Originally posted by sdesposito I recently purchased the K20D. One of the features that sold me on the Pentax (vs the Nikon D90 or Canon 40D/50D) was the weather resistant body. Since I'll be visiting Costa Rica in April this was a really important feature to me.
In recent days I've started thinking about the fact that while K20D body is weather resistant, none of my lenses are (in addition to the kit lens I've also purchased the DA 55-200m and the DA 40mm limited).
Will light rain or ocean splashes cause serious damage to the lenses I have?
Should I consider investing in a DA* lens (I would like go for the 16-50mm or the new 55mm). Problem is if I were to invest in a DA* I would likely need to sell the 40mm to help offset the cost....and I really like the 40mm.
Also, just how weather resistant is the K20D + a DA* lens. Could I shoot in pouring rain, heavy snow, etc?
Any recommendations? Thanks
I've used it for 45 minutes in the pouring rain on one occasion (rain was so hard that softball fields flooded quickly but tournament games are NOT stopped unless there is lightening). I've used it in the snow, sleet, and light to moderate rain on many occasions. Freezing fog, and fog as well. On one occasion it was 100% humidity at 5000ft, we were in and out of the clouds, and my gear (pack, clothes, body) was completely soaked from moisture, as was my camera!
I really don't understand why people continue to debate this.
The K20D/K10D are fully sealed cameras. There was a post on photo.net recently about snow in london and the K20D and 50-135 was fully covered in snow on a tripod. I have not seen a secondary post that said it's no longer working.
Secondly, while it was well agreed that YOU SHOULD NOT put your K20D under a faucet the K10D/GX10 was put under a faucet and again it still worked (see youtube or dpreview.com for thread).
I'm not really sure who is spreading the rumors that the sealing is sub par, or what they have to gain. I suspect Canon and Nikon have the most to gain from this, as do disgruntled Canon and Nikon shooters unhappy with that fact they have to spend $1600 to $3000 to get a sealed camera, and Canon is more like $4000.
Most of the people spewing malicious and wrong information about the sealing actually never needed a sealed camera, and most likely never used it in conditions that surely required sealing.
I have almost 20,000 actuations on my K10D, I have used it mostly outdoors for over 2 years, I have also used a K20D in many situations where sealing was essential over a 5 month span, and again both cameras are fully functional and continue to take quality photos with no sign of damage or wear.
Further, while the worst of the weather (the 45minute pouring rain) was endured with a sealed lens, most of my other inclement weather shooting has been done with non sealed lenses. In 10 years I have never lost a lens, and never had fungus. Granted I usually use my manual focus lenses for this type of stuff since they are typically better built and more durable than modern autofocus, the point of course is sealed lenses are not 100% necessary to protect the camera body except in the worst conditions.
I highly doubt, unless you live in the rain forest, that you or your gear see more days of rain, snow, sleet and 100% humidity in the clouds fog than I do. Quite frankly Pentax should be giving me free gear to test for them, as there is no test like the real world.
Bottom line, the cameras are sealed well enough that most likely YOU will be beaten to sumbimission from the elements before they do!
Now go take your camera outside, take some photos and stop worrying that Pentax is somehow trying to trick you into believing you have a sealed camera when you really don't!