I was close to purchasing a 5D and then when I saw how vulnerable the 20D is to a tiny drop of water, I realized that it wouldn't be a good idea to risk a $3,300 body to the watery dive boat environment. Does anyone know if Canon is planning to come out with a mid-priced, digital weather-sealed SLR body with 12-13 megabytes like the new Nikon D200?

Tovia

I have to say that it is very hard to judge weather sealing from the cameras specs. It is very qualitative statement - when manufacturers say weather sealed or not.

AFAI can make out. The Canon 1D/1DS are the leaders in this regard, followed by the D2 series Nikons. My understanding was that the D200 and 5D have pretty decent weather sealing too.

But again no reviewers every test this feature!

Alex

The most well designed weather sealing of any camera is Olympus' E1. Nikon and Canon Pro Bodies come next.

I haven't seen this published, but I'm told by various reps that Canon makes no attempt at weather sealing on the 5d, yet the d200 is aggressively protected.

Ryan is correct, the 5D does not have weather sealing. It certainly would be a wonderful day if Canon released a 5D with weather sealing.... could someone talk them into doing that before I get my spare?!

My 10D has survived light rains (sprinkles) more times than I can count. I expect the 5D to be the same. I'm usually not too concerened about drops of rain. Salt water is another story though. I'm very careful to completely dry the enclosure and to use a towel over it if someone is working next to me.

In the end, I would not count on weather sealing to save me from a flood or from splashed salt water.... don't forget Murphy's Law which states that when you finally do get water on the camera, you will have a card/battery/lens hatch open.

I would like to start going on 2-3 week trips, but until I have an extra camera body, I'm reluctant to commit to the long trips. Insurance covers the camera... so I don't really have much risk there. However, I have to assume that (weather sealed or not), equipment will fail eventually.

How many of you travel with spares? What is your 'level of acceptable risk'?

always have to have a spare, and insure both bodies. trip costs are right up there with equipment costs, and if your primary motivation is to take photos, it's insane not to be redundant!

once you have a backup, insure your gear and use it aggressively.

I always travel with a spare (as Eric may recall from when I flooded a CP5000 on the first day of a Shearwater trip!). It's part of a system budget, as far as I'm concerned. For my Ike/D70 system, the second body is not much compared to 2 strobes, housing, arms, lenses(!), ports ... not to mention the cost of the trip itself.

This is also why I'll always probably be in a just-above-entry level DSLR (though may get a "D300" in a few years).

Also, I keep a surface lens on the 2nd body -- handy for shots of fellow divers, scenery, etc -- without the risky behavior of changing SLR lenses.

I try never to open the housing on the dive boat. With large capacity cards and SLR miserly battery usage this is more realistic. It does limit lens selection however.

I think this thread touches a larger issue. Are you an underwater photographer or not? If you are you have to accept that risking your camera on boats and more importantly in the ocean is part of the territory.

Alex

People use cameras on boats everyday and on a list of 10 things that break them, just being exposed to a marine environment is right at the bottom I would think, if you take care it's not an issue, now flooding, that's an issue

I would add to Ryan's comments that all of the mid to high range Olympus e-system lenses are as well weathered sealed as the E-1 body. This is one of the features ( along with the dust remover ) that makes this system popular with photographers working in hostile environments.

Phil Rudin