Weather Sealing is a Gimmick.

Paco 316 wrote:

Eric Nepean wrote:

Service Advisory:Product damage caused by sand or liquid contamination will void the original warranty and any extended warranties if applicable. In most cases Olympus service will not be able to repair the camera. In these situations, the camera would be deemed beyond reliable repair and returned without servicing.

In other words - if the weather seals fail, and dust or water is found in the camera, its not Olympus's problem - buy a new camera.

Weather proof warranty - bah, humbug

Integrity - bah, humbug

Lost in translation? It doesn't say dust and it doesn't say water.

Dust and sand are NOT the same. Sand is like salt, corrosive. Dust comes from dirt and pollen in the air. Two very different things.

It is advertised as Splash proof, like it got rain on or you dropped in the pool but pulled it out immediately or it got splashed on when you went canoeing.

Doesn't mean you can abuse it, sink it, soak it, drop it in the sea and you are covered. Liquid contamination is you broke the barriers of the gaskets on purpose not by chance.

Liquid contamination is they found liquid, or evidence of the same, inside the camera. According to their document, we don't have any warranty in that case, it doesn't matter if you just splashed it or if you submerged it. In the case of a poorly installed or deteriorated weather seal, we will be out of luck.

If you got a model with good seals, you're golden. Otherwise you aren't covered.

This is my third Olympus camera over the last 20 years, sold the last one because of a manufacturing defect in the lens. The E-M1 is a nice camera, but my respect and confidence in this company has dropped through the floor.

Weather resistant is just that. Seals protect the camera from water, snow, cold, hot, humid, dry weather, simple enough?

My other cameras (without weather seals) have survived all that with careful handling, the E-M1 will require the same careful handling.

Olympus Weather proofing is just a gimmick.

It is also advertized as shock proof, and I have personally experienced a drop, TWICE actually (stupid butterfingers) on my E-M5 and it works like it should.

So to me there is no false advertisement and there is no gimmick. I know my E-M5 didn't cost me $1,000 for the weather sealing, it cost me that amount because of the technological advances and features of the camera, the weather sealing was just a plus really

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