably not, as you can go around it with some extra care in most conditions. Can you trust weather sealing? Well, as far as Olympus gear is concerned, my answer is a big yes. And I believe that might be the same with Panasonic weathersealed cameras. My experience tells that you definitely don't need to "baby" MFT weathersealed cameras when in harsh conditions.
Fabio Alves Rodrigues Yes, disagreement is fine! Your lens has a seal at the back as almost all WR lenses, while there is no seal on the front element nor on the zoom ring nor on the focus ring. If the lens was soaking were as you said, then you were very lucky. I still believe moisture and dust protection is needed on the front lens, however on a non WR lens, I simply put a wide rubber band around the lens where it meets with the body and this is probably the best and the cheapest WR system ever. Suggestion from Ira to keep the gear in the bag to acclimate it with the new environment is a very good one.
Jerome Badinter I don't think that is the case with modern lenses anymore. I know some older Pentax's, Canon and Nikon lenses, for example, need the filter in the front element to weather seal it. But there's no mention on the need of any filter in any of Olympus or Panasonic Lumix weather sealed lens to make it weather resistant. Have a look at their website and you'll see that the rubber seal is not only at the back element, but in all critical parts of the lens ( www.olympus.com.au/Products/Interchangeable-Lens-Cameras/M-Zuiko-Digital/M-ZUIKO/12-50mm-F3-5-6-3-EZ/Features ). I even think that newer WR lenses from Canon, Pentax and Nikon won't need the filter to enable WR anymore. But is always good to double check. and yes, the conditions where I shoot for two days were extremely wet.
I would like to see more on the K10d . I got mine new in 2006 . Is there anyway you can go out and take some photos with it and talk about all it's feathers . I would like to share the video with beginners that don't want to spend a lot of money on their first camera but have shake reduction , weather sealed, A TAv mode ,can be fully manual with fully manual lens or fully auto with fully auto lens . For beginners a think the limitations of the iso to around 400 is a good thing because it forces then to make adjustments to get the correct exposure . Could you go out and do some examples of how each mode is used .
steve dental Ironically the K10D has found a new home, with a beginner. As you state here, it is an excellent start for a budding photographer since it has all of the necessities with none of the gimmicks. Thanks for your comment. Many of the same features are on my K3 so perhaps a future video on Pentax is in order.
I'm going to buy Sony a6100 But Sony a 6400 is weather sealed That's the only difference I'm worrying about There's a $300 difference between these two cameras Should I buy Sony a6400 ?
It all depends on what type of photography you plan to do, and if you have weather sealed lenses. If you do not have weather resistant lenses (most aren’t) then a weather resistant body has no benefit. I like the security of weather resistance however throughout all of my film days and most of my digital photography time my cameras have not been weather resistant. For my Sony I have only one WR lens, and for my Olympus, I have two, so I still have to be cautious whenever I am shooting in less than ideal environments. So, if you have the budget for weather sealed lenses the a6400 may be a bonus but if your lenses aren’t WR than save your money, get the a6100 and buy a simple camera sleeve for when you want to take it out in the rain. See the example below. I have resorted to a plastic bag with just the front lens element open, it works in a pinch.
Great advice. Do you keep the camera bag "closed and exposed" to cold before placing cold camera inside, or carry a large zip lock bag in a pocket or expose either to ambient temps?
I usually go with the "closed and exposed" camera bag. Occasionally I will just use a zip lock bag if I am out with just a smaller camera, like an E-M1 with a small prime, I'll go with the ziplock.
Thank you for the video! I will take all your advices into account. In addition, I would like to ask some questions. I live in a very humidity country with a lot of fog and light rain. My camera is Fuji xt30 with no WR in the body. However, the lens I own has WR. The questions. Can I use it on the beach and taking pictures for a long time? What about a foggy conditions outside? If you understand everything correctly, if I take outside Street photography pictures in a cold or chilly weather and I go into a cafe, it is not advisable use the camera inside straight away? Thank you about your time and help in advance!
Yes, it is best to take care going from one environment to another. I find it especially bad going from an air conditioned indoors to a hot humid outdoors. As for the beach, just protect it from the sand and sea spray, and keep it out of direct sunlight for very long.
Thank for a great video. I'm in the market for purchasing a sony mirrorless camera.... do you know if the a6500 weather sealed (splash and dust resistant)?
I got the impression in the past that using a Canon 5D Mark 3 in bad weather was something of a lottery. Some people's cameras fared just fine, but others found themselves with a repair bill on their hands. Few companies display the same bravado as Olympus seems to do, with regard to the EM-1 Mark II's weather resistance.
Leslie Dellow Canon doesn't always tell which lenses are weather sealed which may add to the 5D lottery, is it safe or not to stay out in the rain. Olympus makes it very clear which lenses are safe to use in foul weather on the EM1 and the EM5.
It's not exactly difficult to tell. If it has a gasket on the lens mount, it is reasonable to surmise that there will also be gaskets in places where you can't see them.
Now I hate you ;-) This video just ruined my current attempts at justifying the purchase of that G80 (G85/G81) body and WR lens. I'll need to think of some other compelling reason to upgrade now... or look again at your episode about GAS :-)
I live in Colorado less than 10 miles from the Front Range. Low humidity here even in the summer and in the winter, most of us have forced air furnaces and it's dry as a bone in here. No problem with cold to heat here?
If the camera is not weather sealed it doesn't need a weather sealed lens. A weather sealed lens will probably be a little better built than an equivalent consumer lens but if the price is significantly more I'd just stick with the "plastic" lens.
I like peace of mind while using WR lenses, however 99% of my lenses are non-WR old manual lenses... So I can take pictures in bad weather (one lens), but usually I am shooting in reasonable weather anyway :-)
Gerald Prix I find that the WR Pentax lenses are sealed enough to handle most rain showers so I haven't ever really worried about my gear. I just avoid long periods of extreme moisture.
