[conradj]

Before i go dragging mine around in inclement weather the way i did with the K-7 and K-5, i'd like to hear what you folks have to say abt how well this cam body handles bad conditions. From reading this forums seems like a few of you have had issues.

Been testing my lenses with this body and my old standby, the Tammy 17-50mm f/2.8, is showing its limits. Pixel peeping the images brings me well past the resolution of that lens. Guess i expected that; it was kinda iffy on the K-5.

Well, better retest.

[mikesbike]

I've seen a post not long ago where the user shows his KP under near-arctic conditions covered in snow and ice! Had trouble with the shutter button freezing up, and had to use the one on the battery grip. Otherwise, the camera held up well.

I recently was shooting with my DA* 50-135mm on the KP under conditions with occasional very light rain. I simply wiped everything off after getting back to the car, and all is just fine.

For better resolution than your Tamron, consider a good Limited prime. Other primes are excellent too, like the FA 35mm f/2. For a good short zoom with WR, the DA 20-40mm LTD is capable of excellent image rendering, and your Tamron could still serve when f/2.8 is needed at a longer FL.

[SSGGeezer]

I've seen a post not long ago where the user shows his KP under near-arctic conditions covered in snow and ice! Had trouble with the shutter button freezing up, and had to use the one on the battery grip. Otherwise, the camera held up well.

I recently was shooting with my DA* 50-135mm on the KP under conditions with occasional very light rain. I simply wiped everything off after getting back to the car, and all is just fine.

For better resolution than your Tamron, consider a good Limited prime. For a good short zoom with WR, the DA 20-40mm LTD is capable of excellent image rendering, and your Tamron could still serve when f/2.8 is needed at a longer FL.

I wasn't near Arctic, it was Arctic as in -20 to -30C so that the camera and grip had icicles hanging off of it. I have to agree on the 20-40, and add the 55-300 PLM and you have a nice weather resistant combo.

[RubyT]

I took mine out in a fairly wet snow. Wiped it off after, no problems.

[Ex Finn.]

Keeping my KP and the 20-40 ltd. high and dry till I hit "in-country" this summer.
It could rain or snow the whole time I am there... Will report back on how the combination holds up.

[bkpix]

I've taken mine out hiking in Oregon's liquid sunshine several times and gotten it good and wet. No problems. That said, I still tend to use the K-5IIs for really messy wet situations, such as taking photos while clearing new trail this afternoon in our woods -- which means handling the camera and lens with wet, muddy gloves to get a photo. No problems there, either.

My Canon 6D would not (based on actual sad experience) be happy in any of these situations, though I expect the 7D would be OK. But I'd still shelter the 7D a lot more than my Pentax gear.

[conradj]

--One thing i'd totally forgotten abt when it comes to a new Pentax dSLR is that the SR and AF bits needs to bed in a bit from new, before one starts setting up the AF lens adjustments. Both my K-7 and K-5 were the same.

The first thing i did was to set up the AF adjustments for my lenses and now, after a couple of days of playing around with the camera, they're all off and i'll have to do it again. Guess i'll play with the camera a bit more, let it finish bedding in, before i redo everything.

---

Last edited by conradj; 05-06-2018 at 05:06 PM. Reason: spelling police

[sqrrl]

I've had my kp completely soaked a few times, snow and horizontal rain, I haven't had any problems, but I definitely don't store it wet.

I'm confident that it's more robust than most cameras on the market (more so than a canon5d3 or nikon d800 anyhow), but if I know I'm going to abuse a camera I'd take my k10 out, it's cheaper to replace and it's already been bounce tested.

[MJKoski]

Ya!



That is my frozen KP & 35mm macro ltd from January 2018 trip. At the end of the day I had to stop shooting as my equipment got covered in hoarfrost and there was no easy way to wipe it out properly. (Tip: use filters and swap them...) Main shutter release stopped responding fairly soon after some hours exposed to cold but grip shutter release worked nicely. This happened on multiple occasions during different days.

[conradj]

Yes, your thread abt this issue with your K-P was one of the things that caught my attention, as those winter temps that caused your problem are nothing unusual where i live, out on the river where i like to photograph.

i have questions abt your experiences. Did the shutter button failure follow the same pattern each time it stopped working? That is, did it always take the same amount of cold exposure for it to stop working, or did the interval before failure grow progressively shorter or longer?

After camera returned to normal temps, does the shutter release feel and operate the same as before, or have there been changes to its operational behavior?

Do you set the shutter release to also perform AF? If so, did that fail at the same time as the shutter release, sooner, later, never?

Do you have any other observations to share abt your camera + lens WRT their cold weather behavior? Metering, functionality of various buttons and dials, diaphragm actuation, exposure accuracy, etc?

Does your camera feel the same now as it did before the winter?

--Sorry for all the questions. i find it all very interesting, your experiences with your camera.

[MJKoski]

I do not use AF, ever. So that solves AF issues for me fairly well. In short, I do not care if it even works. But the button, yes there was a pattern: First it requires more pressure to activate and then stops responding for good until camera is warmed up again to room temps or so. It was somewhere near -20C when this happens, about 2-3 hours before the button does not respond anymore. Warmed up it works as it should.

