How "waterproof" is the 1Ds ?

[Russ_Wright]

I can only speak for the 1D but I sure wouldn't count on taking them through a real rainy day. Since Nancy and I shoot Cyclo-Cross during the winter we tend to be out for hours on rainy days.

Rainy day in Napa

After the first day (about four hours of shooting in the rain), one 1D stopped working- wouldn't power back up. After letting it sit over night still no good then brought out the hair dryer and that brought it back to life. It worked for another day in the rain but the display was fogged up most of the time. We eventually had to have that one repaired by Canon as it was dropped onto a concrete floor (ooops) so it's hard to say if it would have recovered but it was having more problems then the other 1D.

On the second day the other 1D display started fogging up from the inside. That dryed out after three days.

The one that had the biggest problem wasn't using a sealed lens, we were just trying to keep it dry with a towel. The other 1D was using a new 80-200IS lens. We changed lenses/batteries/CF cards out of the rain, of course.

The bottom line is that these cameras are pretty good in the rain but invest in a cover if you plan to shoot in the rain.

I'm amazed at how well the 550ex works in the rain- no problems. Now we cover them with plastic but we've had them w/o anything many times.

Russ

[Alan_Goh]

Hi Chuck,

Thanks very much. Just another question: would other L-series lenses be upgraded to be equally water proof some time in the near future?

Thanks.

[ChuckWestfall]

>>would other L-series lenses be upgraded to be equally water proof some time in the near future?<<

That's up to Canon Inc., and they're not talking.

According to what we've seen so far, it looks like the lenses involved have to be designed with weather sealing in mind right from the start. Every L-lens and extender introduced since the IS super-telephotos in 1999 has had built-in weather-sealing, and I expect that trend to continue with new L-lenses introduced in the future. I do not expect any retrofits to existing lenses, but that's just my hunch.

Well, this thread is all about WATERproof, but what about AIRproof?

We all have to deal with dust issue on the CEMOS, how L lens are really proof ? especially zooms...

Is really air (with dust) coming thru lenses or is dust only coming in when change the lense.

On my own I'm quite sure that dust comes thru lense too, but that's just an impression.

Like to know what Chuck can say about...

Thanks

[ChuckWestfall]

>>Like to know what Chuck can say about...<<

I would suggest that you start another thread to cover this topic. That will make it easier for interested readers to find.

[BenStrasser]

Chuck, I just bought a new 28-70mm L series f/2.8 from B&H this past January and it does not have the rubber seal my 17-40mm L series has at the body mount. Is it an oversight and was not installed or was it manufactured prior to weathersealing? Serial 150xxx.

[ChuckWestfall]

The EF 28-70mm f/2.8L USM was initially released in 1993, about 6 years before the first weather-sealed L-lenses were announced. As I've mentioned in other posts here, EF lenses without weather-sealing cannot be retrofitted to add this feature.