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Old March 3rd 04, 03:00 PM
phil
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Default Digital Video/Still Cameras on the mountain

Also, what are you guys using to water/snow proof your cameras? Any kind of
hard or soft case? I'd like to take mine out but just worried about getting
snowed by a subject or dropping it if I fall while shooting.


I cheat, in that my camera is pretty waterproof to start off with. On
the other hand I've used a bunch of cameras in very bad conditions
without any real trouble. My views...

A hard case isn't the best thing as you don't need sharp-edge impact
protection, just padding. Use a soft case, or stick the camera in a
back-pack wrapped with a fleece or something. I use Lowe-Pro
chest-mount bags as you can carry a large camera that way without
trouble and you can still get at it quickly. Backpacks are ok but they
slow you down. Here's a shot of the chest bag in action:
http://www.wigglesworld.klebos.com/s...3-0387_IMG.jpg

If you're shooting in powder or bad conditions then you're going to
get snow on your camera. Accept it and don't worry about it... in fact
encourage your subjects to spray you with the stuff for the best
effect. If you're in dry snow then it doesn't stick; wet stuff does,
so take a towel or something to wipe it off with.

When you get home you will get lots of condensation on your camera as
it warms up. Some people stick the thing in a zip-lock bag at this
point so the condensation hits the bag not the camera. I just wrap
mine in a towel as it warms up and keep drying it and the lenses.

I've never dropped my camera when shooting, although it probably has a
better chance of survival if you drop it on snow than on concrete ;-)
Use some sort of strap.
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