7D #1 Weather Sealing
December 3rd, 2009 | Author: admin
Canon 7D in a snow blizzard on South Georgia Island, November 11.
TYPE OF TEST: CFR-2 (What does this mean?)
One issue I´ve been very interested in regarding the new 7D, is how well it performs under tough weather conditions. Some of my assignments and expeditions take me to extreme parts of the world, where cold temperatures, snow, rain, sand, or a mix of fine sand, rain and a splash of sea water are the norm. On my recent expediton to Antarctica I had a great opportunity to really test how well sealed and rugged this camera actually is. The other two cameras in my camera bag were the Canon 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III.
This trip was almost the same 3.5 week photo expedition to Antartctica as last year, where I had a 50D and Canon HF10 HD video camera for testing. On that trip I destroyed the video camera on my first day at South Georgia, and the 50D camera had a one day “hangover” after a wet landing. After a few days I put the 50D away because it was not suited to those conditions. 3-4 photographers with Canon 30Ds and 40Ds broke their cameras during last year’s expedition. NB: My workhorse, the 1DS Mark III worked flawlessly, even after 2 “baths” in cold sea water. After these experiences, I wasn’t sure if the 7D and 5D Mark II would survive for the duration of the expedition this year.
Weather resistant
When I´m shooting I’m very focused on my subject and technique. The cameras and equipment experience extremely hard use. When shooting wildlife I´m usually laying on my stomach, with the camera in direct ground contact. This works great with most cameras if the ground is dry, but in Antarctica the ground is almost always wet, muddy or covered with snow or sand. On my recent expedition it snowed almost every day, and at times wet snow, which is worse than rain.
Rough weather conditions = rough images. This Antarctic Fur Seal was photographed with 7D and 300/2.8L on South Georgia.
I always use the 7D with the attached battery grip because it gives me a much better grasp of the camera. Some 5D Mark II users who use the battery grip have reported some problems with water leaking between the camera and battery grip. The battery grip for 7D is new and seems tighter and better sealed. In my case the 7D had absolutely NO problems with snow, rain and water (sea spray). This was just as I had hoped. I’ve also used the 7D on rainy days in Norway, without any problems. The 7D easily passed the rain and wet conditions test.
My 7D in heavy rain.
Wet snow in South Georgia. These conditions might destroy cheaper cameras after a few hours. I used a ThinkTank “raincoat” for my 300mm, but nothing over the camera.
So, what about the two other cameras?
My 1DS Mark III is built like a tank and is heavily weather sealed. I didn´t drop it into sea water this year, but used it without worry or protecting it from bad weather. It worked as expected, without problems.
The big surprise was the 5D Mark II. I used this camera as hard as (but not as much) the 7D and it performed superbly. I didn´t use any protection from rain or snow. The camera was used without the battery grip, which might have helped. The 5D Mark II has been on 2 expeditions to Svalbard (Arctic – 80° North) and one recent expedition to Antarctica without problems, so the weather sealing is robust enough for most conditions.
Conclusion
All three cameras performed very well for the whole Antarctica expedition. The 7D performed as I had hoped, surpassing 10,000 exposures without a problem. I must admit that the 5D Mark II surprised me as well with its build quality. The 1DS Mark III camera is the most rugged and best weather sealed, but the 7D and 5D Mark II (without battery grip) performed 100% in my opinion.
I have not tried to drop the 7D or 5D Mark II “by accident” into salt water, but I don´t expect them to survive as well as the Mark III / IV cameras. It will be interesting to hear your opinions regarding your use of these cameras (especially the 7D) in extreme weather. Have you had any different experiences, or mostly the same as mine?
OJL
Thanks to Bob Baillargeon for copy-editing!
190 Responses to “7D #1 Weather Sealing”
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1st June – Sandwich Terns
30th May – Avocets
Hi Amir
I have never tested Nikon cameras, but maybe I should start to do it in the future??
I can´t help you with Nikon and cold weather…
I love the seal who’s tryin’ to eat your tripod!!!
Nice one
poor camera, full of snow, but when she’s still working it’s great!
ps: same comment like Mikemail
ouch! Amazing
Great info!! Absolutely love the shot of the seal gnawing on the tripod in the foreground lol!
It`s really great info! I wanna buy that camera!
Awesome review. I was kind of split on if i wanted to purchase 7D or not but after reading about how resistant it is outdoors i think i’m going to have to go with it. Since i’ll be using it mostly for photography while skiing and snowboarding that’s a must.
Love the tripod eating seal pic. That’s classic.
Great entry.
I’m soon leaving on a dog sledding trip in the Yukon and would like to take a 5d Mark II, but am concerned about moving between warm to cold climates. Our daytime rides expect to be 4-6 hours in -5˚ Celcius temperatures, while our nights will be indoors. I’m quite the novice when it comes to shooting in cold temperatures can you recommend a book or website that can educate me on how to plan for this journey and keep my camera working (ie preventing moisture buildup, cracking glass, etc)?
