Weather Sealing is a Gimmick.

TrapperJohn wrote:

More than one person has lost a camera when they were shooting in humid conditions, put the camera in the bag, the humid air inside condensed, and the next time the camera was powered up - no function.

It is not a gimmick. It is an extra safety margin, that you probably won't lose the camera if the weather isn't perfect. It has saved me twice already, so I like it.

Can you please point me to ANY specific case where a person “lost a camera when they were shooting in humid conditions” and where a weather sealed camera would have been covered in that situation? I don’t doubt that the weather sealing can prevent a malfunction. I just doubt there is anyone who has had it fail in this manner when it wasn’t weather sealed.

I have tried to make my E-PM2 that I use for Astrophotography fail in the worst of humidity and have never been successful. I even got it dripping wet with dew once and then immediately brought it into the air conditioned house without a lens or body cap on it. The sensor instantly dewed up completely but still works great to this day.

I know that the situation I described above sounds stupid to try. I agree anyone else would be stupid to try it. I even thought it would ruin the camera. However, what I was trying to see was could the camera handle astrophotography duties despite not having the weather resistant label. The answer was an astounding YES!

I did that test because I hadn’t done the Ha filter modification to it yet. That modification cost about twice as much as the camera cost at that time. I didn’t want to triple the cost of the camera and then find out that it couldn’t handle the environment I needed to use it in. Once I confirmed it could handle it I had the modification done without any worry and without paying for the “Weather Resistant” label.

I won’t be testing my new E-M5 MK II under those conditions though. Even with its “Weather Resistant” label I know better than to risk it with such a high dollar camera that isn't covered under warranty for that kind of abuse.