The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Weather sealing thoughts

ryc

Member
Well,

I have read in several places including the sony site that the a900 is sealed. There are even pictures that show rubber gaskets around buttons and so on. However, after comparing my a900 to my d700 i found that 1, they have very similar doors for memory cards, 2, the d700 has gaskets around the key parts of the card door and the a900 does not. Maybe my eyes are getting old and I just dont see it there. If you have better eyes, please have a look and let me know.

Thanks
 

jonoslack

Active member
Well,

I have read in several places including the sony site that the a900 is sealed. There are even pictures that show rubber gaskets around buttons and so on. However, after comparing my a900 to my d700 i found that 1, they have very similar doors for memory cards, 2, the d700 has gaskets around the key parts of the card door and the a900 does not. Maybe my eyes are getting old and I just dont see it there. If you have better eyes, please have a look and let me know.

Thanks
HI Jorge
unless my eyes are rubbish as well, then you are right. I remember reading somewhere that they have a 'labyrinth' principle for keeping water out (not convinced personally).
On the other hand I've shot mine in the rain quite a bit without issue, and so have lots of others - My dealer says that the sealing is quite good, but they don't push it as they don't want claims (shrug).

I was never very convinced with Nikon sealing either, after I found water in the battery compartment of one of the 'sealed' cameras (which did have a gasket). The only camera I'd really trust for hours in a deluge is the Olympus E1 (and perhaps the E3).
 

douglasf13

New member
Jono is correct about the labyrinth seals. Sony must have confidence in them, because they consider the A900 to be better sealed than the A700, and the A700 had gaskets in the card door. I unfortunately can't find the link that goes into detail about the new seals. I agree with Jono that the A900 is sealed as well as any camera outside of the E1, E3 and I've yet to hear of one fail in poor weather (or the A700, for that matter.)
 

ryc

Member
Found this on another site.

The camera is weather sealed which means you don't have to run inside screaming when it starts spitting. The buttons and switches have rubber sealants on the inside but the memory card door has no rubber lining. This is a new design by Sony called the Labyrinth Seal. It works by creating a tightly sealed interlocking layer that water can't navigate through. This means there's no forcing the door closed because of springy rubber bouncing back.
 

jonoslack

Active member
Found this on another site.

The camera is weather sealed which means you don't have to run inside screaming when it starts spitting. The buttons and switches have rubber sealants on the inside but the memory card door has no rubber lining. This is a new design by Sony called the Labyrinth Seal. It works by creating a tightly sealed interlocking layer that water can't navigate through. This means there's no forcing the door closed because of springy rubber bouncing back.
Brilliant - now we even know WHY they used labyrinth seals - thanks for that.
 

Robert Campbell

Well-known member
It may be a new design, but the concept is old -- Pasteur used such tortuous pathways to keep his cultures free from outside bacteria.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
What counts in the end of the day is, that the A900 and it's lenses (I hope also including Zeiss) is weather proof. Which means for me it can stand a heavy rain. I do not care if it would survive falling in water - but rain for longer duration is what I need resistance for!
 
J

Jamesmd

Guest
Hi, once my wife dropped a coffee over A700 and nothing happened , apart from having a tense day !

I cleaned all the sugar with a damp cloth , and perfect .

James
 
Top