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.

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Confronted with two lenses of the same spec and price, one is sealed and one is not, which would you choose?

Cheers,

Rick

Basically, I would always chose the non weather sealed option. I don't think I would ever pay extra for a weather sealed camera or lens if I had another less expensive option that wasn’t weather sealed.

If I don’t have a weather sealed camera then I would never ever consider paying extra for a weather sealed lens if a less expensive non-weather sealed option was available.

In addition, if all of my lenses are not weather sealed then I would never pay extra for a weather sealed body if a less expensive non-weather sealed option was available.

The only time I would consider paying extra for weather sealing is if I knew it was always going to be used according to their requirements(ie: weather sealed lens and camera under their strict conditions). In addition I would have to have some reason why I thought the camera was likely to break under the conditions that were covered under the weather sealing warranty.

Please note that I own or will own 3 weather sealed cameras(GH3, GH4, EM-5 MKII) and a weather sealed lens 35-100 F2.8. However, I never intend to use the weather sealing warranty because I rarely use that equipment in adverse conditions. I use equipment that is very inexpensive(ie: E-PM2) in those conditions instead.

I drive my 2 wheel drive car in the snow and rain therefore 4 wheel drive MUST be a gimmick. No need for it.

And don't get me started on safety harnesses! They are a gimmick too, and these guys had no need for them.  I am sure you won't want to pay extra for safety ropes and such either...

http://earthsky.org/earth/success-two-men-complete-historic-climb-at-yosemites-el-capitan

mpgxsvcd wrote:

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.

Just so much not right in this post . . . .

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Confronted with two lenses of the same spec and price, one is sealed and one is not, which would you choose?

Cheers,

Rick

I'd pick the one with the best optical performance (not just sharpness, but also bokeh, coma, CA, contrast, other optical characterstics such as microcontrast, rendering, "look" etc).

If equal, I'd then pick the one with the best handling.

*Then* I would pick the weather sealed one, if it doesn't entail too many other compromises (size, weight).

Olympus has published this PDF detailing what steps the user needs to take to ensure that the E-M1 is weather protected:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/files/oima_cckb/E-M1_Weather_Resistance_EN.pdf

It may be a warranty, but they've detailed the steps you need to take to preserve the warranty which makes the warranty a bit weaker.

The original post is nonsense but I can curious if there was a point in writing it.

There are gaskets on the weather sealed cameras that are not on the non-weather sealed cameras.

Voldenuit wrote:

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Confronted with two lenses of the same spec and price, one is sealed and one is not, which would you choose?

Cheers,

Rick

I'd pick the one with the best optical performance (not just sharpness, but also bokeh, coma, CA, contrast, other optical characterstics such as microcontrast, rendering, "look" etc).

If equal, I'd then pick the one with the best handling.

*Then* I would pick the weather sealed one, if it doesn't entail too many other compromises (size, weight).

I agree with that which is how I ended up picking the 12-35 for my GX7.

Although the 12-40 is arguably a slightly better lens, I thought I would be much happier with the slightly smaller size and weight, and the 58mm filter size.  I think size and weight fall into the handling category.  The weather sealing was never a big swinger...and looking at the thin rubber gasket on the lens, I am surprised at what constitutes weather sealing.  I know that this is not the only seal, but it is the only main visible seal.

jhinkey wrote:

Just so much not right in this post . . . .

Ok. So let us know what you think is wrong about it.

I remember watching Kai from Digital Rev reviewing the original EM5 + 12-50mm (weather sealed too). And he tested the weather sealing by pouring water onto the camera and camera continues to work. I guess it's not a gimmick. You should be able to safely use this camera together with a weather sealed lens in the rain.

This one time I was shooting at a wedding and a gravy accidently poured on my 12-40mm pro lens. I simply run a tap water onto the lens barrel and wipe it dry.

Please don't mistaken weather proof as water proof. I can't guarantee your camera will still work if you dipped it in a water.

mpgxsvcd wrote:

jhinkey wrote:

Just so much not right in this post . . . .

Ok. So let us know what you think is wrong about it.

I can tell you what is wrong with it: it's the horrible logic that goes like this:

"Because I have used a non-weathersealed camera under some wet conditions without problems, then all weathersealed cameras are a gimmick."

It's crap logic, plain and simple.

mpgxsvcd wrote:

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.

Other than one incident a few years back where i submerged a camera in sea water which killed it stone dead { a low end Olympus DSLR } . I have never in 30+ years of photography had any damage or incident to any camera caused by any type of weather { other than batteries losing power quicker in the extreme cold } , whether the camera was labeled "weather sealed" or not . I am a major fan of landscape shooting and I have  shot in all kinds of weather from torrential rain { a not uncommon occurrence here in Scotland } to heavy snow I shoot all winter in temperatures as low as -20 { on the mountains in winter}. On holiday I have shot in the Sahara , the salty dead sea coast and so on.

I think generally speaking cameras even relatively lower end models are far tougher than we imagine. There are videos aplenty on YouTube etc of people doing extreme things to their high end gear { it is exactly these kind of activities the camera companies are covering themselves against } but the digital-rev video where they put two non-weather sealed cameras through more than they would ever be expected to survivehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1tTBncIsm8

Apart from the likes of the Nikon AW1 no camera is actually water "proof" they are just a bit more resistant to it than lesser models. All the companies use the same methods { tighter seams etc} and technology { if you can call a rubber O-ring technology  } . So all manufacturers are in the same boat which is why if you delve deep into the small print about what is actually covered by "weather sealing" you will find the same gotchas

Daniel Ramli wrote:

I remember watching Kai from Digital Rev reviewing the original EM5 + 12-50mm (weather sealed too). And he tested the weather sealing by pouring water onto the camera and camera continues to work. I guess it's not a gimmick. You should be able to safely use this camera together with a weather sealed lens in the rain.

Daniel, You might be surprised what lower end non-weather sealed models can survive Kai tested a couple out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1tTBncIsm8

This one time I was shooting at a wedding and a gravy accidently poured on my 12-40mm pro lens. I simply run a tap water onto the lens barrel and wipe it dry.

Please don't mistaken weather proof as water proof. I can't guarantee your camera will still work if you dipped it in a water.

mpgxsvcd wrote:

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Confronted with two lenses of the same spec and price, one is sealed and one is not, which would you choose?

Cheers,

Rick

Basically, I would always chose the non weather sealed option. I don't think I would ever pay extra

He said, "same spec and price." See above.

for a weather sealed camera or lens if I had another less expensive option that wasn’t weather sealed.

If I don’t have a weather sealed camera then I would never ever consider paying extra

He said, "same spec and price." See above.

for a weather sealed lens if a less expensive non-weather sealed option was available.

In addition, if all of my lenses are not weather sealed then I would never pay extra

He said, "same spec and price." See above.

for a weather sealed body if a less expensive non-weather sealed option was available.

The only time I would consider paying extra

Once more, with feeling, see above.

for weather sealing is if I knew it was always going to be used according to their requirements(ie: weather sealed lens and camera under their strict conditions). In addition I would have to have some reason why I thought the camera was likely to break under the conditions that were covered under the weather sealing warranty.

Please note that I own or will own 3 weather sealed cameras(GH3, GH4, EM-5 MKII) and a weather sealed lens 35-100 F2.8. However, I never intend to use the weather sealing warranty because I rarely use that equipment in adverse conditions. I use equipment that is very inexpensive(ie: E-PM2) in those conditions instead.

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