Me and My Camera Got VERY WET.

[pandora]

With some trepidation I kept shooting as the storm broke over the city and rain came tumbling down by the bucket load.
Last night was the first opportunity I had to veryify or deny Oly's hype as to how weatherproof E-series cameras and lenses are.
I have to report that whilst being subjected to a 20 minute deluge the E-520 fitted with a 14-42mm kit lens just kept on firing.
When I got back to the car I towelled us both off and this morning I checked to confirm that the camera still works -

It started with a flash of lightning and a peel of thunder followed by a sudden downpour.

No one was around to hear me yell, "BRING IT ON!" or to wonder why some idiot with a camera on a tripod was taking pictures.

When I got home I showered and slipped into my moccas and jamas for the night - only then did I realise how fun it was!

[RocketRick]

Originally Posted by pandora

With some trepidation I kept shooting as the storm broke over the city and rain came tumbling down by the bucket load.
Last night was the first opportunity I had to veryify or deny Oly's hype as to how weatherproof E-series cameras and lenses are.
I have to report that whilst being subjected to a 20 minute deluge the E-520 fitted with a 14-42mm kit lens just kept on firing.
When I got back to the car I towelled us both off and this morning I checked to confirm that the camera still works -
It started with a flash of lightning and a peel of thunder followed by a sudden downpour.
No one was around to hear me yell, "BRING IT ON!" or to wonder why some idiot with a camera on a tripod was taking pictures.
When I got home I showered and slipped into my moccas and jamas for the night - only then did I realise how fun it was!

Just for future reference: the Olympus E-system cameras with weather sealing are the E-1 and the E-3. The "High Grade" and "Super High Grade" lenses are weather-sealed, and the "Standard Grade" lenses are not.

Neither your E-520 nor your 14-42 lens is actually weather sealed. You got lucky. (And, you got some very nice photos, too....)

- Rick

[Mr. Pickles]

I like the images too...and tend to think that you did get a bit lucky the camera didn't flake out. But, I think in todays world, most of these cameras are good at resisting some rain, but I still wouldn't chance it....

[moonshadow]

Very nice shots, and your much gutsier than I am/

[pandora]

Originally Posted by RocketRick

Just for future reference: the Olympus E-system cameras with weather sealing are the E-1 and the E-3. The "High Grade" and "Super High Grade" lenses are weather-sealed, and the "Standard Grade" lenses are not.
Neither your E-520 nor your 14-42 lens is actually weather sealed. You got lucky. (And, you got some very nice photos, too....)- Rick

Rick, thanks for the wake up call on my E-520 that prior to your advice I would have been willing to swear on a 10ft high stack of bibles that somewheres in the blurb I had read that all E-series are weather sealed. I have just been rummaging through the reviews for confirmation, but could find no claim to suggest that the E520 is weather sealed, just as you say. So in doing my homework on both I must have confused the E-520 reviews with E-3 reviews.

Originally Posted by Mr. Pickles

I like the images too...and tend to think that you did get a bit lucky the camera didn't flake out. But, I think in todays world, most of these cameras are good at resisting some rain, but I still wouldn't chance it....

As you and Rick advise, I was lucky. And as you point out, most cameras of today are probably showerproof to some degree - in the light of my experience the E-520 has just demonstrated that to be so - but in future I won't be pushing the envelope!

Originally Posted by moonshadow

Very nice shots, and your much gutsier than I am/

Thanks moonshadow.

[RocketRick]

Originally Posted by pandora

Rick, thanks for the wake up call on my E-520 that prior to your advice I would have been willing to swear on a 10ft high stack of bibles that somewheres in the blurb I had read that all E-series are weather sealed. I have just been rummaging through the reviews for confirmation, but could find no claim to suggest that the E520 is weather sealed, just as you say. So in doing my homework on both I must have confused the E-520 reviews with E-3 reviews.

No problem. I'm glad you "weathered" the storm all right, in any case.

If you look at an E-1 or an E-3, you'll see that all of the various "hatches" have rubber seals and positive locks on them. The battery compartment, for instance, has an o-ring around the edge of the door.

