Camera to take in little rain and mist

[lamdyapandya]

I am primarily looking for photography with a bit of video work on the sides, supposed to be taken on treks.

Are the weather-sealed Lumix camera's the way to go or anything else. Currently I have Canon m50, m200 with some native and EF-S lens

[JessePinkmanYo]

It so happens that you own two of the most highly recommended cameras for hiking. One of my friends has spent a lot of time researching the topic and cant seem to stop singing praises to these cameras whenever the topic crops up for discussion. According to him, the M50 and M200 offer the best balance between image quality/camera capability and portability. But for the battery, I'd tend to agree.

And from what I gather, weather sealing wont help you much, especially with the lenses. It might even be counterproductive in many cases where you'll have water droplets/mist/haze inside your lens (that wont go away easily) thanks to abrupt changes in weather (bright sunshine one moment and torrential downpour the next).

PS - If you are not convinced, get in touch with me. I'm sure my friend will be more than happy to rid you of these thoroughly "useless" cameras :-P

[lamdyapandya]

I do agree, these are quite portable and best balance between price and performance. But I still need to baby this under a little drizzle preventing me from taking pic in very photogenic places. Does Rain cover help?

[JessePinkmanYo]

But I still need to baby this under a little drizzle preventing me from taking pic in very photogenic places. Does Rain cover help?

That is something you'll need to do with most all cameras. Unless you have something like the K-3III. Even in that case, your camera will probably withstand the rain but the lens will always be a suspect.

If its light rain/drizzle you can probably get away with rain covers or even brief exposure and wiping before putting it back in protected confines of AW bags or waterproof pouches.

My guess is if you are lookin to shoot in proper rain, you'll have to go one of these routes :-
(1) Get a waterproof case for your camera
(2) Nikon 1 AW
(3) Go with GoPro like alternatives wherein waterproofing alternatives are cheaper, plenty and more effective.

Others might want to chip in with options.

PS - The Nikon 1 AW might be a good compromise. But I understand the seals need proper cleaning and are often prone to decay in negligence.

[lokeshshah]

I recently did a 5 day bike ride though the Sahyadri mountains in heavy to moderate rain. Took the Olympus OM5 with 12-200 lens. Other than the need to clean water on the front lens, it worked wonderfully.

[lamdyapandya]

Thanks sydbarett. Will take a closer look at Nikon 1 AW and cases for M50/M200. And Lokesh, this is what I needed a little bit of real-life experience from the Panasonic/Olympus Weather-Sealed camera and the extent to which this can be pushed. How many such kind of trips you have done with this OM5 ?

Got this good link https://www.phototraces.com/b/weather-sealed-cameras-list/

[mahesh]

I have used GH5 with sealed lenses in drizzle. Works without any issue. Of course, you can not take it out in extreme weather.

I have used DSLRs in light rains and they do not pose any issue too.

Only care I take in both cases is to keep a damp cloth to wipe out water from lens barrel.

If it is light rain, I have found that a shoulder/messanger bag and umbrella are the best combination for photos on treks. Just the camera setup needs to be compact. I use GH5 and a pancake lens (12-32 I think). The setup need not really be weather sealed. Rest of the time keep the stuff in waterproof bag.

If you want to go totally ballistic and take out camera without fear, I strongly recomment Gopro. It has very good quality stabilised videos and OKish photos. Put it in rain, under water, in waterfall, in snow, it just keeps working.