Originally posted by Heie I can personally assure you that the weather sealing claims are very real
Thank you Heie for your great post! While everything you described in your post is quite a bit beyond the level of use I will ever have the opportunity to subject my gear to, it is EXACTLY the level of expectation I have when I consider the WR feature. When combined with the Pentax marketing of the K-30, testimonials like yours and and all of others set that level of expectation. It is great to hear from Heie (and all the other users) that you don't consider WR just as a safeguard against the unexpected but rather consider it a feature to be enjoyed. Having the ability to shoot water slides, rainy days, waterfalls, beaches, hiking trips, etc. without worrying at all about dust and water is a HUGE benefit of the K-30.
I stated in my earlier post in this thread that I would consider the WR feature something to be used like any other feature. In my mind it's no different than AF. AF works when there's an AF lens attached and even though that lens can be manually focused, AF isn't just for emergency situations when you can't MF. To that end, WR works when there is a WR lens attached and I see no reason to "save" it for emergency use. Now I realize that the OP did not have a WR lens, and I would not have attempted his test/demonstration without one, however, given the location of the leak, it is pretty obvious that the LCD seal is the issue and should be replaced.
I suppose the lesson of this thread for me is that WR "should" work and work REALLY well. However, thanks to the apprehension of those experienced users that consider it as only a safety net not to be tested, I will not be too hasty to sell my K-r so that I have a body to shoot with in the event my K-30 needs to get serviced. There's lots of good logic behind that anyway because honestly, ANYTHING could go wrong, it is a piece of electronic gear after all. But, after reading the posts in this thread, if this incident happens to me when/if I upgrade to a K-30, I will immediately be exchanging it or sending it in for warranty repair.