DPReview.com is closing April 10th - Find out more

Rain and the E-M1

Started Jul 30, 2015 | Questions thread
Jan Krux Contributing Member • Posts: 576
Re: Rain and the E-M1

Hi, new poster to this forum, but long time reader.

As some background, I have an E-M1 that is a little over a year old, so it is out of warranty. This last week, I was out in a light rain shooting with my E-M1. I thought, "No sweat, this what this camera was designed to do". And, indeed, it performed very well. However when I got home, it would not turn on with the on/off switch! I changed to a fresh battery, same thing. I started just randomly pressing buttons, and after pressing the AF/metering button, it turned on! The picture review button did nothing, but pressing the "OK" button in the middle of the 4-way pad would initiate picture review! The OK button would not perform its designed "OK" function, but only call up the last picture taken.

I suspected some water condensation inside the body, so I removed the battery, warmed the body up with my wife's hair dryer, no change. I then set it aside for a few hours. When I checked a few hours later, all was well and worked perfectly.

This was rather disconcerting, since I thought I had ruined the electronics with moisture. But, it is still working fine. My question is, is this normal? Has anybody else see this behavior? How probable is it that one my seals might be leaking water inside to the camera? I am now nervous about taking my camera out into a rain again, after this unsettling experience. To make it worse, I was in Zion NP, with Bryce NP on deck, and I thought my whole vacation was ruined by not having my trusty sidekick!! Thankfully, it was all good.

Thanks for any and all comments.

I have my E-M1 since Feb last year, worked a couple of times in rain so Camera and lens got pretty wet. No problems at all, which I expect from a waterproof Oly camera. Also there is a youtube review about this theme. The E-M1 is supposed to work flawless in and after rain.
My suggesteion as well is to bring it to an licensed Oly-Service.
all the best
Jan

 Jan Krux's gear list:Jan Krux's gear list
Olympus 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS Olympus E-1 Olympus E-5 Olympus E-M1 II Olympus E-M1 III +5 more
Keyboard shortcuts:
FForum PPrevious NNext WNext unread UUpvote SSubscribe RReply QQuote BBookmark MMy threads
Color scheme? Blue / Yellow