WR DSLR camera, are they worth getting?

[rich85uk]

Hi all

have wanted a DSLR for a while now and with a trip to LeMans and SE Asia coming up i thought now is the perfect time to get one, however i noticed that Pentax offer 81 weather resistant sealing on the K30 and K50 which could be handy for the beach and possible rain of Thailand and Malaysia

Question is how much more tolerant to say sand,dirt and water are they? will a standard DSLR be fine with abit of rain or a beach when its windy or must they be put in a waterproof bag at the first sign of rain?

[RobDickinson]

They are all pretty tough devices.

Light rain shouldn't be a problem with any of them really.

I shoot seascapes with a non weather sealed canon all the time, check out my website www.rjd.co.nz

[rich85uk]

thanks for the feedback, nice photos by the way!

[robsa]

They are pretty good - http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/137-photographi...

[rich85uk]

robsa said:

They are pretty good - http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/137-photographi...

Reassuring they can withstand that!

[jayemm89]

General rule, unless you are a pro photographer, you'll give up long before the kit does!

[veblen]

I recently bought the Nikon D5200,I am very satisfied with it, it's an incredible camera. The photos are just amazing at 24Mega Pixels. The autofocus VR lens is awesome

[veblen]

I have done an in-depth review of the Nikon D5200, with key comparisons of competitors and feedback from actual owners. You can read it all here http://thedigitalcamera.net/nikon-d5300-vs-nikon-d...

[Elderly]

veblen said:

I recently bought the Nikon D5200,I am very satisfied with it,

I'm sure you are are but that's irrelevant as the OP is asking about WR cameras and the d5200 is not.

[rich85uk]

Just to put a slight spin on things the Pentax K50 price has dropped slightly (saw a deal for just over £408 which included WR kit lense)

however..have just signed up to ebay and noticed that the Pentax K5/K5II and Nikon D7000 are popping up within budget 2nd hand and all 3 are weather sealed aswell as metal bodies...

would this be a better route or am i getting ahead of myself? (first DLSR)

[gangzoom]

I've used a 450D and 550D in light rain, no problems. Neither are officially weather sealed. Main problem I found was trying to keep water off the lens.

[markmullen]

An odd shower shouldn't hurt a non sealed body but prolonged rain does, I was at rally gb a few years ago when the chap next to me had his 40d die in the typically grim welsh weather, my 1 series kept going for hours longer.

Be aware you'll need weather sealed lenses too plus some lenses need a UV filter to complete the sealing.

[RobDickinson]

And even a full on setup can easily get wiped out by the sea...

[Thunderace]

The internals of a Canon A1 film camera of mine became corroded beyond economic repair from living by and using it near the sea over a period of years according to Canon

I also butchered the viewfinder display of a 40D with the ridiculous amounts of sweat that were pouring off me on a trip to Singapore. Canon fixed that one under warranty