I've had only a few occasions where my cameras were put directly in harm's way, weather-wise, in the name of Getting The Picture. All involved snow. Lots of snow. First there were my Minolta 9xi do-everything AF SLRs, which were, in fact, heavily weather-sealed. Never a hiccup from either camera body in nearly ten years of heat or rain, but they got buried in snow, where I was most worried about them, and they survived.
Next, years later, were my Hexar RFs. In their literature, Konica mentioned, perhaps a bit too casually for my taste, that the RF was "weather resistant." At any rate, I was caught in a blizzard with both of them. They got buried too. Came out just fine, although I sent them off to K/M (while they were still around) to be checked just in case.
I feel that, regardless of what some camera company tells you, it's probably wise not to look for trouble, since even for cameras like the Canon 1D series, Nikon D3/D700 et al, they still tell you, right in the Owner's Manual, not to get the thing wet. Yes, it's a CYA maneuver, but also a kindly bit of advice.
Also: There was a company that made what amounted to a heavy-duty zip-lock bag with a large, optical-quality piece of circular glass molded into it. That was a nice bit of genius. That's the cheap-and-cheerful ticket to shooting under hostile natural conditions. Does anyone know if it's still being made?
- Barrett
