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8 Weather Sealed Canon Cameras That Can Play in the Rain and More

Brett Day
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06/30/2020
5 Mins read
Canon EOS R

No matter what Mother Nature has planned, these weather sealed Canon cameras can take all she’s got.

If you’re an adventurous photographer, you probably like the idea of getting out into the wild when the weather takes a turn for the worse. This is a great thing: most of us earth-dwellers tend to like staying dry and warm, and because of this, most photographers miss out on epic scenes that can only be created when the sky opens up. If, though, you’re ready to get your feet wet, you may find you need a camera that can stand up to Mother Nature’s abuse. Over the next few weeks, we are going to break down the best weather sealed cameras available by brand. In this roundup, we are going to focus on weather sealed Canon cameras that are ready for anything.

The cameras listed below have all the weather sealed goodness you need. We have put them all through real-world tests, so trust us when we say they will survive whatever the weather throws at you. You can shoot in the rain, the snow, the howling winds, at the beach, at the lake, and so many other places that would make non-weather sealed cameras shake in their boots. There are both DSLR and Mirrorless options listed below, and there are cameras that will suit all budgets too. If you have always wanted to own some weather sealed Canon cameras, these are the models you need to take a closer look at.

Canon 7D Mk II

canon aps-c cameras

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Excellent autofocus system
  • Big, beautiful viewfinder
  • Dual card slots enable you to shoot with some images transferring over Wifi if you use an EyeFi Card
  • Fast FPS shooting at 10 frames at second
  • Better ETTL transmission with Canon products
  • Versatile RAW files
  • Weather sealing
  • Phenomenal battery life
  • Tracking focusing is excellent
  • Pretty decent high ISO results

Cons

  • Autofocus with Sigma glass can be messy
  • Not much of a step up beyond the original Canon 7D

Buy now: $1,298

Canon 80D

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Fantastic ergonomics
  • Fast autofocus in Live View.
  • Phenomenal focus tracking, the best we’ve seen.
  • Pretty simple to use
  • The tilty-swingy screen of awesomeness
  • The touch screen is very nice
  • Canon proves itself to have the simplest menu system available on the market right now with a camera aimed at the semi-professional

Cons

  • The directional pad in the middle of the back control wheel isn’t an appropriate replacement for their multi-directional controller
  • Phase detection AF through the viewfinder is not the best
  • Image Quality starts to fall apart easily with just a bit of editing
  • More image noise than we’re used to seeing at ISO 1600 and above
  • AF points can be tough to spot in the viewfinder

Buy now: $899

Canon EOS R

Weather Sealed Canon cameras

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Build quality
  • Weather sealed like crazy
  • Autofocus is good
  • Protects the sensor when off
  • Canon’s menu system is still simple
  • Ergonomics feel nice
  • With a lightweight lens, it feels just as nice as a Sony camera
  • These are some of Canon’s best RAW files in years
  • Good battery life
  • Fast Wifi transfers, though not as simple as Sony’s

Cons

  • Needs Dual SD cards
  • Needs a joystick
  • The magic touch bar is odd and could use refinement
  • Optimizing the way the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed dials work, such as the automatic metering for ISO, not cool
  • Canon needs to improve or change their face and eye detection

Buy now: $1,799

Canon 6D Mk II

Weather Sealed Canon cameras

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Nice feel to the camera body, though it’s now starting to feel more like the Canon 5D Mk III than the Canon 5D Mk II; and I preferred the latter
  • Weather sealing
  • Pretty fair color versatility
  • The flippy LCD screen is a nice touch
  • You can push the shadows quite a bit
  • Great battery life
  • Very good high ISO performance; we made a print at 13×17 inches from an ISO 6400 photo
  • Canon’s Touch screen menu continues to be the best on the market
  • Canon’s rendition of skin tones continues to be the best on the market

Cons

  • Subpar highlight rendition recovery (update, In Capture One, it isn’t bad)
  • Autofocus points all towards the center
  • Very slow autofocus with Sigma lenses
  • 26MP is a bit too conservative when there are fantastic 24MP APS-C sensors
  • Lower ISOs don’t feel as versatile as the higher ISO settings
  • A single card slot

Buy now: $1,199

Pro Tip: Just remember that while these weather sealed Canon cameras will be just fine while out in the elements, you need to make sure to pair them with weather sealed lenses to be fully protected. Not sure which weather sealed lenses to buy? Take a look at this roundup, pick one (or a few) lenses up and then head out on out without a care in the world when it comes to the weather.

Canon EOS RP

Weather Sealed Canon cameras

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • This isn’t Canon innovating on the inside, but instead on the outside
  • This is the smallest and lightest ILC full frame camera on the market
  • Goes well with a wrist strap and a light prime lens
  • Weather sealing
  • The autofocus isn’t bad, and it’s quite usable in a number of working conditions
  • Pretty good image quality

Cons

  • Could have done better with a joystick

Buy now: $899

Canon 5D Mk IV

Weather Sealed Canon cameras

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Great image quality, though I still feel that I can do MUCH more with Sony and Fujifilm files when it comes to color. But Canon’s dynamic range is pretty darn good.
  • Ergonomical feel reminds me more of the old 5D Mk II than the Mk III, and I like that.
  • Fantastic autofocus
  • Touchscreen, finally
  • The quiet shutter is nice
  • Weather sealing

Cons

  • Price point

Buy now: $2,499

Canon EOS Ra

Weather Sealed Canon cameras

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Great ergonomics
  • Great battery life
  • Canon’s menu system is still the best on the market
  • Surprisingly good performance during the day in Auto or Daylight white balance
  • Very good high ISO performance
  • Can really make the colors in the night sky pop
  • Fantastic build quality, which is no less than we expect from Canon
  • A fully articulating LCD will always be a winner
  • 30x magnification makes manually focusing a piece of cake
  • Very sensitive touchscreen makes it easy to snap pictures and not introduce camera shake at the start of your long exposures

Cons

  • No built-in GPS is odd for a camera like this
  • Lack of a night time mode for the LCD
  • No backlit buttons on a camera made to be used in the dark is a joke (come on Canon)
  • Really needs dual card slots
  • No need for the EOS Ra to be more expensive than the EOS R

Buy now: $2,499

Canon 5Ds

Weather Sealed Canon cameras

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Solid build quality, though heavy
  • Lots of resolution for those who need it
  • Beautiful viewfinder
  • Very deep color versatility
  • Weather resistance
  • Some of the best autofocusing capabilities we’ve seen with a Canon DSLR

Cons

  • Odd menu changes if you’re a veteran Canon user. Micro adjustment isn’t in the same spot anymore
  • Lack of Wifi, but can use EyeFi Cards
  • Still can only do second curtain flash with Canon flashes
  • We expected much more highlight recovery
  • Not a lot of lenses can resolve 50MP very well

Buy now: $1,172.69