Forums: Photography:

I didn't take my camera to Chicago because the weather was shitty. I would have taken my manual film camera and not thought anything of it, but not the expensive dSLR. I saw lots of great shots that I missed.

How much does cold and dampness affect the camera?

general damp and cold above 10 deg farenheit - not so much. keep an extra battery in your pocket, as the overall battery life is the only thing really bothered by cold (unless you're talking antarctic cold).

Direct wetness is more of a problem though. Some bodies are sealed up better, but most are pretty susceptible. Biggest drawback of the non pro bodies IMO.

where are the biggest moisture issues on a dslr camera body, in general?

some are the same as with any camera - internal moisture (through lens mount, button placements, poorly sealed usb/power ports) can cause condensation on mirrors, sensors, and interior metal and glass surfaces - can lead to all sorts of nastiness. microscopic rusting of AF gears/motors, levers, and corrosion of electric leads.

Higher amounts of moisture can actually short out the various electrics. Sometimes just letting it dry out will fix it. Sometimes the controller boards are totally shot.

The latter I realized, but the former I didn't know exactly what to look for.

Maybe that's why the foam shutter cushion whatever-it's-called in my Canon film camera (an old EXee) has deteriorated and is now messing up the mirror- it did have some major condensation in it from shooting in the cold. Or more to the point I guess it somehow got some moisture in it that became condensation when I came in from the cold... it was snowing a couple of times, that's probably it right there.

eh - the foam does gradually dissolve into a lovely black tar on a lot of those anyway. Moisture or no.

Pretty easy to clean up and replace.

Oh, really? Good to know. I just got an old pentax, but it's nice to know the Canon can be easily repaired - it served me well for many years.

This guy makes very good replacement foam kits - and has instructions for cleaning and replacing for many cameras, if you want to give it a go on your own. It's not difficult if you have opposable thumbs and a modicum of technical ability.

kyphoto.com/classics/sealreplacement.html

I don't think your canon is on the list - tho the mirror foam replacement is pretty much the same on all manual Canon bodies (not sure about autofocus bodies though). But the pentax probably is. The canon should be a sub $50 job at any decent camera repair shop.

It's fully manual - I should take it in to get the frame advance counter fixed & the body cleaned, anyway - thanks for the tip.