Non-weather sealed equipment... what to do if it rains?

I have a wedding coming up in the beginning of May, and the bride wants to take

pictures outside even if it is raining. You know... the whole black umbrella,

white dress, rain, etc. pictures.

 

So, anyway, my equipment is not weather sealed, so obviously, if it got wet, I

would be in trouble. What options do I have? Grab an umbrella and hope no rain

blows into my camera or lens?? Is there some protection that I can buy or make

at home for my equpiment??

 

Thanks!

See if you can beg, borrow, or steal a Nikonos, which was a completely water tight 35mm camera made by Nikon, designed for skin divers to use underwater. If you need to use an umbrella it'd be best to have an assistant holding it.

 

With an SLR you can cut a hole in the bottom of a plastic bag and fasten the hole around your lenshood with a rubber band or tape. Stick your hands into the bag to operate the camera's controls while trying to keep the bag opening against your face while viewing/focussing. A little bit of water, like some drops, is unlikely to ruin anything. My cameras have seen their share of rain over the years.

 

You might try getting the bride to sign a clause in the contract whereby she assumes responsibility for any repair or replacement costs associated with water damage.

Ewa-Marine bags

 

http://www.ewa-marine.com/english/index.htm

My 20D (not wheather sealed) has been out shooting in a south easter (the north west version of a hurricane) and went swimming in the ocean without missing a beat. My 70-300 (also not wheather selaed) survived all that plus a dunk in the river.

 

You should be fine.

 

If you're really worried about it, use one of the tricks above. The plastic bag works great, I've used it before. You can actually slide off the viewfinder cup thingy and slide it back over the plastic, then elastic band over the lens and your wrist, as rain proof as you'll get for about $0.50

Oh, I now use an Ewa Marine bag for my river rafting and it's great, a little clumbsy for shooting when it's not 100% necessary so I wouldn't recommend it for this application, but great for it's purpose (shooting underwater and big splash)

Al said:

 

You might try getting the bride to sign a clause in the contract whereby she assumes responsibility for any repair or replacement costs associated with water damage.

 

Thank you Al for that humor. Good luck with that one :-)

I've shot with a 20D, as well as with film cameras, out in light rain more than once and

they've all survived fine. Not a big deal as long as it's not pouring down. Most good cameras

are pretty resiliant tools.<p>

If it's too wet, you can just have an assistant hold an umbrella over you and your camera

while you shoot.<p>

Umbrellas, have always worked for me.

Ashkenazi (Eastern European descent) Ultra Orthodox Jewish weddings are always done outdoors even in driving snow. With the last few weddings I've shot in heavy heavy driving rain, very heavy sleet and hail and driving snow. All this with two 5D's + gear. The only weather sealed part of any of them was one of the lenses.

 

Yup I was nervous, very nervous, had one camera under my jacket at all times that I wasn't using it so I could switch to it when the main one died and tried sheltering the other camera as much as possible between shots. Yes the cameras got soaked but I was lucky. I hate to think of the corrosion to the contacts under the buttons on the top of the camera as there was a lot of water lying there.

 

Thing is that you've got to do the job, pay your insurance premiums and pray!<div></div>

Get a Doorman's umbrella and pay one of the kids $10. to hold it for you if you don't have an

assistant. (remember a small umbrella for the helper). You won't be out in pouring rain all

that long or the Bride will ruin her dress.

One of the 99 cent stores near me has had an ample supply of folding umbrellas for the past couple of years. I usually buy them ten or twelve at a time and just give them to people when unexpected rain arrives, a common occurence in the Florida summers.

Another option is a camera raincoat. Mine just arrived, and it seems to be a fine product.

 

http://abetterphotoguide.bizhosting.com/camera_rain_covers.html

I wouldn't count on any canon camera surviving the rain. Read the following article:

 

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/aa-07-worked.shtml

Either those camera rain covers Chris showed, a plastic bag, or those umbrellas sold by Adorama and B&H that screw into the camera tripod socket should help, if not the umbrella held by an assistant. I also have shot with a 20D in a light rain and it was no worse for wear but I wouldn't push it.

Just keep shooting. You and your gear will be fine.

 

-sean

>>>> Just keep shooting. You and your gear will be fine. <<<<<

 

Pretty risky advice since Canon cameras have been known to fail in the rain.

<i>I wouldn't count on any canon camera surviving the rain. Read the following article:

<br /><br />

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/aa-07-worked.shtml

</i>

<br /><br />

I would also check out the "Update" included at the very bottom before jumping to any conclusions.

Keep your gear as dry as possible and don't worry too much.

 

Get any camera wet enough for long enough and it will fail (except of course, underwater cameras). It may or may not bounce back when it dries out.

 

I don't think one brand is especially good or bad when it comes to the "rain failure rate".

 

I've been fortunate when it comes to rain.

 

Over the last few decades, I've used 4 Canon manual focus SLRs, 3 Canon AF SLRs, and 5 Canon digital SLRs in the rain. None of them ever quit in the rain and all of them are still working today (for me or whatever photographer friend bought them).

 

They've all been used in mist and light rain for brief periods of time without any protection (and some of them for several minutes). However, I usually try and keep them covered. Sometimes I use a towel in light mist, sometimes an umbrella in the rain, sometimes a gallon Zip-Loc bag with a hole for the lens (as mentioned above in another post), and sometime both bag and umbrella in heavy rain with wind. I don't own a commercial rain hood for my camera gear but I hear they work well.

 

Unlike rain, I work very hard to keep my gear from being exposed to salt water.

 

Jim

>>>>>I wouldn't count on any canon camera surviving the rain. Read the following article:

 

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/aa-07-worked.shtml

 

I would also check out the "Update" included at the very bottom before jumping to any conclusions.<<<<<<

 

I did read the entire article including the update. Doesn't change the fact that Canon cameras can fail if they get rained on.

 

Don't risk it - do SOMETHING to keep it out of the rain!

<i>I did read the entire article including the update. Doesn't change the fact that Canon cameras can fail if they get rained on. </i>

<br /><br />

My apologies if I misunderstood your comments, but you seemed to be implying that other cameras don't fail when they get rained on? <i>All</i> cameras can fail if they get rained on. Unless you have a Ikelite housing or a portable class one containment field, you better not risk any equipment.

Thank you everyone for all of your help!!!

 

I still haven't decided what I'm going to do, but I'm leaning towards investing in a camera raincoat.

 

Thanks again!

I used to use large size turkey cooking bags and camera tape to keep my camera free of radioactive contamination (crazy shoots in nuclear power plants -- but that's another story) so it should provide a cheap emergency raincoat for your gear. Here's how you do it: 1) place camera in bag 2)twist and tape up end of bag 3) cut a hole for the lens (and eyepiece, if you want -- the bag is clear so you can still look through the viewfinder somewhat), 4)tape up the bag on the rim of the lenses. USE good quality white camera tape only, otherwise, you'll get a nasty residue on your lens body.

 

Sounds stupid but is good for an emergency. Travel hint -- they are great to pack spilables when you travel -- good old turkey bags! Not too mention handy at Thanksgiving.