I have been a Canon shooter since I first picked up my first SLR and have always been a very happy customer. I've gone from a 40D to a 5D MKII and now my 5D MKIII. I've had my mk III for almost 3 years now, out of warranty, and has always been a solid camera. I also own a Fujifilm X-T1 mirrorless camera as my 2nd body, as my light walkabout camera.
Earlier this month I vacationed in Iceland and wanted to capture the wonders of the land of fire & ice. Before I left, I contemplated in bringing both my 5D and X-T1, but decided to go with the 5D only as it is my trusty, reliable, and true pro camera. I also didn't want to have to haul too much gear. So my first day out, it was rainy and overcast, I decided to go to the golden circle. I had my 16-35mm L and shot in the rain for most of the day. I hide my camera under a rain cover when not shooting and take it out when I have to. The body and lens are both weather sealed and I have shot in the rain before without problem. I've also been using the camera, for months, in perfect weather before my trip so I know it worked perfectly. After about 1 hour of shooting, my camera suddenly got an "Err 20" telling me to replace the battery or turn the camera off. I tried several times to swap batteries and turn the camera on/off and it would continue to show "Err 20". Left it alone for hours and no change. I was completely bummed that on my first day of a two week trip to Iceland, my $3500 camera failed to deliver. WTF???
Luckily, I left the camera alone overnight and it magically worked again the next morning. But, it would only show one bar for a fully charged battery and sometimes no bars. The camera thought it had little to no power so it would shut off on its own. This is all I had and for the remaining 2 weeks, I had to live with a gimped camera where I had to turn it on / off everytime I needed to take a photo. My vacation wasn't completely lost, but I am thoroughly disappointed with the performance of the body.
As soon as I got home, I sent the camera to Canon service where they told me that my circuit board was corroded and had to be replaced. I take care of my gear and I know that it is weather sealed, but not waterproof. I'm really disappointed that a pro body keeled over so easily in weather condition that it was designed for.
So what could possibly gone wrong? Temperature was about 45-59 degrees F. High winds, rain, and high humidity. I did notice that under my top LCD there would be condensation at times. No condensation in the lens or viewfinder. Every time I pulled my camera out of the bag, it would feel very moist when my bag is dry. The camera was in perfect working condition for months before I left. I don't think that the corrosion formed in the 1 hour that I was shooting, but moisture must have gotten in. I also noticed that my hotshoe also exhibited corrosion right before my eyes, since the afternoon from when I placed the camera in the bag and 6 hours later when I took it out at the hotel. I patted the camera dry always, like many other trips before it, but this time it rusted. What's in the rain water of Iceland? Volcanic ash, acid?
My only guess is that my camera was not properly serviced when I sent it in for the "light-leak phenomenon," perhaps a seal was missing. I have shot in the rain before and never see any condensation inside the top LCD. There's no way for me to prove this theory to Canon and their 1 year workmanship warranty has long passed. I know Canon service has a good reputation, but I'm having a hard time trusting the body after this close call.
What do you guys think?
Here are some photos from the trip:
[IMG]https://farm3.staticflickr.com …89179350_38e4802f8a_h.jpg

Mod note: Over size image