How wet is too wet?

I'm not sure if I should put this in the Lenses or Cameras thread but today I went to a Rugby game in the rain and took my camera without any water protection, fitted to my
7d was a 70-200 f2.8 mk2, the rain wasn't heavy but certainly wetter than I would normally shoot in, as far as I am aware both my lens and camera are weather sealed but when I go there I saw the local news paper photog using his 1d series camera and 300 f2.8 inside a waterproof "wrap"

What's the general rule here, should I take a bit more care or should my gear be up to the task?

Don't take photos under water. thats too wet.

The 7D can handle a light sprinkle reliably, I never worried. When the drops are enough to make water ripple then put a cover on.

I used my 7D to shoot photos of my friends building a snow man for about 30 minutes in Tahoe, while it was snowing really good in December. It is still fully functional to this day...

HTTP response: 403 | MIME changed to 'text/plain'

Environmental sealing does not mean a camera is weather proof or waterproof.

when it breaks

I used my 7d in the rain with no problem (heavy tropical rain). At one point I put a small towel over it - not to keep it dry but to stop large drops of water pooling in any of the switches etc. It survived OK but I have since bought rain covers because water damage isn't covered by the warranty.

The only time I got a bit worried was when I pulled the camera up to my eye and there was a puddle in the eyepiece.

I shoot various 1D's and for the most part 2.8 glass. Its all 'weather sealed'. But even in light drizzel I'll take a plastic bag, like the little ones you get when you buy something small from the store. A little ripping in just the right places and you have a nice rain coat with only the very front part of the glass showing. I'll use one round of masking tape around the hood to hold it all in place. My hands go through the open top of the bag. Works great, even in heavy rain. Sorry no pick of this. Just try it

texaskev wrote in post #15965387
I shoot various 1D's and for the most part 2.8 glass. Its all 'weather sealed'. But even in light drizzel I'll take a plastic bag, like the little ones you get when you buy something small from the store. A little ripping in just the right places and you have a nice rain coat with only the very front part of the glass showing. I'll use one round of masking tape around the hood to hold it all in place. My hands go through the open top of the bag. Works great, even in heavy rain. Sorry no pick of this. Just try it

I think next time I shoot in the rain I will do something like this.

I used my 30D in a storm, when I got home there was water coming out of the body and the back screen kept flashing even with the camera turned off. Put it in a warm cupboard for a week, and it's still works perfectly 4 years later.

whiteflyer wrote in post #15965425
I used my 30D in a storm, when I got home there was water coming out of the body and the back screen kept flashing even with the camera turned off. Put it in a warm cupboard for a week, and it's still works perfectly 4 years later.

But remember that any such abuse will show when Canon opens the camera. So lots of people who shoot in the rain without seeing some bad results may get a message from Canon that their warranty is void if they need to send in the camera for whatever reason.

Canon just do not put as much trust in their sealing as lots of the owners seem to do.

The cost to protect the gear is tiny, so there aren't much reasons not to.

If Canon did sell gear that was designed for rain, then they would basically have to test the gear below water for a while.

Shooting in wet conditions with any canon camera is like playing the lottery. Odds are that nothing will happen but every once in a while, a drop will hit the right place, get inside and kill your camera. None of the equipment is water proof but weather resistant, as mentioned.

The important thing to remember is that if the camera does get water damaged, Canon will not cover any of the damage under their warranty, even the 1D series cameras.You are on your own so taking so if your willing to take the risk then shoot unprotected. If replacing a water damaged camera is too much cost, then it's only prudent to shoot with some type of rain protection. A raincoat is way cheaper than replacing a 7D.

Even gear that is specifically water proof normally have notes about not operating controls while under water. All because the seals (rubber + grease) can be 100% effective against static water pressure, but the movement of the controls can still manage water to slip in.

A camera have lots of buttons and wheels we need to operate while making the magic happen.

Sometimes, a light leak might just mean that the shutter button starts to be unreliable after 50k clicks instead of managing for millions of clicks. So you might get a water damage that takes months or maybe years before it manifests itself.

The amount of damage from a very light leak also depends on how clean the water that got into the camera was. If the camera was very salty from dried sweat, then even a few drops of salty water getting into the camera can result in big issues after a while. Cleaning the gear with a wet towel do remove the salt on the outside, but doesn't mean there may be salt in the cracks around the controls, all waiting for a bit of rain.

I always have a tea towel or something handy to wipe it dry if I think it's going to pour down!

Wiping it down is definitely a good idea but keeping it off in the first place is better.