Using Digital in the rain

[Snapper Baz]

I have heard many horror stories regarding using Dig' in the rain though these maybe from from Nikon's? My 1st use with my 10D was in rain at Lydden rallycross (sprayed with mud and rain)and my next outing this weekend will be in the Kent forrests-more rain due! Does anybody worry about the rain and getting their Dig' wet-do you use covers or not worry...I'd be interested in hearing of any problems encountered(Molsonboy-its always wet in Canada isn't it???)-Cheers.

[KC]

I have not had any trouble with my Olympus, other than water on the filter.

[vwpilot]

I use raincoats for the gear when I shoot in the rain. Something like www.aquatech.com would be my choice. They arent cheap, but neither is your gear.

[gi_gav]

you sure aquatech.com sells that stuff? in addition to desalinisation and industrial water treatment...

Have had no problems in a couple of wet outings with the 10D, but tend to keep drying it with a big Loake shoe cloth.

[PaulSands]

I was crapping myself all Sunday at Mallory cos it was horribly wet and I didnt want to break it on its first outing

[Aysedasi]

I've never liked getting any camera wet, to be honest. As my EOS100 got longer in the tooth, I guess I used it more often in circumstances where I might have been a bit more circumspect in the past, but there's no way I'll be using my 10D in a downpour......

[Chris Lee]

Hi

You can find some info and products available at www.camerasunderwater.co.uk. I currently use an AquaTech cover and even so it was expensive it has been worth it after one season. Remember its not only rain but also dust and dirt that can cause a load of issues.

At least with a cover you have peace of mind and can get on with what you went to do and that is take photos.

Regards
Chris

[blackfalcon]

I carry a leather chamois in the bag and stick it over the camera when it's raining. It works graet. i also put the camera in my jacket between shots just to be sure.

[PaulSands]

I use the in the jacket approach but then worry about condensation

[Snapper Baz]

Well, it rained all day and had no problems with water-the only problem I did have was any all white cars were under-exposed by some margin...does this only happen in poor lighting conditions or is there a way around it bearing in mind there is no time to change settings between shooting?

[gi_gav]

Baz, were you using evaluative or partial metering?

[Chris Lee]

It may be that shooting RAW is an answer.. Once i started i have not looked back.

One benefit of Raw is that you can change exsposure andlevels after you have taking the picture as if it was a digital negative.

"RAW format has a much greater latitude for getting nice looking photographs from slightly underexposed images. Shooting RAW allows you to error on the side of underexposure so you will have much less chance of losing detail in highlight areas of your image. Just like film exposures, when highlight detail is lost in a digital photo, there is no way to recover it. Also, white balance is not critical since you can adjust it during RAW conversion. RAW converters that have slider type adjustments and/or numerical inputs for their image adjustment tools provide the opportunity for exact fine tuning of white balance."

[Chris Lee]

Also not sure if its an option on the 10D but it may be that you set the AE lock but not AF lock on the shutter button so you can capture exposure information from a darker source before recomposing on the car and taking the shot.

[PaulSands]

but of course RAW files take up huge amounts of disk space.
When I had my Sigma I had a 1gb microdrive and could only ever get 169 best quality shots onto it

[Chris Lee]

Very ture it takes a lot of space but i have found the differnce i can get to be worth the extra cost of storage. It will also increase you workflow time afterwards as every image you wish to use will need to be converted.

[PaulSands]

I found it unbeleivably restrictive as I had to be constantly reviewing images at the circuit to try make enough space (I always ran out) which had the knock on effect of my batteries not lasting very long at all (I used to get through three sets a day usually which was a real pain in the bot)
With the Canon at Mallory I was able to shoot to my hearts content get over 500 images (of varying quality ) and still have space for another 400 if I wanted with my battery not even moving a notch...much more fun than the grief I had last year...but we've gone off the rain now havent we

[Chris Lee]

At a motorsport event i will have a laptop with me and prob 3 gigs worth of cards(iso 200= 180 shots). Takes me about 4 mins to copy 1gig of data from a card and 3 gigs will last me till lunch time at least. If no lunch break then i will simple take a break during a support race.

Its all down to personal choice, ask me a year ago when shooting with 10d and microdrive I would shoot jpg.. The camera and card combination write to slow and ties the camera up while waiting.

[gi_gav]

I think it depends on what you're shooting for - ideally i'd shoot RAW all the time, but realistically if i was shooting for a website i'd be tempted to shoot JPEGs.

I'll probably be taking my laptop to events, but do any of you use the portable hard-drive/card reader units for storing images? Expensive, but may be worth it as my laptop is getting on a bit.

But yes, i'm gradually seeing the advantages of shooting RAW (despite the file sizes) and this'll only get better when i get some decent file conversion software to replace Canon's.

[PaulSands]

Oooooh so now I'm not only going to be suffering lens envy but laptop envy too...when will it stop???it might be cheaper to go racing instead

[Chris Lee]

Endless nightmare.. I have got it under control at the moment...

[gi_gav]

This could end up more of a confessional (snappers anonymous?) than a forum! I'm currently falling prey to the temptation of lens upgrades...

[gi_gav]

getting back to the thread topic, i need Canon L lenses for their extra weather-proofing....

[Chris Lee]

I have to admit thast the only issue with 100-400 its not to well sealed due to the push pull zoom so you stand a good chance of dust problms over time.

[blackfalcon]

The key to the underexposed shots is to use the centre weighted average metering.
I've tried it a few times over the winter and itworks a treat. I was at
Mallory the weekend and my panning shots are great. The only downside is your subject has to be centered.

[Ian_H]

Originally posted by gi_gav

I'll probably be taking my laptop to events, but do any of you use the portable hard-drive/card reader units for storing images?

I use an Image Tank, bought it about 2 years ago and have been using it ever since with a 10gig hard drive but just swapped that for a 30gig hard drive at the weekend because I shoot only Raw and 30gb gives me scope for a few thousand shots

But yes, i'm gradually seeing the advantages of shooting RAW (despite the file sizes) and this'll only get better when i get some decent file conversion software to replace Canon's.

I use a mixture of Breezebrowser, and Photoshop CS. Although Breezebrowser is capable of converting Raw I mainly use it for it's browsing and proofing capabilities along with Downloader to download the files and organise them, much better than the canon software.

Oh and to keep this on topic I use a large piece of chamois leather over the camera when it's raining

Cheers
Ian