Rain Protection options - lens/body - Optech, Lenscoat

[sanjay_chaudary]

<p>Hi,<br>

I have read a few posts on photo.net about protecting camera body, lens, flash from rain.</p>

<p>A) I had been to a sanctuary in India and was covered by red dust when I got out of the sanctuary.<br>

My camouflage pants became red in colour. I had covered my camera / lens with a handkerchief and it helped.<br>

B) I was caught in rain and continued taking photos. I am not sure if it was the rain getting onto the body or the fact that I got raindrops on the film roll when loading it into the camera. The frame counter did not increase and the film rewound in between after 10 - 11 frames ( 36 frame roll)<br>

------------------------<br>

I am looking at protecting my camera bodies ( film slrs - canon Eos 3 , Elan 7E) , lens and flash from rain, while shooting photos. I have a camera bag with all weather cover to stow them away , but I need something to protect while taking photos.<br>

1) The flash protection options seem very limited. I noticed only the optech rainsleeve and ruggard (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/893960-REG/ruggard_rc_p18f_18_rain_cover_for.html ).<br>

My longest lens is a canon EF 400mm f5.6 ef lens and with hood, body, extender and extension tubes, it's almost 18" in length. The optech option with support for flash, allows lenses only upto a maximum of 14" .<br>

It looks like the ruggard is better option. <br>

Any ideas on this ? How do you protect your flash ?<br>

<br />2) I looked at thinkthank , lenscoat , vortex storm jacket , kata, aquatech raincovers online and went through reviews, youtube videos.<br>

I am leaning towards lenscoat raincoat standard and lenscoat raincoat rs (rainsleeve) .<br>

I would like following options:</p>

<ul>

<li>ability to zoom / manually focus the lens</li>

<li>attach body to tripod</li>

<li>adjust the cover length so as to use for different lens</li>

<li>with film body, I am not sure what eyepieces would be suitable : system which does not require custom eyepiece might be good</li>

</ul>

<p> The lenscoat has opening at bottom and should allow the focus , attaching to tripod and also resizing of the sleeve length.</p>

<p>As per specification, the standard is 20" in length and it supports canon 400mm f5.6 and hopefully this should work.<br>

I will probably need a second cover to use for smaller lenses - I am not sure if I will need small version or medium version of cover.<br>

However, these options(lenscoat) do not seem to allow for flash. Please guide me if there is a way.<br>

<br />Equipment :</p>

<ol>

<li> Flash - Canon speedlite 550 EX</li>

<li> Body - Canon Eos 3, Eos 30</li>

</ol>

<p>lenses :<br>

(attached to body)</p>

<ul>

<li> 50mm f1.4 ef lens - 6 inches length with hood ,7.5 with extension tube</li>

<li> 17-40mm usm lens - 8 inches length with hood , 9.5 with extension tubes</li>

<li>28 -105 mm usm lens - 7 inches to 8 inches with hood , max 9.5 with extension tubes</li>

<li>100 - 300 mm usm lens - 11 inches with hood , 12.5 with extension tubes</li>

<li>100 mm f2.8 usm macro ef lens - 10 inches with hood , 11.5 with extension tubes</li>

<li>400 mm f5.6 usm ef lens - 16.2 inches with hood and 1.4 extender, 18 inches approximately<br />with extension tubes</li>

</ul>

<p>Miscellaneous : Canon 1.4 Extender + 12mm and 25mm extension tubes. Ballhead , manfrotto tripod , better beamer flash extender.</p>

<p>My plan is to get two sizes of lenscoat to cover the different lenses that I have . For the flash, I plan to get the ruggard .<br>

I also noticed Aquatech flash cover, which fits the flash alone, but I am not sure if it can be attached to any of the rain covers. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance and wish you all happy new year.</p>

<p> </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>All to the good, and thanks for sharing your researches.</p>

<p>If I were (note use of English <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_subjunctive">subjunctive mood</a>, non-native speakers) doing lots of wet work, I'd personally go for one of the high MP, waterproof, point and shoots. Otherwise, for emergencies I just keep some plastic bags of various sizes (camera-to-human-sizes) in a side pocket of my camera bag.</p>

[peter_rowe]

<p>Living in the Northwest U.S., I've tried a lot of different rain-proof options. I ultimately arrived at the conclusion that the simplest solution is best and now use the Rain Sleeves exclusively for a number of reasons:</p>

