shooting in the rain

[stever]

i'm going on an alaska cruise in a couple weeks and want to shoot rain or shine -- i'm particularly concerned about the 20d with 100-400

any tips?

[David White]

Check out the Storm Jacket.  I've used mine a couple times and it works as advertised.  Keeps everything dry and lets me easily get to the controls and see the LCD.

[stever]

Check out the Storm Jacket.  I've used mine a couple times and it works as advertised.  Keeps everything dry and lets me easily get to the controls and see the LCD.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=68937\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

cool, just ordered a pair, thanks

[DarkPenguin]

I like the looks of the Kata cover better.  I don't have one, however.  (I need to order that.)

[Peter McLennan]

Shower caps are incredbly useful.  Small ones as temporary lens caps, big ones for the whole camera.  

In public, just don't wear one yourself  

[Hank]

Condensation when returning indoors is a sincere issue not addressed by Rain Jackets or any other similar product.  In addition to those, it's almost mandatory that you carry plastic garbage bags.  Put your camera bag in one and the camera in another, squeeze out the air and seal before bringing the gear indoors.  Once everything has warmed to indoor ambient you can open the bags without concern.  Omit the plastic bags, and you'll learn what condensation looks like inside lenses and bodies.

Should you omit the garbage bags and acquire condensation, remove all covers from lenses and bodies and allow to stand overnight in a warm dry place.  It helps to have a little air movement, for which a hair dryer on low with no heat is ideal.  Lay it on the counter a couple of feet from the camera gear and allow to run for an hour or so, simply to evaporate moisture hidden within all the exterior crevices.

We prefer to buy boxes of folded rather than rolled plastic bags simply as a matter of convenience.  You can keep several in your camera bag while consuming little space.  Very useable as camera covers for shooting too, when you inevitably forget the Rain Jackets.

[francois]

... Condensation when returning indoors is a sincere issue not addressed by Rain Jackets or any other similar product. In addition to those, it's almost mandatory that you carry plastic garbage bags. Put your camera bag in one and the camera in another, squeeze out the air and seal before bringing the gear indoors. Once everything has warmed to indoor ambient you can open the bags without concern. Omit the plastic bags, and you'll learn what condensation looks like inside lenses and bodies.
...

I second this... I've shot for hours under torrential rain with a 100-400 without any problem but on one occasion I returned inside the car and my garbage bag was punctured and to make things worse, I got my 100-400 got extended (to the 400mm position) and managed to pump warmer air inside. It took a day of a dry and warm treatment to get the lens fully functional.
Now I just make sure that my camera/lens combo is correctly sealed before getting in warmer conditions.
What others suggested above should be enough to get you through the worst rain.

[eleanorbrown]

I used the Kata Elements Cover E-702 with high end equipment in the Olympic Rain forest for 6 days a couple of weeks ago.  rained every day all day.  the Kata cover enabled me to see my camera equipment (clear cover) and has two sleeves for your hands.  get their long lens cover for long lenses. Lens cover fits tightly around the end of your lens too.  excellent product. (see b&h link below)  eleanor



http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...oughType=search

[jecxz]

I have to agree with the other posts on the Kata cover, excellent design and keeps the gear covered and dry. It has holes on the sides and a zippered bottom so I can work in the rain while it's mounted to the tripod. I use it with my H2 and it works with every lens.

Good luck.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Re: Kata. Works for me, too.

Eric

[Tristan]

i'm going on an alaska cruise in a couple weeks and want to shoot rain or shine -- i'm particularly concerned about the 20d with 100-400

any tips?
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I recently came across this camera cover - nice price. I've not tested it yet but will be ordering one soon as I love the rain.

[a href=\"http://www.cameraclean.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Camera_Protection.html]http://www.cameraclean.co.uk/acatalog/copy...Protection.html[/url]


Tristan

Absolutely Nothing | Creative landscape photoblog
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http://www.absolutely-nothing.co.uk/

[stever]

fortunately i didn't encounter a lot of rain, but was able to compare the Kata and Storm Jacket

The Storm Jacket is compact and can easily be stuffed in your bag or pocket for emergency.  The medium size works well with normal to fairly long lenses (Canon 100-400) and is probably all you'll ever need.  It's a bit crude, but very convenient.

The Kata is extremely bulky and i think the attachment for the extension is very stiff and crude. Standing in a downpour with a tripod for hours, this is the way to go -- fortunately or unfortunately, i haven't yet encountered an opportunity justifiing standing in that downpour.

[francois]

fortunately i didn't encounter a lot of rain, but was able to compare the Kata and Storm Jacket

The Storm Jacket is compact and can easily be stuffed in your bag or pocket for emergency.  The medium size works well with normal to fairly long lenses (Canon 100-400) and is probably all you'll ever need.  It's a bit crude, but very convenient.

The Kata is extremely bulky and i think the attachment for the extension is very stiff and crude. Standing in a downpour with a tripod for hours, this is the way to go -- fortunately or unfortunately, i haven't yet encountered an opportunity justifiing standing in that downpour.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=72206\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Glad to hear that your Alanskan trip went OK and your gear didn't suffer from water damage. Also, thanks for the info about Storm Jacket vs Kata.
 

[AndyF]

I just bought a Kata E-702, and would be interested in comments from some of you who've used it successfully.  
The attachment around the lens is a soft sleeve with drawstring, and around that is the velcro tube.  The main problem appears to be the drawstring.  Unless the lens has about an inch of tube that's always exposed over any zoom length, there isn't anywhere for this to securely wrap around without interfereing with the lens movement (a Canon 17-85 zoom in my case).  It also must wrap in such a way that rain doesn't seep past and run along the underside of the lens barrel.  Hence the need for some kind of ridge to both prevent the drawstrung sleeve from slipping off and blocking water seepage.
The velcro tube is what it is, but on a short length zoom it either gets in the way of holding the zoom ring or slides forward and comes into view through the lens.  I may remove this part, looks like it's really only needed to attach lens extensions.
Overall the Kata looks like one of more useable solutions due to it's clear bag and easy hand access to the camera but needs a bit of improvement.  I think I'd like to glue the lens sleeve to the ring of a screw-in lens hood, which would then screw into the UV filter.  In this way, the front end would be completely sealed and reliably attached.
Comments, opinions?
Andy