Taking it to the Beach

[Paulo Figueiredo]

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

[Chris Hurd]

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,

[Tim Clark]

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...

[Mark Williams]

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.

[Colin Wyers]

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.

[Cleveland Brown]

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.