Need weatherproof DSLR system advice.

Hello all,

I live in Nova Scotia on salt water, play on the water (Sailing) and travel a bit. I have gone through a number of cameras from 35mm SLRs to digital point and shoots and would like to get the better image quality of the new DSLR cameras.

In my look at current systems I see Oly with a nice selection of splashproof lenses, but no new offerings of sealed camera bodies. From Pentax I see the sealed K10D but have little or no information on weatherproof or splashproof lenses to match. So my questions are three fold.

1. Is there a set of lenses now available for the K10D which might keep a few splashes from ruining them. I realize that salt water is death for any electronics or fine mechanical systems.

2. Should I be looking at a different system ?

3. In the DP review of the K10D it was shown that the in camera image processing could be sighificantly improved by using RAW and processing on the PC. Has there been any improvement in IQ with firmware updates since the review.

I look forward to your advice.

the new DA* leneses will be weathersealed and with in lens "SDM" supersonic drive AF motors. the first to roll out in a few weeks time are the DA* 16-50 f2.8 and 50-135 f2.8.

i am eagerly waiting te release of these lenses as well and the DA* 60-250 f4, DA* 200 f2.8 and DA*300 f4.
--
life is too short, surf waves, own a convertible, and marry for love!

Bluenose2 said:

1. Is there a set of lenses now available for the K10D which might
keep a few splashes from ruining them. I realize that salt water is
death for any electronics or fine mechanical systems.

Click to expand...

The DA lenses are without aperture ring, and are fairly strong against the weather. This has been stated by Pentax, and has also been put to the test by board members with good result.

In regard to saltwater spray, I would probably buy filters for the lenses.

Bluenose2 said:

2. Should I be looking at a different system ?

3. In the DP review of the K10D it was shown that the in camera
image processing could be sighificantly improved by using RAW and
processing on the PC. Has there been any improvement in IQ with
firmware updates since the review.

Click to expand...

If you're talking about the Jpeg discussion, then the K10 can be switched to bright more, for a more sharpened and clear-cut look.

Bluenose2 said:

I look forward to your advice.

Click to expand...

we look forward to your images
(-:

--
Kind regards
Sune

• A talented photographer doesn’t miss the shots, he improves his technique

The K10D + the new DA* lenses are a great 'weather-proof' setup, but I sure wouldn't want to get a big splash of saltwater on them.
--



Kristian Farren
http://kf3.net

Bluenose2 said:

Hello all,

1. Is there a set of lenses now available for the K10D which might
keep a few splashes from ruining them. I realize that salt water is
death for any electronics or fine mechanical systems.

Click to expand...

As stated the zooms just being released are weather sealed. And as a practical matter prime lenses just don't have much in the way of openings and cracks for water to get in; I have used the 35/2 and M50/1.7 lenses in pouring rain with no worries.

But you bring up a serious point: saltwater. As far as I am aware, no camera system meant for above-water use is made to deal with a significant amount of saltwater. It's not just corrosion; the salt will act as an abrasive on whatever surface that get wet and then dries. If you expect any significant amount of sea spray I would strongly recommend getting a weather bag - one of those clear vinyl bags with a sealed opening for the front end of the lens, and that's no matter what camera you end up getting.

Bluenose2 said:

2. Should I be looking at a different system ?

Click to expand...

Nah. Though you can hardly go very wrong today; all current manufacturers are good enough.

Bluenose2 said:

3. In the DP review of the K10D it was shown that the in camera
image processing could be sighificantly improved by using RAW and
processing on the PC. Has there been any improvement in IQ with
firmware updates since the review.

Click to expand...

There has been some issue about the out-of-camera sharpness. But, it's really two separate issues:

First, any camera with RAW output will see a significant improvement if you use RAW and postprocess individually. That's the reason we have RAW as an option in higher-end cameras in the first place.

Second, the Jpeg images from the K10 are somewhat soft compared to some other cameras. But that makes them - and Pentax stated this was the reason - very amenable to postprocessing without introducing a lot of artifacts. You can crank up those parameters and get something good enough if you want. I'd recommend getting into the habit of doing fine-tuning on your PC anyway, though, as the results really improve a lot.

--
Japan: http://www.lucs.lu.se/people/jan.moren/log/current.html
Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/