Performance in harsh conditions?

[macsareback]

I was just curious as to how these cameras stand up to harsh conditions, there are more and more weather sealed cameras coming out on the market. I would suspect these gaskets would have to be replaced at some point? I have no experience with a weather sealed model, but I was mainly just wondering if people had experiences to share. Especially cold weather ones. It is -1c here.

 

[odklizec]

I'm frequently using GXR (all Ricohs) in all kinds of weather and no problem yet. Drop of water here or there is usually not a problem. Of course, the battery is drained faster in case of cold weather. It's better to have a spare battery kept in the inside pocket. And if you return to the warm place, the lens is usually foggy. So you should leave the camera turned off for a while to make it comfortable with warmer environment.

 

[macsareback]

That is good to hear Pavel, I was just curious as to why Ricoh doesn't weather seal this model or if they may have plans for the future? If you can shoot in -20-30c that would be amazing! I may travel to alaska sometime during a winter, and I will see if I can pull it off.

 

[odklizec]

Weather sealing would make the GXR body and module noticeably larger and of course, more expensive. In addition, it would not help you with deep freeze.

I took this in -10°C (A12 28)...

or this in -15°C (A12 28)...

And no problem noticed, except somewhat difficult camera handling in thick gloves and as mentioned above, quicker battery discharge, which is quite normal in such low temperatures

 

[macsareback]

Impressive