I?ve been taking my cameras in weather conditions that I should have no business taking $1000 cameras in. I guess I like testing the limits of my gear.
Both my XT and 30D having taken hefty downpours without dying. They can also regularly take moderate wetness without any kinds of malfunctions, such as spray from large waterfalls.
A year ago I was shooting a waterfall in the Olympic rain forest in Washington. It was raining and the spray from the waterfall was coating my XT with a solid sheen of wetness that lasted for 10 minutes. The XT continued to work without problems.
A year ago I was shooting at Rialto Beach in Washington when my XT and I got smashed by a voluminous ten foot high spray of seawater from a huge wave that had crashed a few feet away. I managed to cover the camera with my body, but afterwards I was soaked and my camera didn't look any better. The XT continued to function fine without any problems.
A couple of weeks ago I was shooting in a heavy downpour for five minutes and the 30D continued to work without problems.
A week ago I was shooting in a downpour. I?m talking about a downpour that would soak you inside and out within a minute. I was out there for ten minutes, shooting both cameras without any kind of rain protection. When I was shooting with one body, the body not being shot with was tucked underneath my arm for a little bit of rain protection. The 30D had my Sigma 100-300mm and my XT had my Tamron 17-50mm.
Afterwards the XT was absolutely fine. The Tamron was also perfectly fine. Both had a smooth sheen of water on their bodies, and dripped.
The 30D exhibited some minor malfunctions. In review mode the joystick would not function correctly when moving around a picture because there was water stuck in the joint well of the joystick. The camera also had some white balance problems. We went to a bowling alley, and when shooting consecutive photos, each photo would have a different white balance. The camera was set on auto white balance. For example, photo 1 would look like it was shot using tungsten white balance. Photo 2 would look like it was shot using fluorescent white balance. Photo 3 would look like tungsten again. Even when switching manually to tungsten white balance, the white balance would still change between shots. Everything else on the camera still worked fine. Pictures were nice and sharp and properly exposed.
The next day, the 30D was back to normal.
The Sigma 100-300mm was perfectly fine, BUT it should be noted that if one is shooting in warm or hot weather with a wet lens, condensation will build up inside the lens and make shots too foggy to be of use. In this case it may be best to store the lens overnight in a case with a packet of desiccant (silica gel).
Today I accidentally submerged both cameras for two seconds. I was shooting waves in Hawaii and a huge wave knocked me off my feet and swept me and all my gear about ten feet up the shore.
The Sigma 100-300mm is fine. The Tamron 17-50mm is fine.
The 30D has the same joystick problem as mentioned above.
The XT is pretty screwed up. The DOF preview button?s function is on all the time, making the viewfinder dim, and the camera shoots rapid fire by itself without even touching the shutter button. The shot review screen disappears instantaneously when I try to bring it up. It still records pictures fine though. The DOF preview malfunction is most likely caused by a short in the DOF preview button wiring. The rapid fire is probably caused by a short in the shutter button wiring. The instantaneous closing of the review screen is easy to explain. During normal operation pressing the shutter button will exit out of the review screen, and since now the shutter button has a short and is always firing, it is no wonder that the review screen can?t be brought up.
I?m a little worried about the XT. This isn?t just rainwater. It?s seawater, which is a heck of a lot more electrically conductive and leaves salt deposits behind when it evaporates. Normally with electronics that are wet with fresh water, one can just leave it out to dry for a day or two and then it?s back to normal. With salt water this may not work.
Another casualty of today was my Dell Axim x50v. It no longer turns on. I hope it comes back after tomorrow, but my hopes are not high because if water got on the motherboard it may be as good as dead.
So in conclusion, don?t be afraid to take your Canon DSLRs in the rain. In my experience lenses have always continued working with water exposure. With DSLRs, then can take quite a bit of water before starting to malfunction, and they will probably be back to normal after drying for a bit.
Both my XT and 30D having taken hefty downpours without dying. They can also regularly take moderate wetness without any kinds of malfunctions, such as spray from large waterfalls.
A year ago I was shooting a waterfall in the Olympic rain forest in Washington. It was raining and the spray from the waterfall was coating my XT with a solid sheen of wetness that lasted for 10 minutes. The XT continued to work without problems.
A year ago I was shooting at Rialto Beach in Washington when my XT and I got smashed by a voluminous ten foot high spray of seawater from a huge wave that had crashed a few feet away. I managed to cover the camera with my body, but afterwards I was soaked and my camera didn't look any better. The XT continued to function fine without any problems.
A couple of weeks ago I was shooting in a heavy downpour for five minutes and the 30D continued to work without problems.
A week ago I was shooting in a downpour. I?m talking about a downpour that would soak you inside and out within a minute. I was out there for ten minutes, shooting both cameras without any kind of rain protection. When I was shooting with one body, the body not being shot with was tucked underneath my arm for a little bit of rain protection. The 30D had my Sigma 100-300mm and my XT had my Tamron 17-50mm.
Afterwards the XT was absolutely fine. The Tamron was also perfectly fine. Both had a smooth sheen of water on their bodies, and dripped.
The 30D exhibited some minor malfunctions. In review mode the joystick would not function correctly when moving around a picture because there was water stuck in the joint well of the joystick. The camera also had some white balance problems. We went to a bowling alley, and when shooting consecutive photos, each photo would have a different white balance. The camera was set on auto white balance. For example, photo 1 would look like it was shot using tungsten white balance. Photo 2 would look like it was shot using fluorescent white balance. Photo 3 would look like tungsten again. Even when switching manually to tungsten white balance, the white balance would still change between shots. Everything else on the camera still worked fine. Pictures were nice and sharp and properly exposed.
The next day, the 30D was back to normal.
The Sigma 100-300mm was perfectly fine, BUT it should be noted that if one is shooting in warm or hot weather with a wet lens, condensation will build up inside the lens and make shots too foggy to be of use. In this case it may be best to store the lens overnight in a case with a packet of desiccant (silica gel).
Today I accidentally submerged both cameras for two seconds. I was shooting waves in Hawaii and a huge wave knocked me off my feet and swept me and all my gear about ten feet up the shore.
The Sigma 100-300mm is fine. The Tamron 17-50mm is fine.
The 30D has the same joystick problem as mentioned above.
The XT is pretty screwed up. The DOF preview button?s function is on all the time, making the viewfinder dim, and the camera shoots rapid fire by itself without even touching the shutter button. The shot review screen disappears instantaneously when I try to bring it up. It still records pictures fine though. The DOF preview malfunction is most likely caused by a short in the DOF preview button wiring. The rapid fire is probably caused by a short in the shutter button wiring. The instantaneous closing of the review screen is easy to explain. During normal operation pressing the shutter button will exit out of the review screen, and since now the shutter button has a short and is always firing, it is no wonder that the review screen can?t be brought up.
I?m a little worried about the XT. This isn?t just rainwater. It?s seawater, which is a heck of a lot more electrically conductive and leaves salt deposits behind when it evaporates. Normally with electronics that are wet with fresh water, one can just leave it out to dry for a day or two and then it?s back to normal. With salt water this may not work.
Another casualty of today was my Dell Axim x50v. It no longer turns on. I hope it comes back after tomorrow, but my hopes are not high because if water got on the motherboard it may be as good as dead.
So in conclusion, don?t be afraid to take your Canon DSLRs in the rain. In my experience lenses have always continued working with water exposure. With DSLRs, then can take quite a bit of water before starting to malfunction, and they will probably be back to normal after drying for a bit.