Camera Labs

I am somewhat new to dSLRs and was curious if anyone had recommendations for protecting your camera and lens when shooting in inclement weather?

Cheers ...

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D80 | Nikon 18-135mm

if you do a lot of outdoor shooting hopefully your camera has some weather proofing already... I've had mine out in a steady rain and it had no ill effects... I always carry a towel with me for a quick dry though as well...

I know of ppl who throw a towel over the camera as they are shooting.

I know another person who has one of those umbrella hats with a chin strap.. sounds nuts but he swears by it...

Shower caps I hear make good emergency covers... the kind you get in hotels rooms work great from what I hear... never used one to date but have a few in my bag ever since someone told me about this.

There are companies out there who make covers for lenses for both rain and camo... again.. never used them but have heard good things.

Then there are always the waterproof casing you can get for most cameras... vary in price from $50 to $1000+

Honestly... I have an oversized raincoat top and I keep my camera tucked inside it (with a 100-400 lens attached). When I need a shot I pull it out and shoot and put it back under my raincoat asap.... if its raining hard I drape a towel over it as I shoot... simple and has worked for me to date. Picked up this trick for kayaking and other boating in rough weather.. rain coat keeps both you and the camera dry and you really cant have faster camera access.

That being said I have never pulled it out in a downpour... just in light steady rain.

Most important thing is when you do this.. make sure you give it a good drying asap... oh.. and keep a lens pen handy or something else you can use to get drops off the lens... even with a large lens hood drops can still get on the lens

Also.. keep your bag open that night jic there is still some excess moisture... dont need that building up.

Having a few of those moisture gel things in your pack/bag as well always help.... they absorb moisture and all you need to do is dry them in the oven every now and then and they are good to go again.

If you are camping or tenting for multiple days thats a whole other ballgame... need to be a lot more careful cause as the temp drops at night the air holds less moisture.. so if there is already moisture on your camera it will get worse during the night as the temp drops... best thing here is to have a waterproof bag/box.. make sure your camera is completely dry and then close the container overnight... if your camera isnt dry your gonna get condensation building up within the case and although it may not be the end of your camera it definately isnt a good thing either. This is really where the moisture absorbing thingies mentioned above come in really handy.

this is one of those subjects where many ppl have many different solutions... hopefully others will post as well as I'm always curious about new ideas in this regards as almost all my photography is wildlife.

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
My Flickr

Kata make the E-702 "Elements Cover" which is a posh plastic bag. I got given one for Christmas but haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

Kata website http://www.kata-bags.com

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Nikon D90
Nikkor AF-S DX; 18-105 f/3.5-5.6G VR, 55-300 f/4.5-5.6G VR, 35mm f/1.8G
Speedlight SB-700

http://keystrokesukimages.com

Been checking out some of this gear.
Depending on your shooting preferance it could be the ticket.

http://www.lenscoat.com/

Wolfsong...see lens getting outfitted in duck camo in video?
Dare to dream bud...dare to dream

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

those are the covers I have been hearing a lot about kpr... seriously thinking about getting one for my 100-400.

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
My Flickr

Ha ...yeah the covers are great.
I was thinkin more about that Canon LENS!!!
Dunno what they would camo it up for,suspect one could take close ups of ducks from a differant area code if they wanted....
No camo needed...

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

LMAO... ya.. didnt want to comment on the lens... not quite sure how I would lug something like that around.. getting too old for that

Had the chance before the holidays to play with a 1000 prime just outside the shop I buy most of my stuff from... it was like lugging around someone's cut off leg!!!... does it take amazing shots? yup!!! is it in any way practicle to take out into the wild under the situations I get myself into? not in my reality unless I hired someone to carry it for me

now a 600mm with a monopod might just be workable

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
My Flickr

I've been talking with a pro wildlife photographer (Paul Burwell) about joining him on one of his fall wildlife outings and although I'm not 100% sure I can make the trip this year we did have a good conversation regarding just this topic... He was telling me of an outing he had last year where he was shooting bears in a torential downpour. I asked him what he used under these conditions and he mentioned a cover called "Hydrophobia" made by Think Tank and he swears by it.. after reserching it a bit it looks like an awesome product.. gonna buy one as soon as they get more in stock... I love the fact that if there is threatening weather around you can have it on your lenshood ready to go but really not in the way... when it starts raining just unroll it... here's a link...

http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/ ... cover.aspx

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
My Flickr