Thank you!
Nice information. I followed a link from cnet.com to your site.
Will get the 7D after reading your piece. Cant really afforg the Mark 111!
Thanks for the interesting article. I think the whole experience looks too cold for me. I would be scared to get my camera out in such extreme weather conditions. I just can’t afford for it to break.
That right there is AWESOME.
I have taken my 7D and my 70-200 F4 IS L on alot of trips/hikes with me(its my only weather sealed lens)…and falls. I’ve had it in the pouring rain,heavy snow, sand storm like thing,fell in mud…..then washed her off and back to like new(the mud was horrible to get out of the built in flash compartment)! I think the built in flash is one of its weaker spots though. I think it could have been made out of metal instead. I use invisible shield on my screens, it works great, not one scratch yet!
Now I dont purposely take my camera out in bad conditions. The bad conditions just start, i planned on a nice day but in Oregon thats just how it works!
@David Hardwick, The reason why you spend $1700 on the 7D is because it WONT break, it wont fail. It really is made for bad conditions(somewhat). You really have to have weather sealed lenses on it for it to actually be weather sealed!!! I wouldnt suggest taking a 50mm 1.8 and you 7D in the rain…But I have found that the weather sealing is quite good on the 70-200F4 IS L and it my usually go to lens on most situations…well or the 24-105F4 IS L….it is weather sealed very good as well….well….LOL! All of canons weather sealed lenses are going to do well….
Well thats my experience with the 7D’s weather sealing and ruggedness, have a good day all!
Great stuff…the flash covered in snow was interesting. How did the 580ex fare under those conditions?
And what about the battery life at cold conditions? My 5D was totally dead in a shooting session at 2600+ m, -15 deg. C ambient combined with strong gusts of wind – around -30 – -40 feel-it temperature.
When I inserted a newly-charged battery (kept it in my backpack at the cold outside for several hours), it took 3 to 5 shots before going completely dead like the other battery.
I’m really interested how you did hours of shooting at arctic-cold conditions without any problem by those damned li-ion batteries
Regards …
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Love yuor comment Joel
> Love the tripod eating seal pic. That’s classic.
My 7D was four weeks old and failed (purportedly the IC/PCB) after two days on holiday in Bali (60 – 85% max humidity). The online retailer tells me the failure was due to moisture and corrosion and therefore they rejected warranty. I don’t believe them. No moisture ever came into contact with the camera and the humidity was at the top end of, but within, the manufacturer’s recommendation. What I have seen here confirms both my view that the 7D is a very robust camera and my suspicion that the retailer is lying to me.
The pictures of the Antartic Petrel are fantastic,I have just purchased a 7D,whatAF area mode did you use to shoot these birds in flight and what metering mode did you use?
Great pics, Bill Harrison.
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PS, Beware a seal (last pic) after the tripod victim, he may bite your leg
I like the way you combine informative articles with great photo shots! Not that I have a need for my camera to resist those conditions or the budget to buy it…but it sure inspires my thinking. Thanks for that!
i love photo blogs, there is a saying that a picture speaks a thousand words and this saying is also true for blogs that mostly displays photos.
I got a little wine spilled on the back of my 7D over the weekend, so I gave it a very light rinse with tap water and have left it to dry. It wouldn’t turn on for at least 24hours, and when it did nothing worked and said error. Finally now 2 days later most of everything is working again, etc the M-Fn and AF point slection button are stuck on. I means that it is constantly trying to change from single point to 19 point focus, and the M-Fn leveling function remains on in the view finder. I is hard to get through any menus or photo play back also, as it almost instantly exits them due to the buttons being stuck on. Even though the above cameras survived, I still wouldnt trust all of them to be that lucky. I will see how it goes after a few days time, otherwise off to Canon AU.
The seal is eating yor tripod !!!
What tripod are you using there?
Hey, I just came across your blog after doing some research on the 5DMKII. I just bought this camera and was wondering is it safe for New York rainy days? I found some mixed responses from people.
I always like Sunny weather and disliked gloomy rainy weather.,.,
@Kinetick: Well, the tripod is obviously “sealed” for use in extreme conditions XD
That shot is definitely what I’m going to remember best from this post! None the less, this is interesting reading, even though I’m not going to be able to afford either camera in the foreseeable future.. And I really envy you your job!
@Itsmibilly: If it can handle Antarctica, it can handle New York rain! One thing to think about, though, is that Canon’s consumer lenses aren’t weather sealed, so the lens might get damaged. You also might get leaks around the bayonet, which is not good! But 5DMkII + L lens = no worries
Very interesting article. I’ve been thinking of the build quality of the Canon cameras for a long time, and I don’t understand why the rubber is not used before now. It’s a shame! I have the a60, first edition 5D and the 350, and they are “cheap” after my opinion. A camera should be like a part of your body, and it must handle the simple and the most natural thing in the world: the weather. Too silly, a cup of coffee can destroy such expensive mobile equipment..(!).
