Taking it to the Beach
 

Just bought a Manfrotto 501,755bk kit and am planning to use some times to tape kite-surfing.

Two major problems come to mind:

1. its on the beach

2. it must be a very windy beach for the kites so sand may become "airborne"

What special care can I have before/during/after the shooting in order to keep the tripod/head working?

I know its not a great idea to mix sand salt and video...but they only kitesurf on the beach :)

Thanks for all the advice and for the great forum,
Paulo

Hi Paulo,

A custom rain slicker from Kata or Porta-Brace will work wonders for keeping sand and other debris out of your camera. For your tripod head, try wrapping a scarf or some other kind of simple protective fabric around it. Hope this helps,

Also, make sure you do this -- go to your local hardware store and buy three tiles or anything that is lightweight, round, and flat (about 6 to 12 inches across.) You'll need this to spread out the weight of your tripod/camera so that your sticks don't sink in the sand...

I film a lot at various beaches. The suggestions so far a very good especially the one about the tripod legs. I got sand in mine last year and am still trying to get it out.

I have a few other suggestions.

- Have a ND filter and polarizer filter to use as necessary to give you a little more latitude on setting exposure at the optimum/desired level.

-Be sure to manual white balance especially in early morning or sundown since the lighting changes so dramatically.

- If not using some kind of camera cover tape over the cassette door with painters tape (blue stuff).

- Thoughly clean the exterior of the camera at the end of the day.

- Change tapes only in a protected area.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Mark W.

Another thing you're going to want to be especially careful of is getting any sort of sand on the lens/filter. Make sure to bring along some sort of lens cleaning fabric (stay away from any cleaning fluid; sand and dirt are attracted to it.) Compressed air, like you use to clean computer fans and keyboards, works wonders as well.

And in case you don't already, get a UV filter. It's a lot easier to clean sand off the filter than it is to clean the lens, and if the filter gets scratched (sand does WONDERS for glass) it's a lot cheaper to replace than the lens, or probably the whole camera. Make sure the filter's screwed in tight, but some dust/sand is likely to stray in anyway. You may want to have a "safe" (i.e., out of the sand/wind) area to take off the filter and clean the lens throughout the day.

Just don't turn the cans of air upside down while shooting air into your camer. It coud freeze something instantly and do some damage. Thats my 2 cents. I hope I see those shots on tv sometime. Good luck.