<ol>

<li>They really do keep everything completely dry</li>

<li>You can <em>see</em> all of the controls on the lens</li>

<li>You can <em>adjust</em> all the lens controls through the plastic</li>

<li>A hole in the Rainsleeve fits over the camera eyepiece so there is no obstructed view</li>

<li>They are a lot more robust that you would imagine - not easy to tear</li>

<li>They are really in-expensive</li>

<li>You get two in a package</li>

</ol>

<p>I just returned from a bald eagle shoot where it rained solid for 5 days. I had the OP/TECH Mega Rainsleeve for a Canon 600mm F4 II and 1D MKIII body and it all worked perfectly, everything was kept dry and this trip even involved rafting on a river. I also have a regular Rainsleeve for my 5D MK II and Canon 100-400mm IS, I recently used it on a boat trip in Hawaii to see the lava flow into the sea, it worked great even though there was so much steam we had to wait to see the lava through it in glimpses. I don't use a Rainsleeve with a flash and I see what you are saying about the OP/TECH flash option being 14". While I hate to point to someone other than OP/TECH since they are so good I do see another very similar option called the "Ruggard" rain cover where the flash option is 18" long. Here is a link:<br>

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/893960-REG/ruggard_rc_p18f_18_rain_cover_for.html/prm/alsVwDtl<br>

I am not sure how well these options will work with the red dust though. I have used Rainsleeve'ss very successfully in Arizona where there can be a lot of dust but it may not be anything as bad as you experience. One last thing you mentioned; the Rainsleeve does <em>not</em> have a cutout at bottom for a tripod mount. What I do there is cut a clean small hole for the tripod foot and then I surround that with heavy tape for strength, this has worked really well and takes just a minute or two.<br>

Hope this helps.</p>

[David_Cavan]

<p>To echo Peter Rowe's comments, we've used the Op/Tech Mega Rainsleeves on multiple cameras and bodies at racetracks and on hikes over the past few years, without any issue either during or after the events. Tripods aren't really that useful at racetracks, but for hikes I've cut an additional hole for the head to fit through. The biggest issue has been the Canon 100-400 mm lens that acts with a push/pull action, that's a little awkward but it's worked well if you handle it from outside the rainsleeve. They have the additional value of being relatively inexpensive and they don't take up much room in the camera bag. We carry an additional plastic bag to store them after working in the rain to keep the inside of the camera bag dry, on the way back to somewhere dry where the sleeves can be dried out.</p>

<p>I have used them in the US Southwest where it's occasionally quite dusty, and also on the ocean shore when it's misty and blowy. Perhaps over-kill on protection, but the rainsleeves re way cheaper than new equipment.</p>

[ruben leal]

<p>I also use Op/Tech's Rain Sleeve. Two more reasons:<br>

- These need so little space, I can always have a couple in my bag, while my friends using larger weather protectors usually end leaving their's at home; and<br>

- As I always have more than one, and almost every time I'm out with friends, there is someone without rain protection for their camera, I usually give one of mines to someone in need (it helps they are so cheap). </p>

[sanjay_chaudary]

<p>Thanks for all the responses. Are the optech durable? They are not available in India and I need to buy them from US and have a friend bring it along when they are coming, which is infrequent . <br>

I thought the raincoat from lenscoat or equivalents might be better as they look more durable. The optech might be good for backup. <br>

<br />Is it possible to use flash with lenscoat ?</p>

<p> </p>

[sanjay_chaudary]

<p>P.S: I have two camera bodies - EOS 3 and EOS 30 (both film slrs from canon ). Do I need two covers?</p>

[sanjay_chaudary]

<p>Hi,<br>

thanks for the suggestions. <br>

There are a few other things that I thought of ( I am not sure if these apply to digital slrs- I have no experience with them).<br>

1) I have some controls on top and some on the back. I will need to access both.<br>

2) The settings are visible in the viewfinder and some are visible on the top lcd panel (approximately twice the size of the viewfinder) . I am not sure if all settings are displayed on both the top display and viewfinder.<br /> I might need to see both .<br>

3) With this being film bodies, I will need to open the back to change film rolls .<br>

I would appreciate your feedback , taking these into consideration. <br>

<br />thanks, once again</p>