A couple of SAR readers noticed that Sony and online stores selling the A7 and A7r cameras completely removed the part of the product description that said the cameras are weather sealed. Just check these links in USA and Europe: at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS and Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
This is just pure speculation but it’s possible that the light leak issue discovered on the A7-A7r cameras also affects the dust and moisture protection. And that could be the reason why they “quietly” removed any reference about the A7-A7r having a weather sealed body. But as I said, there is nothing official yet. And if there is really a problem with the weather sealing it would be better for Sony to admit the issue and work on a solution instead of trying to hide it.
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Joe sent us this:
Sad to say that I can confirm that the a7R does exhibit light leak around the lens mount. This was reported on Sony’s Community site. To test it, put the body cap on, use either ISO25,6000 or ISO16,000 and take a 20-30″ exposure. Shine a flashlight/phone LED light around the lens mount. The image will show the leak at the 9 o’ clock position.
Here’s how mine look like at ISO16,000 and 30″ exposure:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/–exlz648TZ8/Uv3-kqaopuI/AAAAAAAAXzI/0ERlfxv_u74/w888-h593-no/a7R+Light+Leak+ISO16%252C000+at+30sec.jpg
Original thread:
http://community.sony.com/t5/Alpha-NEX-Cameras/A7-A7R-Light-leaks/td-p/254835