Paralyzed by rain

[Tijmendal]

Hi,

A couple days ago I came back form an 18 day trip to Iceland. Needless to say, it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.
The weather, on the other hand, was pretty bad - it always is. A lot of wind, which ain't that bad, but also a lot of rain. I brought my Leica M6 and Hasselblad setup (60mm and 100mm lenses); the M6 for all 'travel' shots and the Hass for everything landscape related. Now, because there was so much rain, I often found myself not making the shot, because I feared for my gear. Especially the Hasselblad, because it takes so long to set up a shot, saw less use than I wanted. Everytime I thoughtL: 'let's try anyway', I aborted the mission halfway through because it was getting too wet for my taste. (I still shot 10 rolls though.)
Meanwhile, the mass of tourists and their weather-sealed bodies were happily standing in the rain, not giving a damn.

How does everybody handle situations like this? Are we simply screwed as film photographers because we haven't got the latest weather-sealing tech in our camera's? Or am I being too cautious?

 

[OurManInTangier]

Were the tourists trusting their weather sealed cameras or did they either simply not give a damn or not realize the potential for damaging their cameras?

The M6 has always been a camera that I've been happy to use in any conditions. Perhaps the feel of solidity gave me slightly greater confidence than was due but I've never had any issue due to the weather. I'll often stick it inside my coat whilst the strap is wrapped around my wrist as I walk in the rain/snow as much to keep the front element as clean as I can but thats about it. The Hassleblad I can understand more as you would have been setting up for a little longer...I also know nothing about them so wouldn't know how well they may last in the rain.

Have you had an issue with weather sealing on either of them before?

 

[jarski]

am just as careful with digital. left today from Yangon Myanmar, yesterday there was pouring rain every 2-3 hours, and drizzle in between. had my two digitals in bag when drops were coming, only when standing under some cover take photographs.

am especially careful with extending zoom lenses (using Sony RX10 currently), that takes drops, and then recess back in when power turned off, thus sucking the water droplets inside.

 

[OurManInTangier]

........am just as careful with digital.......

I think I probably am a little too. Perhaps I'm just aware how electronically heavy today's cameras are and this is something I'm all too conscious of when the weather turns, a cloth of some sort is usually with me no matter the weather.

 

[Pherdinand]

🙂

 

[Ronald M]

Trust weather sealing at your own peril.

There are umbrellas and plastic bags.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

As a Hasselblad user in the UK, rain is never far away. Sometimes it can be light / drizzly and other times it can be full-on and, occasionally, horizontal. I expect much like Iceland.

My 'Blads (500c/m and 503cw) don't need batteries and are like aluminium bricks with lenses on the front. My only concern using them in wet weather is water getting onto the screen when focusing using the waist level finder. The answer I've come up with is to use a 45 degree prism. This keeps the rain off the screen nicely.

Having a few A12 backs pre-loaded (so you don't have to load the backs mid-storm) also helps. I also keep a robust supermarket carrier bag handly to cover the kit whenever necessary.

When I've finished shooting, I find it easy to disassemble the bodies and lenses, dry them with a lint-free cloth and then let them dry out thoroughly at room temperature before cleaning the lens elements (front and back) with lens cleaning fluid.

I don't store my gear in bags anymore when not in use but, if I did, I'd have a lot of silica gel sachets in the bags to ensure there's no risk of moisture. Keeping the insides of bags dry is also vital.

In Sri Lanka a couple of years ago (at the end of the monsoon season) I used a Nikon D700 and a Ricoh GR1s in torrential rain. The D700 got a tiny bit of water behind the viewing screen (which dried out) and the GR1s got equally soaked but never missed a beat.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Electronic equipment has been restored by allowing it to dry out slowly inside, after wiping the outside and not using it. A short circuit caused by water might do a lot of damage that the water wouldn't do on its own.

We dropped a phone in a river once, whilst trying to persuade the dog to return to dry land. Sent it in for repair and were told it was a write off. So told them to scrap it. Three or four months later they returned it to us as they "had been unable to repair" it. Being curious I charged it and it fired up OK and ran perfectly for ages afterwards.

I expect the same would happen with cameras...

Regards, David

 

[Rick Waldroup]

One essential tool I take with me whenever I shoot is a plain, simple, white cotton hand towel that I tuck in my back pocket. I am primarily a street and documentary shooter and this tool is the handiest thing you can have on you. You can drape it over your camera if it starts raining. You can use it to mop your brow if it is extremely hot. You can wet it to use on your neck in humid conditions. There are endless things you can use a small towel for.

 

[arseniii]

Never ran into any issues shooting in a raing with my Ms (M3,M6,MP)
Just don't leave it exposed to the rain for prolonged periods of time and it will be fine. I keep the camera under my jacket when moving around and take it out when I want to take a shot. Not sure how digital Leica would behave in these situations.