The high-grade and super-high-grade lenses all have a rubber ring around the mount plate, as well. It only sits a tiny fraction of an inch proud of the mount plate, but it's enough to make a positive seal when attached to the camera body.

You might want to look in to picking up a used E-1 for your future "wet" adventures. I got one about 6 months ago for $200 off Craigslist; the typical used price is a bit higher, but particularly good deals do crop up from time to time. Married to any of the mid-range lenses, such as the 50mm macro, the 50-200mm tele zoom, or the 14-54mm zoom, you'll have a weather-sealed system that will be hard to beat!

I finally picked up a used 50-200mm a few weeks ago, and I can't wait to put it on my E-1 and go out the next time it rains!

- Rick

[pandora]

Originally Posted by RocketRick

No problem. I'm glad you "weathered" the storm all right, in any case.

If you look at an E-1 or an E-3, you'll see that all of the various "hatches" have rubber seals and positive locks on them. The battery compartment, for instance, has an o-ring around the edge of the door.

The high-grade and super-high-grade lenses all have a rubber ring around the mount plate, as well. It only sits a tiny fraction of an inch proud of the mount plate, but it's enough to make a positive seal when attached to the camera body.

You might want to look in to picking up a used E-1 for your future "wet" adventures. I got one about 6 months ago for $200 off Craigslist; the typical used price is a bit higher, but particularly good deals do crop up from time to time. Married to any of the mid-range lenses, such as the 50mm macro, the 50-200mm tele zoom, or the 14-54mm zoom, you'll have a weather-sealed system that will be hard to beat!

I finally picked up a used 50-200mm a few weeks ago, and I can't wait to put it on my E-1 and go out the next time it rains!

- Rick

Hi Rick - following your clues I've just taken a closer look at my E-3 and E-520 hatches and found the rubber seals that are not featured on the E-520. So yeah, I can now see how the gods on Mt Olympus must have been watching over me that wet and stormy night.

Both E-series cams were bought this year. The 520 came with 14-42mm and 40-150mm standard kit lenses and I later added the 70-300mm to my bag, which I can't say whether it's a standard or high grade lens. Santa is bringing me a 12-60mm SWD for Chrissy, however, I don't see me investing in a used E-1 for "wet" adventures as you put it ... in future I shall lash a brolly to the tripod, or better still limit myself to shooting between wiper blades like Spitfires shoot through their propellers.

While I have your attention, can you tell me what could possibly have gone wrong when in the middle of a sequence last Saturday my E-3 suddenly "shut down"? I switched it OFF and ON again and it was OK for a few frames before it happened again causing me to miss critical shots.

For the action the relevant settings were: Shutter Priority at 1/1000 - 1/1500sec > Sequential shooting at "Low speed" > Single AF area set to "S-t-d" > Quality - Large Super Fine > Auto ISO > cam on monopod > subjects front lit by brilliant sunshine.

So was it user error or a camera malfunction? I have not been able to reproduce the fault since but I sure don't want it to happen when I'm shooting my daughter's horses at the Australian Championships in January.

Any suggestions from you or any member who may have had this happen would be appreciated. The E-3 is still under warranty.

[Mr. Pickles]

It might have been from a faulty CF card. Reformat in the camera just to be sure, or swap it for another. One other thing to check for the fun of it is the camera/lens contact "fingers". Make sure they are clean (use a pencil eraser). Usually this would give an error, but not always.

Ideas anyway....

[pandora]

CF card was 8GB Sandisk Extreme III - OK, do you mean reformat the card or Camera ? ... I will check the 70-300mm lens contacts as you suggest but being an intermittent glitch I guess there's no way that I can be sure that it won't happen again. Of course I will have the E-520 backup.

[Mr. Pickles]

Reformat the card while it is in the camera.

[pandora]

Thanks; that has been done and I have cleaned the contacts, so I shall just hope that may have been the cause.

