Wet Weather Gear for September Thailand Trip?

[synnacdesign]

Hi all,

 

I am heading out to Thailand in the beginning of September. Will be going to

northern Thailand first, then Cambodia to the Angk Por temples, and then south

to Ko Samui. I know that weather can be an issue at this time of the year in

Thailand as its around there rainy seasons.

 

I have a Canon 20D DSLR with Wideangle lens and 2 zoom lense (1 up to 85mm and

the other up to 200mm).

 

I am still rather new to the whole photography thing, and keen to work my way

into it and any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I would like some tips on gear for this type of a trip. I am planning on

spending a day with elephants, visiting the mountain tribes, the temples and

beach/island life. My main concerns are:

- wet weather: the right bag against rain?

- Bag: what is a good bag that is good against rain and

can hold camera + 2 lenses or maybe all 3, that

allows me quick access without having to take it

off and so forth?

- Wet weather camera/lens protection: I know I will freezer zip

lock bag everything in my camera bag, but what is

a good wet weather protection for the camera,

while I want to take pictures?

- Filters: 2 questions here: any good filter that I should

get to protect the front of my lenses? And any

suggestions for filters that would be good to have

to enhance the pictures that I will be taking?

- Other: Any other suggestions? other than loads of memory

cards and portable file storage device?

 

Thanks for all your help:)_

[ShunCheung]

A lot of LowePro camera bags have the All Weather (AW) feature, which means the bag contains a pull-out plastic rain cover. Bringing a few small garbage bags, e.g. around 11 gallon, can be handy as well.

[babette_ross]

i've used a shower cap around my camera body and then cut a lens sized hole thru a standard gallon freezer sized ziplock - held it all in place with a rubber band and a touch of gaffer tape. Its a bit McGuiver but it works well enough for light rain shooting.

[james_c._turner]

Get camera insurance, "No Fault" camera insurance, pennies on the dollar. Have fun.

[ilkka]

It is unlikely to rain all the time. Tropical rains are usually fast and furious. Small rain does no harm. If it is really pouring and you want to take photographs out in the open, then yes, some protection is needed. If you are trekking or are otherwise at the mercy of the elements, a waterproof bag would be useful. Otherwise any reasonably tight bag made of weatherproof materials should do. That is, Domke is not very good because the canvas really sucks up water and can take days to dry in the humid tropics. I would not bother about zip lock bags unless it is really pouring with rain and I have to stay in the rain. Makes it only much harder to take anything out. I would put a UV or skylight in the front of very lens. Easy and safe to wipe clean if it gets wet or fogs due to humidity. This always happens in the morning if you stay in airconditioned hotel and go out with a cold camera. Polariser might be useful sometimes. With digital, I would not bother about other filters. Some sort of back up camera would be good. If not another body, then I would at least take a small digicam that ideally uses the same memory cards. Relax and enjoy your trip. People live and take photographs in the tropics all the time around the year. It is not that bad or difficult or dangerous to equipment.

[douglas_greenberg]

There are all kinds of products available now to protect your camera and gear in wet weather. Some of them are quite fancy and expensive (e.g., Aquatech custom-fit covers).

 

Since I am going to rainy Costa Rica soon I did some research of my own and found, for example, this nice article:

 

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/camera-rain-gear.html?source=rss

 

I ended up buying a "Storm Jacket" camera/telephoto cover, which I hope to use in conjunction with a bunch of transparent shower caps. As others indicate, you can likely get by with plastic trash bags and such.

 

It also might be a good idea to bring along a small travel hair dryer to dry things off once you are out of the rain.

[lheusinkveld]

For light drizzle I use a small "packtowel". You can drape it over the camera to keep it dry when not in use but around your neck, and to take a picture you just fold back the front to uncover the lens and the back to uncover the camera controls. Looks a bit strange and takes some getting used to, but it works very well for light rain and the towel fits nicely in a pocket. You can use the towel to dry off your gear as well. Note that it will not protect from a downpour, nor is the technique much use in high winds.