Looking forward to read more from you.
And, looks like the only thing that counts for pro, in the end, is the pro equipment. fx 1d’s.
Great article, I read it a couple times and it did help me to decide to get the sealed 7D. Now all I need is a “Sealed” tripod
)
Wow… Really informative post!
Have a lovely day!
So, you mentioned you had put the 50D away the year previously because it wasn’t suited for those conditions… what would you consider its limit? I’m just wondering because I’m often on ski hills with temps -10- -20 + wind chill and snow and throughout the summer, rain is always a possibility, as it anywhere. While I may not need the 7D, I’m wondering if the investment of the extra money into the weatherproofing would be worth it. Thanks for any suggestions!
Cool Article!! But I still don’t want My 7d to wet.
I really love your jobs and photos.
i am ading u to my bookmarks
Have you done any testing at the other extreme? I was shooting in Panama over the last week with a t2i and had a ton of problems with fogging of the lenses and mirror every time I’d get out of an air-conditioned car. I’m wondering whether upgrading to one of the sealed bodies will eliminate that or if it’s pretty much par for the course.
Of course I could just avoid the airconditioned cars… =)
This is not true for every 7D. Canon is lying to it’s customers. My 7D has been exposed to very little bit of rain only once or twice and is now broken. I tried to fight my case with Canon Canada service department and their point is “this is not a water or moisture free camera, the seals will help to protect but we do not guarantee that moisture won’t occur” There is absolutely no way to have them understand that Canon is lying about the “weather resistant” aspect of the 7D. They first offered me to replace the camera and charging me 1615$ plus taxes… this is the price in stores right now! I declined the offer and tried to make them understand my point, I even send them the link of this tread and pictures of mistreated 7Ds still working today. They came back with pictures of my corroded shutter button… I asked them why they couldn’t replace only this button instead of the whole camera?? They told me: “Please allow me to explain our policies in regards to moisture damage. Our normal process when we find any type of moisture regardless of how small, is to automatically suggest a replacement. The reason for this is we cannot guaranteed the repair warranty because once moisture seeps in, corrosion can occur at any time, and although the unit may appear to be in working order today, we cannot guarantee the unit will continue to perform within spec.” They then offered me to repair the camera for 219$ with a 90 day guarantee for the repair. I accepted this offer. I a long time Canon products user and this is the last Canon product I buy.
Great post, given a recent experience I had with a 5D Mark II, I’m considering the switch to a 1 series. You can read the whole story on my blog, but long story short, a backpacking accident had my 5D in a puddle and it’s having to go back to Canon, the battery was completely soaked through, the memory card as well (although it still worked). After a day of drying the camera “functions” although the mode dial doesn’t work and the camera is stuck on program mode and the AWB is way out of whack. It seems to power up fine, but we’ll see what Canon has to say. Thankfully, it’s insured.
Hi all, I’d like to share something that happened to me yesterday. I was shooting under very heavy rain, it was quite cold, probably a few degrees above 0º Celsius.
After maybe an hour or two I went inside a car with the camera (i mention this because it may have something to do with what happened later), it was slightly warmer than outside as there were 3 more people inside the car, and a bit humid because of this. Calefactioning/Air conditioning was off. I took some water off the camera with a cloth, and after maybe half an hour I went outside again.
After a couple of minutes, all camera controls stopped working. Only the mode change wheel and the shutter trigger responded properly. As far as I could see, there was no visible condensation on the lens or camera screens. The camera could take photos (the shutter triggered), but it was not possible to change any parameter, and under AV mode the lightmeter didn’t seem to respond properly.
I stopped shooting, put the camera back on the bag and as soon as I got home (maybe some 5 hours after the incident) i proceeded to gently dry it with a hair drier. Everything seems to be in proper working order now, but I’m still a bit afraid of taking it out under tough weather again, and I’m pretty sure I’ll need to because of work assignments.
I’m wondering what could have caused this. My bet is that taking the camera inside the car was a bad idea (i’ve shot under rain a couple of time before without any issues).
Have you had similar experiences?
I had my 7D fry out from extreme weather… a drizzle in foggy conditions. Canon rejected it as a warranty repair and nailed me for 600.00. When it came back from their New Jersey “repair” facility, the AE was off by 10 stops and there were screws missing. A second trip there yielded a fixed AE and replaced screws, but now a malfunctioning AF system and different missing screws. I won’t even mention the rubber covering that was doubled over and squashed between a 3 point no clearance joint. They admitted both issues were their fault (Duhhh).
I wrote letters… oh yeah. Finally I got a call today from Customer service. They offered to do a repair on my XL2 that I need. Nice, but I am skeptical and not impressed. I would have preferred a refund and an admission that it should have been warranty to begin with. So much for their advertising that the 7D is weather resistant.
By the way, I was without the camera for better than 2 months.
Strange indeed, my 7D got cought in a light shower and wouldnt work for 2 days.