DSLR BUYING GUIDE

[fhashby]

I AM NEW TO THE DSLR WORD BUT AM WANTING TO PURCHASE AN UPPER END MID-RANGE DSLR FIR USE DURING MY HUNTING/FISHING EXCURSIONS WHICH AT TIMES MAY BE FRIGID, COLD, RAINY OR ALL OF THE ABOVE.  CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND A CANON MODEL TO FIT THE BILL?

[ScottyP · Accepted solution]

Yeah, no doubt, based on what you said you need.  7d Mk. 2.

Consider going body-only instead of buying a package deal with a kit lens if you can afford to get a good "L" lens, as most of them are weatherproofed, and It makes sense to keep the whole setup weatherproofed. 

[jrhoffman75]

I never have had problems. Canon eStore has 1 year warranty. Same as new.

[TCampbell]

The 70D (a mid-range body) is weather sealed.  The 7D II (a very high-end mid-range body and some might argue is weather sealed AND built like a tank.  None of the Rebel bodies (these are entry-range bodies with price tags that start below $1000) are weather-sealed.

How durable are they?

Here's a YouTube video showing deliberate abuse being unleashed on a Canon 7D.  They start out with some gentle knocks and then start ratcheting up the abuse level... freezing it in water, then shooting at it to break it out of the ice, then set it on fire and in the end... though it clearly looks like it's been through war... it actually still works!  They did destroy the LCD screen (a part Canon service can replace.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCT-YMgjm9k

Many (probably most) of Canon's "L" series lenses are weather sealed.  But you need to specifically read the information in each lens to know.  Also... some lenses require that you add a clear filter to the front of the lens to "complete" the weather seal.   You'll know the lens is an "L" series lens because the name will put the capital letter "L" (in red) immediately following the focal ratio.  E.g. EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II.  Visually when you look at the lens it will have a red stripe around the front of it.  Only Canon does this... you'll find 3rd party lenses that sometimes use a red stripe but it doesn't mean anything (those would not be "L" series lenses nor would they be weather sealed.)

The weather-seal treatment means that the body has gaskets and/or o-rings on all the various body seams and dials.  These are sufficient to keep out water and dust as long it isn't under pressure or velocity (force).  In other words, getting caught in a normal rain, getting splashed by a sprinkler, and dust isn't going to hurt it.  Capsizing in a kayak and dunking it into a lake, river, pool, etc. very well might hurt it (astonishingly, a lot of 7D bodies have even had this happen and after a few days to dry out the camera was fine -- but it is beyond what Canon considers the limits of their weather sealed treatment.)

Also, don't remove the lens or open the battery or memory compartment door until you towel off any moisture, dirt, etc. becaues you don't want it getting into the camera body.

If you expect to be out in more aggressive foul weather then you might want to invest in a rain jacket for the camera.  Since you specifically mentioned hunting... you might want to look up lenscoat.com who make protective coatings (in camoflauge designs) as well as rain-covers (they have "arm" holes to let you get your hands inside to control the camera and it could be coming down in buckets and the camera would be safe.)  There are lots of companies that make rain-sleeves or rain-covers... mine is by ThinkTank Photo -- but I would nudge you in the direction of LensCoat only because they're the ones that make them in camoflauge patterns.