[pandora]

Originally Posted by RocketRick

I finally picked up a used 50-200mm a few weeks ago, and I can't wait to put it on my E-1 and go out the next time it rains! - Rick

You know Rick, I was looking at adding that lens to my bag but for my needs figured it was both too short for birding and too long for the way I see landscapes - but it's a fast F2.8 and critically sharp I believe. . The "Wet" shots above were all shot at 14mm

I hope you'll post a few of your shots for us to see.

[RocketRick]

Originally Posted by pandora

Hi Rick - following your clues I've just taken a closer look at my E-3 and E-520 hatches and found the rubber seals that are not featured on the E-520. So yeah, I can now see how the gods on Mt Olympus must have been watching over me that wet and stormy night.

Both E-series cams were bought this year. The 520 came with 14-42mm and 40-150mm standard kit lenses and I later added the 70-300mm to my bag, which I can't say whether it's a standard or high grade lens. Santa is bringing me a 12-60mm SWD for Chrissy, however, I don't see me investing in a used E-1 for "wet" adventures as you put it ... in future I shall lash a brolly to the tripod, or better still limit myself to shooting between wiper blades like Spitfires shoot through their propellers.

I just noticed that you have an E-3; there's no need to invest in an E-1 when you already have a newer weather-sealed body.

If you look at this Olympus America lens selection page, you'll see exactly which lenses are in the High Grade and Super High Grade categories; the HG and SHG lenses are all weather-sealed. Out of the four you mentioned, only the 12-60mm is weather-sealed.

Originally Posted by pandora

While I have your attention, can you tell me what could possibly have gone wrong when in the middle of a sequence last Saturday my E-3 suddenly "shut down"? I switched it OFF and ON again and it was OK for a few frames before it happened again causing me to miss critical shots.

For the action the relevant settings were: Shutter Priority at 1/1000 - 1/1500sec > Sequential shooting at "Low speed" > Single AF area set to "S-t-d" > Quality - Large Super Fine > Auto ISO > cam on monopod > subjects front lit by brilliant sunshine.

So was it user error or a camera malfunction? I have not been able to reproduce the fault since but I sure don't want it to happen when I'm shooting my daughter's horses at the Australian Championships in January.

Any suggestions from you or any member who may have had this happen would be appreciated. The E-3 is still under warranty.

As others have mentioned, dirty contacts, or a lens that's not fully seated on the mount (and therefore making intermittent contact) could have effects like those you were seeing. Re-formatting the memory card while it's in the camera certainly can't hurt, either. Also, I've heard of weird problems happening when the battery charge gets too low. Charging it fully before going out on a shoot is a good idea.

If it were me, I'd do all of the suggested things, and then keep the E-520 handy as a backup in case of problems. If it doesn't re-occur, then you can be pretty confident that one of those solutions fixed it. If it does, then you can better document the problem, and send it in for repair. (Of course, if you're nearing the end of the warranty period, it might make sense to send it in right away.)

- Rick

[pandora]

Hi Rick - thanks for taking time to give me all those tips and I apologise for the late reply. I will certainly check out those points and you may well have put your finger on the problem being dirty contacts, or the lens not being properly seated. The lens with which the fault occurred was the 70-300mm. It hasn't happened with the 14-42mm, and can't say much about the 40-140mm as I rarely use that lens.

[Max@Home]

...VERY nice images

Originally Posted by pandora

... in future I shall lash a brolly to the tripod, or better still limit myself to shooting between wiper blades like Spitfires shoot through their propellers.

...or invest US $ 6.95 for a two-pack of OpTech RainSleeve or US $ 8.95 for a two-pack of OpTech RainSleeve-Flash they saved my EOS 20D + lens before I had the EOS 1-D Mk3 + L 's (those are Canon's BTW ), and are small enough to always have them with you

The E-3 is still under warranty.

...then if it happens again send it in just to make sure you do not miss critical shots in the future...

...€0.02...

Kindest regards,

Max@Home

[pandora]

Thanks Max ... those Optech Rainsleeves are a neat idea and certainly worth considering for the E-520.
The E-3 and Olympus SWD lenses however are fully weather sealed and in future that's what I'll be using for shooting in the wet.