Weather-sealed gear and lens front element

Henry Richardson wrote:

Henry Richardson wrote:

For those of you who shoot a lot in the rain or in conditions where water is splashing a lot (on a speed boat, wind-driven ocean surf, etc.) and you use weather-sealed gear how do you manage to not have problems with water drops on the front of the lens? Do you not care and just shoot with the drops there?

Most of the comments are about weather-sealing and its usefulness. But, the whole point of my post was about shooting in the rain or splashy conditions and the problem of water on the front element. In my experience, having the best weather sealing in the world helps absolutely ZERO for shooting in those conditions because of the front element. The only way I can sort of shoot is to use an umbrella to keep most of the rain off the front element when I shoot. And with the umbrella the camera stays pretty dry so the lack of weather sealing has never been important.

Okay, so how are people shooting in these conditions?

I'd usually be birding, the appropriate lenses have very deep lens hoods. I also use filters, such as the Olympus Zero-D filters, which means I can wipe down the camera with anything to hand, such as my handkerchief, with almost no regard to the gunk that has accumulated on the cloth or lens. I definitely walk about with the sopping wet camera in hand, but I do periodically wipe it off, and I do stow it inside my jacket if there's no prospect anticipated for a while (hoping not to overtax the seals). I'm normally in forest, so wind blown rain is less of an issue.

Different focal lengths, different subjects, and different locations work better in the rain than others. If it's possible, change all of the above to suit the circumstances.

I have a thread with recent results here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/63621966

I even saw a video review of one of the weather-sealed cameras awhile back with a guy walking around in the rain, no umbrella, holding the camera, and shooting. He was showing how water resistant it was. I was wondering how his camera which was totally wet from rain could possibly have a pristine front element. I don't think he showed a single photo he had taken in that segment though and he never showed what the front element looked like. It struck me as ludicrous, but I suppose it fools lots of people.

In the worst conditions, I image it would be a cycle of wipe the front element, quickly get off a shot and repeat.  I've done this near a couple of waterfalls, but it's very difficult to think composition in those circumstances.  I think it would be best to run about without a camera and plan the composition and moves necessary to get it.

I have walked around in the rain with my camera countless times over the years and even in a light rain when it comes time to shoot and you take your hand away from the front element (even with the lens hood on) you will almost always get drops very quickly, mostly before you can even get the shot. If you need to point the camera up a bit then it is near impossible. The only way is to have an umbrella or some other way to shield the camera and even then it can be quite difficult because of the reasons I already wrote about: wind causing drops to hit the lens even while under an umbrella, rain bouncing off things very close to you, even your own body and hands, etc.

If it's only a hobby, you can just adjust to circumstances, accept the story behind the compromised results, or maybe just enjoy the outing.