Ole Jørgen Liodden in his latest post at Canon Field Reviews has been testing the Canon 7D in extreme weather conditions. Obviously extreme weather takes many forms, but a recent trip to Antarctica proved more than suitable for putting the 7D through its paces. He took a similar trip last year and his, and others, equipment faltered under the conditions, which meant this was definitely going to be a stern test.

The conditions, and the shooting process, are described by Ole,

“When shooting wildlife I’m usually laying on my stomach, with the camera in direct ground contact. This works great with most cameras if the ground is dry, but in Antarctica the ground is almost always wet, muddy or covered with snow or sand. On my recent expedition it snowed almost every day, and at times wet snow, which is worse than rain.”

So how did the 7D cope? Remarkably well is the answer. In Ole’s test the “7D had absolutely NO problems with snow, rain and water (sea spray).” He makes a note that the battery grip on the 7D appears to be tighter and better sealed than previously, knowing that some 5D Mark II users have had problems with water leaking between the grip and the camera. On the trip he did also have a 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III which he comments on in relation to how they coped with the environment.

As far as thoughts on the 7D though, Ole was impressed – the camera passed 10,000 exposures without any hint of a problem. If you’ve used any of these cameras in extreme weather conditions Ole would love to hear your opinion, so jump to Canon Field Reviews and let him know what you think.