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by E.J. Peiker on Tue Oct 31, 2017 9:04 am
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I found this an interesting read.  It is a teardown of a camera that got some salt water on the bottom side.  Most so called "weather-sealed" cameras do a decent job of keeping water out of the camera if it gets rained on but are poorly protected from bottom side water intrusion.  I found this out myself a few years back with a professional Canon camera that was, according to Canon "fully weathersealed" but water got in on the bottom, killed the camera and that was fresh water.  Salt water is evil as you will see in this LensRentals teardown:

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/10/about-getting-your-camera-wet-teardown-of-a-salty-sony-a7sii/
 

by Ed Cordes on Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:45 am
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Wow! Kind of tells us to, even in what we used to just brush off conditions, cover our gear to protect it and consider the "weather sealing" a bonus. A few years ago I had a canoe mishap in fresh water in which my old 7D and 24-105 were submerged for about 30 seconds. Camera quit working lens had water visible inside. Fortunately Chubb Insurance paid out. they did ask if I wanted it repaired and when I said I would never trust the equipment again they didn't hesitate to send a check. I sent the camera and lens to them and I have no idea what they did with it.

Thanks for posting this very informative article.
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by Justin C on Tue Oct 31, 2017 1:22 pm
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An interesting article and a welcome reminder that a trip to the beach could become a very costly outing without due care and attention.
Justin
 

by Mark Boranyak on Tue Oct 31, 2017 4:33 pm
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My fellow underwater photographers learn one thing very quickly...SALT WATER KILLS.
 

by scubastu on Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:27 am
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Mark Boranyak wrote:My fellow underwater photographers learn one thing very quickly...SALT WATER KILLS.
As some long underwater shooter once said, "It's not IF you'll get water in the camera...it's WHEN!".  I've had my "when" moment many years ago...hopefully the new vacuum systems will keep the water away from now on!

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Stewart L. Sy

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by WJaekel on Fri Nov 03, 2017 9:31 am
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Wow, that's really shocking. To date, I have been relying on the weather sealing of my cameras and have been lucky so far. Seems I have to rethink. Of course, I have never placed my camera in salt water. But if you're on a trip in the Arctic or Antarctic and you're shooting from a Zodiac you easily can get a spray or drops of sea water, at least. And even on the ship you have to deal with the salty air at sea. Of course, I always clean my gear afterwards.. But I rarely have seen fellow photographers packing their gear in plastic bags onboard while shooting unless it's bad weather and stormy.

Wolfgang
 

by Wade Thorson on Fri Nov 03, 2017 6:40 pm
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Interesting read. Seeing what road salt, and sea spray do to cars it is not surprising. I may have been a little over confident with some of my cameras and their weather sealing in the past though. I once used my Pentax K5 and 18-135 weather sealed lens all day on a rafting trip down the Colorado. It got doused so much it was literally floating in the bottom of the raft. Took a licking and kept on ticking though... I don't think my Nikons would hold up as well...
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by ChrisRoss on Sun Nov 05, 2017 12:09 am
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Over confidence in weather sealing seems quite common, with people playing with cameras in bad weather and such like. If you use an underwater housing you understand the folly around trusting weather sealing in land cameras, particularly around salt water. To maintain water resistance of your housing you need to soak it in fresh water after each outing and press each button a few times to get salt water out of all the buttons, by design they have a vent to allow water access to the o-ring so it can apply pressure which is what seals out the water. If you don't and let it dry it forms salt crystals which will damage your o-rings.

So the question is even if the o-rings and seals hold how are you going to get salt water out all the little capillary openings that suck water in so it won't form a salt crust when it dries.
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by Vivek on Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:24 pm
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Whoa Roger, that was an interesting read. I dunked my 500+7D in cold salt water on my Nome trip several years ago. The camera was dead, the lens had water damage but survived and made beautiful photos for years to come...
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by Bill Chambers on Wed Nov 08, 2017 3:45 pm
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Yep. I had two Nikon F's ruined by salt water back in the early 70's when a wave crashed HARD and broke the windows in the wheelhouse during a Hurricane Warning. Don't ask why we were out on the ocean in a Hurricane Warning, I was young and dumb back then. The wave took my two F's, a buddy's FTN, and a cheaper Minolta. Ruined both the bodies and attached lenses. That was an expensive day as none of us had insurance back then.
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