 

[Greyscale]

One essential tool I take with me whenever I shoot is a plain, simple, white cotton hand towel that I tuck in my back pocket. I am primarily a street and documentary shooter and this tool is the handiest thing you can have on you. You can drape it over your camera if it starts raining. You can use it to mop your brow if it is extremely hot. You can wet it to use on your neck in humid conditions. There are endless things you can use a small towel for.

And, you will be part way ready when the Vogons come to destroy the Earth.

 

[Pherdinand]

And, you will be part way ready when the Vogons come to destroy the Earth.

😀 best rff contribution today

 

[Rick Waldroup]

You are correct, sir. 😎

 

[Tijmendal]

Thanks for all the answers!

One type of 'rain' you don't see in many places in the world is the splash from all the enormous waterfalls in Iceland. One more than one occasion I wanted to shoot a waterfall, but there was just this misty cloud with tiny little droplets of water all around. It sure as hell soaked me quite fast.

One thing I'm not very familiar with is water-droplers on the front-element. Is that an issue at all or doesn't it matter too much when shooting? I figured that if the front element is coated in raindrops there would be a lot of weird things going on with light breaking differently.

 

[kshapero]

Hi,

Electronic equipment has been restored by allowing it to dry out slowly inside, after wiping the outside and not using it. A short circuit caused by water might do a lot of damage that the water wouldn't do on its own.

We dropped a phone in a river once, whilst trying to persuade the dog to return to dry land. Sent it in for repair and were told it was a write off. So told them to scrap it. Three or four months later they returned it to us as they "had been unable to repair" it. Being curious I charged it and it fired up OK and ran perfectly for ages afterwards.

I expect the same would happen with cameras...

Regards, David

A nice tale but you were lucky. There are plenty of stories where it went the other way. That being said, when I was a photography for a news service in the 70's and 80's my Nikon F often got serious bad weather treatment. I would dry it out that evening with a blow dryer and be ready for the next day's shoot.

 

[Pherdinand]

One thing I'm not very familiar with is water-droplers on the front-element. Is that an issue at all or doesn't it matter too much when shooting? I figured that if the front element is coated in raindrops there would be a lot of weird things going on with light breaking differently.

Even a single water drop on the front lens surface will destroy an image.
Or make it "more interesting", if you prefer. 😀
The wider the lens, the worse the droplet will show.

 

[ottluuk]

Thanks for all the answers!

One type of 'rain' you don't see in many places in the world is the splash from all the enormous waterfalls in Iceland. One more than one occasion I wanted to shoot a waterfall, but there was just this misty cloud with tiny little droplets of water all around. It sure as hell soaked me quite fast.

One thing I'm not very familiar with is water-droplers on the front-element. Is that an issue at all or doesn't it matter too much when shooting? I figured that if the front element is coated in raindrops there would be a lot of weird things going on with light breaking differently.

Large water droplets on the front element can show up as blurry blotches on your photos – more so with short focal lengths and small apertures. They are tedious to get rid of since you rarely have a nice dry lens cloth handy when needed and a smear blurs worse than a droplet. Use a lens hood. A clear/UV filter is also a good idea in inherently splashy environments (boats, poolsides, events where large quantities of beer is consumed from plastic cups...)

 

[BillBingham2]

Some years back I purchased from Spiratone a big plastic bag with a black rubber ring to go around the lens hood. It worked fine as it was an SLR setup. As I got money I pick up a Nikonos III that worked even better for wide angle shots.

If I was going to do that sort of stuff today and I would come home to a bag of rice to set my camera in and let the water get sucked out of it over night.

As cash is tighter these days I would not risk a more expensive camera and decided upon two different approaches. If I was a MF-ahollllich I would look into beater wet camera. Perhaps a FSU MF SLR or a medium expensive TLR and use the white towel and a wide brimmed hat. If some picture was better than no picture I'd look in digital that was cleared for underwater use.

Electrical tape, a good lens hood, medium sized thick clear plastic bag and a Gordy wrist strap is what I'd use if I were shooting a 35mm viewfinder (Bessa L and 25/4).

B2

 

[oftheherd]

Trust weather sealing at your own peril.

There are umbrellas and plastic bags.

That is my usual solution, along with a brimmed hat and an ample supply of handkerchiefs and lens cleaning tissue.

But I really prefer not to shoot in rain if I can at all avoid it.

EDIT: Wow, I just hit my 7000th post! Its been a long and fun ride here at RFF these last almost 12 years. Thanks again to SolaresLarrave for mentioning the then "new" RFF on PopPhoto when it was still a viable forum. I have enjoyed every minute here and thanks to the Head Bartender as well!

 

[sevo]

Back in press photography days my camera bag always contained a bag of rubber rings and a couple of large (10l) freezer bags - in need, tear a lens size hole into a bag, fix it to the lens with a rubber ring, and you have a instant disposable rain cover.