Diaphragm actuation gets less accurate, I had some exposures where the 35mm ltd did not fully stop to selected aperture and image got overexposed. Samyang 10mm f/2.8 lens was horrible, the aperture mechanism fails every time below -5C in the long run, not recommended unless mine was some kind of lemon (not in IQ where it delivered). I did not punish the camera so harsh later after that trip and it worked flawlessly for 3 months until I sold it. Now I have K-1 MK2.

Battery grip is a must. The default battery is epic fail in subzero temps. You NEED the D-LI90 (x2-3 for one day). Keep batteries warm when not in use. You can stuff chemical hand warmer into the grip There is space there thanks to the memory card slot. But not recommended due to possible condensation problems.

[conradj]

i think that i'd ask some of the same questions for all you folks to take your cameras out into the great outdoors. Does your gear feel and operate the same afterwards as before, or have you noticed changes?

i have no data abt the K-P. With the K-7 and K-5 (essentially the same frame and body), 4-6hr of oft repeated cold exposure from -20C to -40C over years did nothing to it. i was always careful to follow certain procedures: 1) i kept the camera as warm as possible going from one location to the next where i photographed. This was for the battery more than anything. When i'm done with the camera i zipped it back up into the travel case and stashed that back under my outer layer. 2) As much as possible i avoided changing lenses out in the cold. A couple of times each season i broke that rule, and never when it was snowing or when the wind was strong enough to whip up ground snow. 3) Warm up and cool down. i keep my gear in the zipped up in the travel case or pack until they cool down before use, and do the same after coming indoors, letting them warm gradually for 6-8hr up to room temp before taking any of it out.

It doesn't matter whether my lenses are WR or not; they all fog up internally upon sudden exposure to warm temps after they've been out in the cold, so i decades ago learned to leave all the gear alone in the case, including camera, and let them warm up slowly. Because i'm certain that if the lenses fog up internally to sudden exposure to warm and more moist air, then the same conditions must apply to the camera.

i've used both the K-5 and K-7 on a tripod in quite heavy rain. They handle that without a problem. As all of you have noted doing with your gear, i also dry mine off as soon as possible.

i use only WR lenses in the rain, but not in the winter. i used film cameras in the winter before dSLR's. The only difference i know of between those old lenses and the WR ones is that the WR ones don't get as sluggy as the old lenses. That i attribute to the lube in the old lenses.

edit: Yeah, me too: i never use AF in the cold.

---------- Post added 05-07-18 at 10:54 AM ----------

i have the cheap MF 85mm f/1.4 that i think is made by Samyang, and that lens has developed mechanical issues even in room temps, so i don't think it's QC issues with your 10mm. Their mechanical bits are just designed and manufactured cheaply.

[conradj]

But the button, yes there was a pattern: First it requires more pressure to activate and then stops responding for good until camera is warmed up again to room temps or so. It was somewhere near -20C when this happens, about 2-3 hours before the button does not respond anymore. Warmed up it works as it should.

That's interesting. And thank you for your observations. This would seem to indicate that the release switch at least is spec'd cheaper than with Pentax's top tier bodies. Dunno abt the K-P, but on the K-7 and K-5 the switch is a part of "Upper Flex Circuit -A block" and the whole piece has to be replaced to change the switch. Not having an info LCD on the top plate the K-P switch might possibly be easier to change. Still, desoldering and soldering flex circuits, not my thing.

edit: so, the lesson would seem to be: protect the camera body from the extremes of cold as much as possible while out in the environment.

With my film bodies it was the shutter mechanism that was a problem. That and the film itself getting brittle. With a digital body, switches as well.

FWIW, my practice of keeping the gear in my case as much as possible, under my top layer, has always kept my gear functional in the cold, and that has included various cams not spec'd at all for weather resistance.

[Wingincamera]

Ya!
That is my frozen KP & 35mm macro ltd from January 2018 trip. At the end of the day I had to stop shooting as my equipment got covered in hoarfrost and there was no easy way to wipe it out properly. (Tip: use filters and swap them...) Main shutter release stopped responding fairly soon after some hours exposed to cold but grip shutter release worked nicely. This happened on multiple occasions during different days.

The 35 Macro is not even a WR lens, I think you were very lucky. Nice pic though.

---------- Post added 05-07-18 at 04:39 PM ----------

I've had all my Pentax cameras out in the rain with WR lenses attached (K-5 II, K-S2, and now KP) without any problems. if it is cold outside, before I come inside I wipe it down, remove the SD card, put the camera & lens into a ziplock bag and bring it inside. I've never had any evidence of a moisture problem with any of my gear.

This was taken during a water balloon fight, K-5 II, and 18-135 WR lens. I also had a direct hit with a water balloon to the side of the camera & my head.

[conradj]

With the K-7. Time exposure on a tripod.

edit: i remember it was quite cold, prolly around -20C. Don't remember the lens. Exif says f13 at 10s.