tcthome Loc: NJ

Nice photos.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

A bulb blower used judiciously around the lens mount would help on cleanup. Then remove the lens with the body facing down and wipe the mounting face off body and lens. Both of those bodies are pretty bullet proof.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Times change. There was a pro Canon camera that was lost during an ejection from a jet at 15,000 feet over the desert. It was found a few years later. The lens was toast, but the body still worked after the film was removed (how they located the photographer) and the body cleaned off. That was an exception, not the rule, even back then.

Olympus and Panasonic asked photographers what they would like in a camera late in the first decade of this century. Weatherproofing and sealing from dust and sand were two of the items they decided to address. Now other manufacturers are meeting that demand too.

And I have shot in blowing sands of Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve with the exposed arms and legs getting sandblasted. Yes, I took what precautions I could like limiting the camera's exposure to the blasting sand. I have shot in the rain and salt spray of the beaches and boats of Hawaii and Caribbean. But I was not going to stop shooting because of the blowing dust, sand, and salt spray. And the camera and lens still work today because they were designed to do so. Will an E-M1 mkII or D850 survive a 15,000 foot drop into the desert sand like the Canon did? I doubt they would. But when the manufacturers say their cameras are built to withstand the elements, one should hold their "feet to the fire".

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Delete the heated drying cycle !!!

(Download)

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I could be wrong, but I believe that the D850 is listed as weatherproof. I do not know about the D7100 listing. If your lenses are also listed as weatherproof, just make sure the lens mount areas of both the lenses and bodies are clean and dry and continue shooting. When my Olympus weatherproof lenses and bodies get dusty and salt sprayed, I rinse them under a gently running faucet and towel dry. Do not separate the lens from the body until they have been cleaned up. Once dry, the lens mount areas of the body and lens can be cleaned more if necessary.

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IIRC “weather” is temperature, wind and precipitation. Salt water is not weather, and neither is sand. Acoarst any level of protection is better than none.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I can promise you my camera has been soaked with salt spray. And Olympus also advertises the cameras (except the E-M10) and weatherproof lenses as specifically dustproof. Dustproof may not be in IIRC, but it is in Olympus's advertising. Of course, I will always protect my cameras as much as I can from any of the elements, but I do not shy away from using it in any of the elements. And I do not leave any of the elements on the camera and remove the elements as soon as possible. And look at their advertising photos with water, snow, dirt, and mud all over the lenses and bodies. I have easily lost count of how many times my camera has looked like the water shots in those ads. And although my cameras have not been muddy like the ads yet, they have been very dusty and dirty. Will it fail sometime in the future? There is always a chance of failure with any brand of camera. But my bet is on Olympus's weatherproofing to protect me from the elements.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I’ll take that bet. I too use Olympus, for years now, and in similar environments and ways as you describe and I have not had any problems.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I am not sure of the other bodies, but my new E-M1 mkIII is rated as IPX1 for weather resistance. I believe it is a higher rating than IIRC. Either way, at some level of increasing camera abuse all cameras will fail. It will just take longer and much more abuse before some cameras will get there. Like you stated, a camera without any weatherproofing will fail quicker than any camera rated as IIRC or IPX1.

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I wonder how IPX1 relates to IIRC.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

It goes to 11.