Moving to Alaska

I am going to be moving to Ketchikan, AK. this summer and had a few questions. I

know that it's a wee bit rainy. Is there any tips anyone may have to help keep

gear safe from all the rain and humidity? I am going to be there for at least

two years and want to capture as much as I can without destroying my gear.

Thanks for anything you may have to say.

<i>"I am going to be moving to Ketchikan, AK."</i>

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Lucky guy!

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<i>"I know that it's a wee bit rainy."</i>

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That's a 'wee bit of an understatement', it's a rain forest - literally. ;-)

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<i>"Is there any tips anyone may have to help keep gear safe from all the rain and humidity?"</i>

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Pretty much the same as you would do in the Michigan humidity and while shooting in the rain.

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From my understanding, and one trip to Alaska last year, a lot of the rain/humidity is in the form of a steady drizzle versus torrential downpour, and a lot of low hanging cloud cover. I would imagine that a good desiccant for storage and rain covers while in use would suffice.<div></div>

Just a wee bit rainy?

 

Kevin, check it out when you get there -- and it will be wet -- but if you are thinking of some kind of camera gadget for wet weather, here's something that may work for you. Never tried it myself but it sounds interesting....

 

http://www.popabrella.com/

Thanks for the comments. When I said "a wee bit rainy" I was being sarcastic. I know that the average is measured in feet not inches. Just wondering about cases and moisture absorbing chemicals that anyone may have had experience with. Which ones work well and which to stay away from.

 

Thanks again

Kevin

<i>"When I said "a wee bit rainy" I was being sarcastic."</i>

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I know, that's why I answered the way I did. Sometimes tonal inflections and facial expressions don't come through very well in print. A 'smiley face' at the end of a sentence doesn't always do it.

Gotcha ;-}

Rain forest...<div></div>

I have found that when travelling in Alaska, protecting your gear from rainfall is not

enough - especially when using gear with a lot of electronics. Even a protected camera can

go awry from the extremely high humidity. After quite a few bad experiences, I started

using a "splashproof" P&S camera: an Olympus Stylus Epic with a 35mm f2.8 lens. These

35mm film cameras are readily available for under $100 and make wonderful pictures and

exhibit few problems in marginal weather conditions. I also use an old, mechanical Leica

M2 with 35mm, 50mm, and 90mm lenses in adverse humidity conditions when I am home

in Florida.

go buy a cheep pancho. I will come in very handy to put over you and your camera pack/bag when you need it and it weighs nothing. 20yrs Alaskan experience talking here. You can also use it as a shelter to wait out a storm.

I've heard that it only takes 2 mosquitoes to carry you off....Jim

Same latitude as where I've spent most of my life, in Scotland - same weather, coastal maritime, and wet with it.

 

Area I was born in got between 90 and 200 inches a year, depending on which side of the hill you live. Simple common sense precautions will suffice.

 

Use your kit as you want, try and keep the worst of the weather off it - most kit these days is reasonably robust (what do you use?) and a couple of plastic bags and rubber bands will do the job nicely.

 

After use dry it off, store it indoors in a decently warm place to dry it out thoroughly. DO NOT store it in a sealed case without silica gel to absorb moisture (and make sure the S.G. is thoroughly dried at regular intervals) otherwise you will get fungus growing inside your lenses and goodness only knows where else.

 

If your camera bag gets wet, take all the gear out and dry it (bag) thoroughly.

 

Unless you are a complete idiot (and I can see you're not) you will have no problems. My EOS1n got so wet one day it started firing all by itself, until it used up the film. I dried it on a radiator overnight and it was fine in the morning.

 

Good luck - sounds like a great opportunity!

 

JOHN

 

 

www.john-macpherson-photography.com

John and Ted, thank you for the input. John, I have a Nikon D80 and 1 lens right now (military pay is not the best). I will have another lens as I will be recieving a re-enlistment bonus. I have a pelican case that I will use to store my gear. Another qusetion would be about a quality desiccant. Are there any that work the better than others? For what I need, and the limited access to an oven, a microwave rechargable pac would be better. Any suggestions?

 

Thank you again.

I just spent a year in rainy Southeast as well. Not as rainy as Ketchikan, mind you, but still plenty rainy. Your D80 will hold up reasonably well, but you should be plenty careful with obvious moisture. They really aren't as well sealed as we'd like them tobe. If it's only a D80 w/one lens then large ziplocks will work wonders when shooting outside. Keep a microfiber absorbent cloth with you like I do when I shoot in the rain from the sidelines.

 

If your bag gets wet, don't put your stuff back in it. And don't forget just because you're in a hurry. As for bags? Check out the awesome tough bags from Wx/Tex. Bombproof in the rain, and one will fit your camera/lens combination.

 

I'd stick with dessicant that obviously changes color after it's been absorbing moisture for a while. You might think that's obvious, but there are different clay-based dessicants out there that don't change color. With those, at least you'll get a feel for the rate at which the humidity begins to pose a threat.

 

Ketchikan is beautiful. enjoy.

Kevin - the Nikon should be robust enough with common sense care. If storing in the Pelican make sure the dessicant is well dry - as noted above some change colour when damp. If you have difficulty with access to an oven, you might also find access to microwave cookers/electrics similarly troublesome. I suppose you could use any heat source to dry the dessicant out - a short spell in a dry tin over a candle would be good enough perhaps? Anyone with any thoughts on this - I'm no expert on the chemistry of all this.

 

Anyway - make sure the interior of the Peli-case is dried and cleaned and aired often too - that'll keep the worst of the fungus at bay.

 

If you are doing any stop-overs and in a motel - the elasticated shower caps are ideal for the smaller cameras and stay on nice and snugly. Free too!

Thank you all for the input. I cannot wait to go.