Well, my 1D2 is officially dead. It was in a pretty heavy downpour and while not shooting, I had the camera lens pointed down to keep the front element dry. Water damage to the body soon followed and now I have a sexy paperweight. (The 17-40 was fine though)
I just got off the phone w/ Canon and there's tons of corrosion inside. I asked him to elaborate on the weather sealing, just for future reference so we'd know exactly how it's designed.
The weather sealing is designed to function when when the camera is facing forward in the normal shooting position. Water hits the top of the camera and drains down. When you point the lens down, water can leak in from the sides, under the dials, and under the buttons on the back of the body. So those of you who shoot in the rain, it's best to just keep the camera in the normal shooting position and keep the back as dry as possible.
Oh, they said it was beyond repair. Inside, 3 boards have corroded and the body needs a new shutter. I asked how much it would cost to actually repair should I want to take that route and including parts and labor, his estimate was $4000-5000! Yikes! Nevermind...
Does anyone have a 1D at a nice price they're selling?
UPDATE:
1D found. Thanks Marc! Thank you to everyone who contacted me regarding available 1D's out there!
The 1D2 is back from Canon in the same condition as I sent it off, much to my surprise! Everything works except for a few features.
1) AF hunts but can't obtain a lock.
2) The back, bottom LCD which displays white balance, etc, displays garbled nonsense.
3) The vertical shutter release doesn't cause the camera to meter when pressed halfway.
Add in a split prism screen and you get a camera that's fine for manual focus work such as macro and landscapes.
While I have no doubt there's corrosion inside as Canon informed me, it's odd that they weren't able to turn it on. I just stuck in a battery, flipped on the power switch, and it fired right up. Oh well.
Edited by SKPhoton on Sep 18, 2006 at 11:12 PM GMT (Reason: got camera back from canon)
Phiew, that's pretty bad
I shot a few times during more or less heavy rain in the same way you described. No problems until now. Next time I'll be more cautious.
I hope your insurance wil cover this.
I was shooting a nazi rally a couple weeks ago during a (pretty ominious and fitting) rainstorm, 2 20Ds, a 70-200 f2.8 IS and a 28-105 f3.5-4.5 They all held up perfectly, except some water on the lens screwing up the autofocus. I was scared since I had nowhere to put them but never a single falter for almost an hour of rain.
Well, I have insurance but I don't want to claim it since I've had a claim recently for the 20D (I put the money towards the 1D2). I talked to them about it and there's a good chance that they'll deny my claim and cancel my policy, which is understandable on their end. I guess I've had a string of bad luck recently with camera bodies.
I had my 1D in lots of downpour conditions.. never had a problem.
I will definitely keep in mind to keep it in the 'normal shooting position' though for future reference.
Sorry to hear about that.
I know from past threads that there are many who use their 1series in the most extreme conditiond without fail, so I have to admit I am pretty shocked by your story.
me either....which is why after getting the 2 cheap aftermarket CTAs I ordered the original battery....I figure that 2500 shots minimum using 2 canon batteries in wet weather will be plenty for most of my needs.
I'm sorry to hear about the camera...makes me a bit paranoid about bringing it out in rain without protection...especially since it's usually got a long heavy lens mounted and that tends to hang down with the back of the camera body at at least a 45° angle away from my body....and since most of my lenses aren't sealed my concern has always only been on the mount.
How much rain was it? I've heard that these cameras can take over 1" of rain an hour....
I've seen a lot of stories ( usually survival ) about the weather sealing. But this is definitely the most tragic one. The actual performance seems to be better than what Canon officially specs.
Pondria wrote:
I've seen a lot of stories ( usually survival ) about the weather sealing. But this is definitely the most tragic one. The actual performance seems to be better than what Canon officially specs.
Yeah, perhaps I'm just really tough on gear though. My 20D was sent in for repair 5 times before it finally gave out. I picked up a 1D2 hoping it would do the job better but it went out on the first death. Fortunately, cameras tend to perform pretty well for most people...
SKPhoton wrote:
My 20D was sent in for repair 5 times before it finally gave out.
Do you play soccer with your camera bodies?
J/K.
Sorry to hear about your 1d story.
It should have hold up better.
I know it's not supposed to be submerged in water, but it should hold up in the rain, even in very heavy rain, regardless of body positioning.
I'm sorry, but that story from canon seems like a lame excuse.
Imagine if you didn't have a weather sealed lens at the time.
That position (facing down) is the best bet that no water would enter the body, since the lens mount will be facing down.
The weather sealing in the rear part of the body should be very effective.
Besides, since the body is heavy and specially if you put a relatively heavy lens like a 70-200IS in it, it's only natural to have it in a facing down position in order to relieve stress from your wrists between shots. We all do that, even with a 20d and a light 70-200 f4.
Maybe the weather sealing had some kind of manufacturing flaw (it's not unheard of) and they just don't want to assume the responsibility.
fraga wrote:
Care to explain to us how you managed to submerge it in the ocean 6 times?
I'm really curious!
Well, I dunked it once and it was fine. I was trying to shoot a seascape and was chasing a sunset. I didn't calcuate the wave interval quite right, and I found myself above my waist in salt water, with the camera at about waist level. I was scared to death, but the camera was fine.
I've shot with that camera in the rain, snow... whenever and whereever, without a single problem.
Hmm.
I've had extensive experience with the Canon weather seal. I actually once, submerged my camera halfway into a swimming pool (because I wasn't thinking) to grab a really quick/cool shot. Water didn't seep into it. I've shot extensively in the rain numerous times with the lens pointed downward and have had no problems with the camera afterward. The key I figured is that you wipe it down immediately upon going into shelter and not putting it near any source of heat/cold or anything that could change its temperature.
I don't buy what Canon said. I would go higher up. At least one letter to Canon Corporate. I would possibly follow that one with one written by a lawyer with their letter head.
