[mindglow]

Im in the process of buying a K7 but have some thoughts regarding the weather sealing. I really like the idea of having a camera that can be used in pouring rain and not have to worry, but what if I dont have a weatherproof lens. My plan is to buy a tamron or sigma zoom instead of the kit lens, but can I still use the camera under humid conditions or should I avoid it?

A weatherproof camera is really appealing, but being limited to the WR lenses is not.

[flyer]

You are not limited to the WR lenses. All the DA* lenses are weather proof. If you are careful, you can use just about any lenses. Cover the barrel of the lens with a thick cloth, and shelter your camera/lens combo when you are not taking pictures, and you should be all right. Just remember not to leave the wet cloth on the lens when you shelter it, and don't let the cloth get soaking wet.

[Russell-Evans]

I went with a Shutter Hat as I only recently acquired a WR lens.








Thank you
Russell

[Pentaxor]

get yourself a WR kit lens or DA* if you have the budget for it. speaking about regular lenses, there was a certain fella who used some LTD lenses on the K-7 and had the combo sit out, soaked in the rain for 2 hours. and it worked out just fine.

[Lowell Goudge]

before you go out and start shooting in the pouring rain, I personally believe you need to re-think things.

Having seals makes the camera waterresistant not waterproof. While the camera will withstand exposure to harsh environments better than a camera without seals, it will not gaurantee that it will remain functional.

there have been posts previously here, of people that believed the camera was waterproof and went out all day only to have the camera fail later. Others have had them fail because they believed they could rinse them off under a tap.

If you plan to go out in the rain, protect the camera. Rely ont he water proofing to protect you from accidents not the weather, because in the long term, it won't

[Ahab]

Earlier this year I spent 3 rainey weeks in China using mostly the kit lens 18-55. Just wiped it off with a towel now and then. Had no problems. Posted a picture here taken during a down pour.

[Marc Sabatella]

I would not advise using a "sealed" camera with an "unsealed" lens in heavy rain, unless you protect the combination with a plastic bag or something similar, so it gets only a little wet rather than a lot. The seals on the camera should be enough to protect it from the small amount of moisture it will still be subject to, and your lens probably won't be hurt by a little moisture anyhow (all the same, I wouldn't be using *expensive* unsealed lenses in these conditions).

Even with a sealed lens, I'd still take the same basic precaution of protecting the camera & lens if shooting in heavy rain - after all, chances are you're now talking a bout a more expensive lens. But you can definitely expect to push things a bit more with sealed lenses.

Not sure which unsealed lenses you're considering, but frankly, if you're thinking about shooting in heavy rain on a regualr basis - enough so that's it even factors in the decision - you really should should be considering the sealed lenses more seriously, unless the alternatives you are looking at offer something more valuable in exchange. But I can't think of any Sigma or Tamron lenses that I'd rate as that kind of improvement over the sealed Pentax lenses. I suppose the 70-200/2.8 have no Pentax equivalents, and if you're looking for a superzoom (18-250, etc) there's no sealed options there - but even so, I'd be considering the 18-55 / 50-200 WR set as a more practical alternative.

[unkabin]

But the Tamron 17-50 2.8 is hard (impossible?) to beat for the price. And it's pretty compact, to boot. When will we see the 17-70 WR?

[r0ckstarr]

Do any other lens manufacturers make weather resistant lenses for the Pentax's?

[Ratmagiclady]

I don't think any third party manufacturer makes weather resistant lenses for any camera.

I'll add to the sentiment that you shouldn't treat the weather-resistance like an all-or-nothing deal. I don't have any WR or DA* lenses, but still appreciate that I can treat my K20d like a normal (old film, reasonably-gasketed) camera, rather than an open circuit board, when it comes to stuff like this.

It's a lot easier to protect just the lens than the whole- rig-from-all angles. And let's face it, weather sealing doesn't make a wet lens element or eyepiece any more fun to deal with.

A fully sealed rig would be on a different level of convenience, but I mostly see the sealed body (Which I'd be hard pressed to want to give up) ...as freedom from obsessive babying of all the electronics.

[Rondec]

I have used the K20 in very heavy weather with the DA 50-135 and 16-50 without problems. My feeling is that it holds up better than I do. As to using non weather sealed lenses, I worry about zooms in particular. Feels like some of them would act like big vacuum devices and suck in dust and water into your camera where you don't want it. Feels like primes would be a less likely to do that. Just my feeling though. Certainly you can protect just the lens a lot easier than you could both the lens and the body.

[defiant]

I really like the idea of having a camera that can be used in pouring rain and not have to worry, but what if I dont have a weatherproof lens.

I've used my K20D with non-WR lenses in heavy rain and 100+km/h wind gusts, without wiping the camera down, and the camera held up fine, far better than i did anyway - i had found mysterious cuts on my hands after that experience