When it rains, it pours…
The other day I was out shooting, a happy camper that did not consult the weather forecast. I paid the price for my ignorance, and was soon caught in a heavy downpour in January. The problem with January in Denmark in combination with rain is that there are no leaves on the trees, and hence nowhere to seek shelter.
Towards the end of the shoot I arrived at a big lake where the rain came down as if I had stepped into my morning shower wearing all my clothes! I was wearing proper clothing for the weather fortunately, but my camera gave up just when I was about to take a shot of the dramatic lake.
Lucky for me, I was able to use my iPhone to take a shot. The iPhone was difficult to operate because there was so much water on the screen that the phone had difficulties figuring out what was rain and what was my fingers trying to give instructions! But I succeeded as you can see above. I am still today really annoyed that I was not able to take shots with the Nikon Z6ii that I had brought along with the Nikon AF-S 70-200mm VRii. But the camera had stopped working and the iPhone image is all I got.
If you remember mounting a lens on a DSLR without setting the aperture locked at the minimum value (say f/32), then you probably also know the “FE” error, where the camera tells you that you need to change the aperture on the lens. This is exactly the message I got in the top LCD, and a more elaborate version in the rear LCD. The camera had stopped working, and there was nothing I could do out in the rain. It was clear to me that the CPU contacts had been short-circuited by rain getting into the camera somehow.
Arriving at home I could get the Nikon Z6ii to work with a S-series lens, so the camera was fine. And I could get the Nikon AF-S 70-200mm VRii to work with my Nikon D4. So the problem was isolated to the FTZ adapter. And I found water inside the FTZ adapter, that should not be there, so no wonder the camera could not talk properly to the lens.
After drying the FTZ adapter for a few hours it all started to work again and I was very relieved. I would have been sorry to see my almost brand new Nikon Z6ii being damaged for obvious reasons, and also I would have hated my beloved Nikon AF-S 70-200mm VRii lens to stop working. I could have accepted the FTZ adapter to be damaged, but was so lucky that also this one got back in operation.
My solution to all this is to get a rain cover for the camera. They come in different sizes and price ranges, but I am sure they would have saved me for the watery experience. I know that both lens and camera are waterproof, but going forward I prefer to be better safe than sorry, and will bring a rain cover for eventualities.
Video link
Related reading
Nikon FTZ adapter – when is it relevant?
Nikon Z6ii vs Z6 – Which one for you?
FTZ adapter: If the lens attached to the FTZ is sealed – I think this must help a lot in wet conditions.
https://youtu.be/o_BFYNzgJ0c – not really, unfortunately :-/