Panasonic PTZ Camera With Rain Wash Coating?

Pretty interesting claims. Here's their marketing video:

I did notice it has a possible problem with wearing off. One of the videos state not to "wipe off" the outside dome if coated with this rain coating. This leads me to think it has a limited life and could be worn off in time.

This has resulted in major rebates/discounts of the SW396 this summer. Get them while they last.

Yes, I work for Panasonic, the coating has a lifespan of about 7 years, you cannot touch it or wipe it, if you do then the area touched acts like a normal dome, I.e. the water won't just flatten where it has been touched.

we have only just launched it in Australia where I'm based, a lot of interest from stadiums, councils, government etc, as it does work very well. There are warnings around the dome saying not to touch and the installation manual says this too, along with a very large dome cover that is the last thing to remove at install.

hopefully people will read before attempting to clean it, but like I say, if not then the dome still works like a normal one.

Hi John, yes, I think you are right in that sometime someone will touch it, despite the warnings, what we are promoting here is that this is a good option if the camera is going to be high up and in hard to reach places. as it's self cleaning the rain should be enough to keep it from requiring cleaning, however, if no rain and it is dusty then the idea is for someone to just spray it with water.

even my demo cameras have been touched, I was demonstrating it at an event only 2 weeks ago, and despite me saying please don't touch the dome (we had it on a tripod) numerous times, of course one integrator just had to place his finger on it, he denied it but the video evidence and my eyesight said something very different

hopefully, once installed it shouldn't need to be touched.

i should add that the SW396 (720p) is available with or without rain wash, but the new SW598 (1080p) will only be with rain wash, but please push to test one of these, it really is a great camera.

Brian, the warranty is the same as the rest, if the dome is damaged due an installer not reading the instructions then its not going to be covered. I certainly understand your concerns and here in Australia we are being cautious at the moment, but I believe the positives of the rain wash outweigh the negatives, just have to make sure you have good installers, which I'm sure you all are :-)

it can be replaced but here in Australia it is in return to base fix, it cannot be be done on sight.

Thank Duncan for starting this. I was interested in Panasonic's rain wash coating the first time i saw it during ISC WEST this year. One of my customer actually has experienced this rain-sticky-on-bubble issue which prevented him from seeing clealy. And we have been seeking this type of material, either a nano-coated bubble or some material that can be spayed to the bubble to repel water and dirt. Panasonic's rain-wash coating is definetely a great solution, but as everybody can see its drawback - no touch.

So i was wondering besides this bubble coating technology, what other solutions may we have to achieve the same effect? like some kind of water-repeling spaying material or adding a shiled above PTZ dome to prevent rain drops...

CC. John, if this is not a good place to discuss other solutions, let me know if i should start a new topic.

I would like to add to this that if the bubble is touched all it does is become non rain wash in that area, so just like a normal ptz, it doesn't smear.

because the domes are vulnerable to hit. wind sand or dusty rain deteriorate or not the dome?