Camera Rain Gear

I need some foul weather gear for my camera. I shoot a Minolta 5D, most often with a 75-300mm zoom, but also with smaller lenses and also with 1.4 and 2.0 converters. Any advice??

You can use large plastic garbage bags for temporary use. However, I use something called a Storm Jacket. You can find it at http://www.stormjacket.com

I just tie a plastic Walmart sack over my camera/lens while it's sitting on top of my tripod waiting for a train to show up. It works quite well.



Kent in SD

I shoot in weather with a telephoto zoom with a lens hood. I made a camo storm sleeve out of a pant leg from a pair of cast-off camo PVC rain pants. I just cut off one whole leg, slipped it over the lens/camera with the narrow end around the hood and the wider end tapering toward the camera. Then I made a tuck in the PVC so it fit snugly over the end of the hood and held it in place with a piece of tape, temporarily. then I just tucked the PVC inside itself so there wasn't a ragged edge and used duct tape to bind the hem on the inside of the PVC tube. It fits tightly enough over the hood so it doesn't need rubber bands or other fasteners to stay there, and I trimmed the back of it so that, even when the zoom is fully extended, there's enough PVC left to completely cover the body with a little left over. I use this in anything from drizzle/snow flurries to full-out rain/snow. It cost me virtually nothing, is totally waterproof, camouflaged, almost weightless and folds up to take up almost no space in my kit. I've been using it for two years. When I'm in a fully camouflaged situation, like when I'm trying to call in predators to the camera, I even use it when there's no precip, because it covers the black camera body and white lens body.

Here's a suggestion I've found useful when using a camera body with a short lens. The shower caps in hotel rooms fit nicely, are light weight, fold back to original size, and do the job.

This above-mentioned sleeve doesn't work with wide-angles, but Patricia's suggestion took care of that. Here are a few examples of the sleeve. Free/cheap beats paying for something any day when the free/cheap unit works as well as the purchased one, unless a person is embarrassed by not having "pro" gear.

Another view

I use a frosted (but colorless) plastic shower curtain. Its main purpose is as a diffuser for shooting wildflowers during sunny periods, but I also use it as a rain cover. I've cut a lens-sized hole about 2 feet from one end, but left it "hinged" so that, with a piece of Velcro on the side opposite the hinge, I can open/close the "door" depending on whether I'm using it as a diffuser or as a rain cover.

As a rain cover, it works great draped over the entire camera and tripod, and I can even cover myself with it, darkcloth-style. It's large enough to fit any of my cameras up to 5x7. A small piece of Velcro attached to the leading edge, with a matching piece on the tripod's front leg, lets me attach it to the tripod to keep wind from blowing it upward and allowing rain to come in from the underside.

I liked seeing all the ways people have solved this problem. I also have used garbage bags, and still carry one in my backpack, but I always had problems with them blowing around in a wind, or with water dripping off it and down onto the camera.
I bought the KATA rain protector. There are some things I like about it, and some things I really dislike. I like that once I get it on my camera, I can carry my camera around, with the strap around my neck, and even holding the camera pointed down in front of me, while I'm walking, it's protected. There's a see-through plastic cover over the body, so you can look at both the top and the back of your camera. I got the extender for my 100-400 lens, and with a lens shade on it works really well even in blowing snow and rain, which is what I almost always seem to be in.
Now, what I don't like about it. When they built this thing, they obviously didn't think anyone ever used a neck strap. I use the neck strap EVERY time I pick my camera up. Well, in order to get the strap through this cover, you have to disconnect it from the camera on one side, slide it through, and reconnect. Pain in the neck, especially since I always seem to be doing this in a vehicle. I'm seriously considering modifying it.
Otherwise, I like it. The back plastic does fog up from your breath, but I figure that's an OK price to pay for the solid protection it gives.

I think Kata makes the best constructed piece I've seen but I hate that you have to have the plastic between my eye and the viewfinder. Optech has an almost disposable type solution that works quite well for me. Check it out here

These days I shoot with a wooden 4x5 view camera atop a big tripod. Thus no hand helds so needed something that works well while carrying around the beast. I never shoot while it is raining hard but rather when it lets up enough to quickly take a shot without getting the camera too wet. I use a 24 by 36 inch flat clear polyethelene bag at a robust 3 mil thickness. Actually is one of my medium size print shipping bags. On the open end edge of the bag I have a mini-bunji duct taped about its center. The bunji readily circles a tripod legs to inhibit the bag from blowing away. The plastic scheme works well with a big tripod and camera for several reasons. The oversize of the bag allows me to reach under the bag while it is still raining to fiddle with the camera controls or wipe water off parts. That size also assists ventilation that can dry the camera off even while rain is coming down. Being clear I can see what I am doing inside. Besides securing the bag to a tripod leg, after use when the rain lets up, I can attach the bag to the back of my daypack while traveling to allow the plastic to quickly dry off. ...David

Have a look at the lens covers etc at Wildlife Watching Supplies

T