Weather Sealing is a Gimmick.

Weather sealing is simply a warranty. It simply says that if you are using a weather sealed camera with one of "their" weather sealed lenses then they will honor the warranty if it was being operated under a limited set of conditions.

Weather sealing doesn’t guarantee that it won’t break due to weather. It just simply guarantees that they will cover the repairs if it does break under certain conditions.

It is completely up to the manufacturer to determine whether it was being used properly or not. They can easily deny your warranty claim if they feel it was not being used in a “Properly Weather Sealed Configuration”.

Basically, weather sealing is an absolute gimmick. They determined how many people would actually send their cameras in for repair after weather damage. Then they calculated how much it would cost to fix those few cameras and jacked the price of the “Weather Sealed” cameras up by that amount plus a hefty profit.

I use my non weather sealed E-PM2 on my telescope during the winter. It is typically left out at sun down in very humid conditions. Then the temperature drops below freezing and all of the dew freezes on the camera and on the screen.

I come back out 8 hours later and it is still chugging away taking pictures even though it isn’t weather sealed. Even the “not weather sealed cameras” are more durable than you think. I abuse it like this at least once a month during the winter.

Also remember that the camera is only weather sealed with a weather sealed lens on it. All other lenses will not qualify for the weather sealed warranty if anything weather related happens while you are using them. They are going to want to see both the camera and the lens for the warranty repairs to find out what failed. They won't just take your word for it that you were using a weather sealed lens.

How many of you have ever sent a non-weather sealed camera in for weather related damage that would have been covered under warranty if it had been weather sealed? I am guessing that number is very, very small.

I am guessing that most of the cases involving weather related damage are probably of the “I dropped my camera in the lake” and not the “it was very humid or drizzling” kind. Dropping it in a lake will not be covered under warranty no matter what lens is on it and whether it is weather sealed or not.

You use your non weather sealed camera in situations which would void its warranty, situations in which a weather sealed camera is covered by warranty (rain, temperature extremes). You claim this negates the need for weather sealing by making it a gimmick.

How is that different to people using their weather sealed cameras in extreme situations which aren't fully covered by the warranty. So let's forget the warranty aspect of it for a moment (as you do when using your non weather sealed cameras in the rain etc). Using a weather sealed camera lets you use it in more extreme conditions with much lower risk of failure than using a non weather sealed camera in the same situations. That is what you pay extra for... not just the warranty.

Here's how I've used my EM1:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/54836779

Try that with a camera / lens which isn't sealed. The EM1 might fail if I do this a lot, it might not, but a non weather sealed camera definitely would fail. The EM1 gives me more flexibility and confidence in how I use it.

This is not a gimmick.

So now let's look at the warranty issue. I have had warranty repair refused on a Nikon 24-120 lens and a Nikon 1 30-110 lens. Both of which suffered water damage from hiking in the rain. The EM1 with 12-40 lens would not have failed in those situations and, if it had, would have been classed as defective and repaired under warranty.

That is not a gimmick.