Hi,

Anybody has proven techniques on how to protect your cameras from the elements, rain in particular? How to prevent water from getting in and the lens fogging up?

I'll be leaving for Alaska this weekend so not much time to go out and buy another fancy casing. Any homemade techniques?

Thanks!

Make sure you have a good carrying case or a plastic bag.
I tend not to use my camera in the rain.

Hi JC,
Time to go??? Rain and wet weather can be tough. Don't know if you have film camera or digital or digital slr? I always stick a few ziplocks in my camera bag, big enough to put camera in. I also stick in a few large rubber bands. This way, you could put camera in bag with lens end sticking out with rubber band around it as long as it doesn't interfere with autofocus mechanism. Having an inexpensive lens hood on cameral will help keep glass on lens dry. I also always have a protective filter on lens to protect. Also have several glasses cleaning or micro cloths for drying off if wet while shooting, and a towel to dry whole camera as soon as you have a break to do so.

Now on our last Capt Larry whalewatching in Juneau, none of this worked. It was raining steadily the whole trip and most of the people stayed in cabin and only came out to snap a photo or two and went back in. A couple of guys I knew were shooting with new digital slrs and took no precautions. Not sure they made it thru whole cruise. We stayed mostly on rear deck in our rainsuits and tried to keep equip dry but keeping the lens glass dry was impossible and you can tell in the photos too!!!

Thanks, all, for your replies.

jq, thanks for all those tips! Your advice about using ziplock bags sounds good. I'll bring several along. I bought a brand new digital camera w/ 12x zoom for this trip. I think we should bring our old camera as a backup in case one goes bad.

Also, jq, I remember you shared some great close up pictures of grizzlies and wildlife. I wonder if I could view them using my 12x optical zoom camera or I should bring my binoculars too. Don't know what mm lens 12x zoom translates to.

Thanks.

We purchased the underwater case for our Canon digital . . . worked well for us in the rain. Maybe you could give something like that a try. Our local camera store let us try it at the store on a rainy day so we'd be sure it worked. Good luck!

I always carry a disposable waterproof camera with me for those rainy days. The quality of some of the disposable cameras is quite good and with the editing software available now, you can do a lot with those photos.

Oh yes, Alaska. Rain, rain, rain.

Buy one of those zip lock bag boxes in two different sizes and put them in your luggage. You will find dozens of uses for them including giving some to people you meet along the way.

P.S. Ketchican gets 12 feet of rain per year.

A easy and inexpensive method is to take a garbage bag put the camera & lens you plan on using with a lens cap on it. Take the lens hood off if you use one. Place camera & lens inside the bag so the lens is against the seam. Smooth some excess plastic flush against the lens. Using a razor blade, carefully cut around the lens. You don't want the hole to be bigger than the lens otherwise water will get inside. Push the lens through the opening. If using a lens hood, reattach or just put a couple of thin strips of duck tape or rubber band around the lens to hold the plastic in place. Can put hands in through the open end of the bag and if large enough cover your head as well.

Thanks, all. The suggestion about using a waterproof camera case seems like a good idea. Too late for me to buy one now. I'll pack a bunch of ziplock bags and rubber bands with me.

Thanks!