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Education Field Instructional

No, Your Camera Isn’t Weather Sealed. It’s Weather Resistant, Maybe.

Chris Gampat
No Comments
07/13/2022
3 Mins read
Created with RNI Films app. Preset 'Fuji Astia 100F'

Your camera isn’t weather sealed, it’s weather-resistant. This means your camera isn’t waterproof. That’s a huge difference. It’s imperative to understand this as it can lead to photographers not knowing the difference between them. This is especially the case for newer photographers who never understand how durable their camera gear is. Even years later, I’m traumatized by seeing a photographer pull a camera and lens out of their pocket with no protection. So let’s dive into this.

What do these terms mean?

  • Weather sealed – the camera is completely sealed to the elements. This is pretty wrong.
  • Weather resistant – the camera is resistant to the elements.
  • Moisture, splash, and dustproof – the camera can resist exactly those elements.

Notice we didn’t say waterproof. Very few cameras are waterproof, and they’re only so when all the doors and seals are completely shut.

Here’s where it can get confusing. Camera manufacturers refer to their durability designs as weather seals. They’ll say things along the lines of their cameras and lenses having weather seals. These are correct, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely impervious to the elements; they’re just more weather-resistant to environmental hazards.

Further, you also need to search for diagrams of how weather resistance is done. The key places to look on a lens are the following:

  • The front element: can moisture or dust get in there? Will you need a UV filter?
  • The mount: is there some sort of rubber gasket? I’d never trust a manufacturer that says the seal is tight enough to keep elements out. The exception is Nikon which designs its lenses so that the lip goes over the entire camera mount.
  • The buttons: a lot of lenses don’t have many buttons because it can compromise weather-resistant design.
  • The switches: same as the buttons.
  • The rings: aperture rings, focusing rings, and control rings need weather-resistant seals.

Cameras are much different. Here’s where to look for weather-resistant seals on a camera’s diagrams:

  • The battery door
  • The card door
  • The hot shoe
  • The buttons
  • The dials
  • The viewfinder
  • The switches
  • The LCDs
  • The port doors
  • The tripod mount
  • The strap lug area

Typically, this is done a few ways. It’s done by using overlapping materials and rubber gaskets. Combine this with the right amount of pressure and it will create a weather-resistant lens or camera. 

Here’s where is gets crazier: if the camera manufacturer says there is weather resistance, your warranty probably won’t cover it. Why? I don’t know. As far as I see, that’s theft. And it’s a major problem across the photo industry with cameras and lenses. There are techs and reps who will tell you that even if your camera doesn’t have a weather-resistant design, it will be fine in the rain. This is irresponsible language. It encourages a photographer to put their product at risk and then have to pay for the consequences.

So why does any of this matter? Well, a weather-resistant design doesn’t just apply to going out into the elements. It also means your product is more durable and should be more reliable over time. It will mean your sensor doesn’t get as dirty too.

camera Cameras design durability lens lenses waterproof weather resistance weather resistant weather seals weatherproof
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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