6D weatherproofness, tested.

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Marsu42 said:
Good to hear, I hope you won't do as Homer Simpsons does ("It did worked last time, why wouldn't it work next time?")...

:)

I still do plan on going out when it rains, except, I will protect the camera more. Rather than me standing out on the open with rain all over taking photos, I may in the future have an umbrella.

Thank y'all for your help and comments.
 
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oscaroo said:
So .... The 6d works ... Fine!
I haven't tied the Wifi, but I expect it to be okay. The buttons and dials all work fine. I turned the GPS on but I didn't wait for it to lock on.

Hurray!

NB: Putting the camera in a rice bowl results in fine rice dust. It's okay though.
Fisheye also survived.

Good ol' rice trick worked again! Just make sure you triple check everything, especially live view and mirror lock up, I'd probably take off the lens and have a look inside it just incase as well. But make sure you dust off all the rice before you do!
 
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For all electronics, I don't use rice OR silica gel - they will only pull moisture out of the surrounding air until about 10-15% humidity remains. I prefer to use 1.5-3.0A molecular sieve with the item in a tight mylar pouch and heated to about 105F (or the max the item will take safely). It will pull down to almost 2%. Used mostly by chemists to desiccate fluids (pulling water out of petroleum in a column), but decently cheap. This is the place to by it from: http://www.sorbentsystems.com/ . I use their siilca gel boxes in my camera cases, but for any electronics I'm repairing that has been water exposed, sieve is the way to go.

Even on my 1Ds3, the "sealing" is nothing more than foam rubber strips and mylar adhesive tape at the joints. I had the camera sent to Canon CPS ages ago and they did a shutter replacement. However, when I pulled the camera apart recently, the "seal" tape was torn at the seams between the cover and body, but never replaced when they serviced it. So, I laid the ripped pieces onto a sheet of 3M 200MP, traced it out and replaced all the pieces around the camera. Then, cut new (denser) foam rubber strips and filled in all the gaps. Now, it's much more water-resistant than before.

Moral of the story is that even if it's been back to CPS, don't trust that they'll fully make it water-resistant if not necessary! I've hosed mine down with a garden hose with a 70-200/2.8L II on with no problems (and of course, a nice tight Heliopan filter on the front, even though not needed). Just remember that seals DO shrink and DO get old/brittle/crumbly over time. It is a combination of the film tape, foam rubber strips, AND rubber grips (on the outside) that make the combo more water"proof". The rubber pieces tuck down into grooves and some of the joints are between pieces. With enough water and/or pressure, water will still penetrate the joint.

NOTE ABOUT THE HOTSHOE: at least on the 1Ds3 - the area where the shoe is mounted is screwed down tight and "sealed" with some caulk/glue. As is the area around the lens mount. The DoF preview button is also sealed with this glue. There is no need to add any additional sealing on the 1 series. However, I have a small rubber hotshoe level that slides in - it keeps the top from getting scratched, gives me a simple level, and keeps water out of the left/right rail should it get dampened.

After seeing this, I wouldn't trust any of the lower cameras to any water - anybody who has a "survived it" story was just lucky and their body was probably pretty new.

In case somebody wants to see what the "sealing" looks like: go here. The light grey tape pieces are the Canon original seal (the tears are directly along the case seams!) and the dark tape is the 200MP that I was tracing/creating with.
 
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I would not do with my 7D what that crazy military guy did with his Pentax cameras but I never had any troubles with shooting in heavy snow fall or light to medium rain (7D + ef-s 15-85/ef 70-200 f4 L) over shorter periods of time (up to 15 minutes). I would be VERY careful about changing lenses in those conditions though (best not to change them at all).
 
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Eli said:
Good ol' rice trick worked again! Just make sure you triple check everything, especially live view and mirror lock up, I'd probably take off the lens and have a look inside it just incase as well. But make sure you dust off all the rice before you do!

