XA2 in Heavy Rain

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feenej

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Bad flooding here in Southeast Wisconsin. I took my Olympus XA2 to the Beer Run at Locust Street Day in Milwaukee on Sunday. The sky opened up in a torrential downpour two minutes before the race started. It rained so hard, the pockets of my rain jacket filled up with water. The XA2 managed two rolls of film before the shutter quit and the film jammed. Then it worked once in a while for about 9 frames, then it died completely. I let it dry for a day with the film door open and the batteries out, and now it seems fine.
 

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Your fortunate it came back to life again. Camera electronics just don't like moisture. I've had the meter on a Pentax Spotmatic go bezerk after several days of heavy rains in northern Poland. In the past I've found that an electric hairdryer will help to get them functioning again.
 
One more thing; if you're going out and it looks like a downpour is approaching, fold up a zip lock bag and stick it in your pocket; better still, put your camera in it before sticking it in your pocket! ;>)
 
I'll have to put some film thru it to see if it really still works. I wanted to take pictures in/during the rain though. I missed a great shot of two girls toasting with beers, standing ankle deep in a flooded street when the shutter button would not fire the camera.
 
If the camera is going to come directly in contact with water dthen you run that risk. I have an old Nikkormat that I have used lightly & sparingly in moist weather without problems. Nikons are supposedly good under those conditions but I have no personal experience in extreme weather. However, the best camera to use in heavy rain is an underwater camera. The Nikonos would have absolutely no problem. Extraordinarly rugged camera for those conditions. I have used this camera in extreme moisture, DUH.
 
Yeah, I definately knew I might loose the thing. I have a Canon APS diver's camera I guess I'll haul out next time it looks like it's gonna rain at a festival. I still have a couple rolls of film for it. My brother made me take it when he decided that he did not want to have anything to do with user film cameras.

You know actually, I'll probably just use one of my thift-store zone focus f2.8 lens cameras. $2 or so, Very easy to replace, outstanding optics. Minolta, Canon, Nikon, Konica.
 
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