GPS works
Mirror lockup works
LV works
Wifi works.
Looks ok inside.
 
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He probably only did it because they were property of the US govt. I doubt anyone would do that with their own equipment unless they were going to buy something new anyway.

stefsan said:
I would not do with my 7D what that crazy military guy did with his Pentax cameras but I never had any troubles with shooting in heavy snow fall or light to medium rain (7D + ef-s 15-85/ef 70-200 f4 L) over shorter periods of time (up to 15 minutes). I would be VERY careful about changing lenses in those conditions though (best not to change them at all).
 
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oscaroo said:
Eli said:
Good ol' rice trick worked again! Just make sure you triple check everything, especially live view and mirror lock up, I'd probably take off the lens and have a look inside it just incase as well. But make sure you dust off all the rice before you do!

GPS works
Mirror lockup works
LV works
Wifi works.
Looks ok inside.

Well then, all that's left to do is boast to your friends about how awesome your camera is, and happy shooting! :) hopefully it doesn't rain on Australia Day!
 
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Don Haines

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oscaroo said:
I still do plan on going out when it rains, except, I will protect the camera more. Rather than me standing out on the open with rain all over taking photos, I may in the future have an umbrella.

Thank y'all for your help and comments.

I was out shooting in the rain last weekend... I carry a backpack with straps on the side that I can use to hold a golf umbrella over my head while I shoot. This way both hands are on the camera.

When hiking I have dry bags to put around gear to keep it dry, when canoeing I use pelican cases.... so far I have not had any moisture issues.

Glad your gear came back to life....
 
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oscaroo said:
Several hours pass, I'm still fine.
There's speckles of water on the fisheye lens pretty much everywhere, the camera has water also, everything is fine.

Curious to know if you ever wiped the water off with a towel during that time span? Just getting rid of the excess moisture every now and again seems to keep a 7D + 24-70 happy even in light/medium rain or snow all day.
 
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aroo said:
Curious to know if you ever wiped the water off with a towel during that time span? Just getting rid of the excess moisture every now and again seems to keep a 7D + 24-70 happy even in light/medium rain or snow all day.

Nup. I didn't wipe it dryish at all. I had no dry clothes on me :) I was wearing a Rashie+Boardies which were also wet from the rain.
 
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Sporgon

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Pentax do advertise their DSLRs covered in water to support/ promote their weatherproof claim. Don't ever recal Canon doing this. I had a Pentax K7 for a short time during my transition from Nikon and used it in heavy rain with sealed lens - it was fine. Wouldn't dream of doing this with the 5D. I don't think the design of the EOS lends itself to easy weatherproofing - think top command wheel, top buttons etc.
 
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Sporgon

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Studio1930 said:
I allow my 1D4 and 1DX to get wet if need be but I don't allow heavy rain if it can be avoided.

Now I would have no issue with hosing down a Pentax but then again I wouldn't bother shooting with it before or after anyways, LOL. ;D

No doubt the military guy was happy to abuse his cameras like that because he was able to pick them up on eBay for very little. It's a shame that a seriouly good camera like the K5 depreciates so much. It just goes to show that in the dslr market if it's not Canon or Nikon people won't pay the money. This is why Pentax won't produce a FF camera - they'd end up having to drop the price too much to move them. :(
 
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oscaroo said:
Just an update.
My right cursor button stopped working. And then it started working, and then it stopped working, and then it started working, and now it's not working currently.

Going to Canon Oz tomz.
Lucky I still have my 50d which hasn't been sold. I can use that for my shoot on Sat.

You might want to run to a local camera shop and have them put a working battery into the camera. Sometimes, moisture/water can damage a battery and cause errors similar to the one you are having. I got hit by a wave trying to trespass around a gate. I immediately took out the battery and put it in my pocket. I made sure the camera was dry, but upon placing the battery back in a day or two later, I had functionality issues with certain buttons on the camera. A new battery fixed this and I have not had an issue since.
 
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