Any one used the EA50 in the rain?

[James Manford]

Just wondering how it holds up to bad weather?

I have a Indian wedding to shoot this bank holiday weekend and I know i'll have to video the bride coming out of the car into the venue. The weather forcast is showing heavy rain. I'm a solo shooter so an umbrella is out of the question, I have a waterproof cover (for a camera bag, rather than the camera) to temporarily cover most of the camera, but the lens / LCD screen will be exposed to the elements.

Just wondering whether or not any ones exposed their EA50 to bad weather yet?

Or does any one have a cheap, working solution to cover the whole camera properly?

[Chris Harding]

Hi James

I did a shoot in February and it basically rained the whole time ..but quite lightly only ..the cams got a bit wet and the only thing that happened was the loupe kept fogging up I kept wiping them down so they didn't get too soggy

If it's heavy rain then get a proper rain cover for the camera ... I have often thought about making myself one of those umbrellas that fasten to your head with an elastic head strap .. I reckon that would work far neater than a rain cover and you are less likely to get condensation issues too.

Chris

[Don Bloom]

To this day I keep a plastic garbage bag in my camera bag. I cut it open down one of the side seams, and since I keep a small role of gaff tape in my bag if I need to, I can at least throw the plastic cover over the majority of the cam and use tape to hold it in place by taping it together under the camera. Is it as good as a proper rain jacket? No, but it does keep the majority of the rain off the camera body and lens.
It works better on the small form factor camera than the full size or almost full size cams I'm now using again, but something is better than nothing.

[James Manford]

Originally Posted by Don Bloom

To this day I keep a plastic garbage bag in my camera bag. I cut it open down one of the side seams, and since I keep a small role of gaff tape in my bag if I need to, I can at least throw the plastic cover over the majority of the cam and use tape to hold it in place by taping it together under the camera. Is it as good as a proper rain jacket? No, but it does keep the majority of the rain off the camera body and lens.
It works better on the small form factor camera than the full size or almost full size cams I'm now using again, but something is better than nothing.

I like the idea of the bin bag but I guess it will basically do what this waterproof camera bag cover I already have will do, which is cover as much of the camcorder as possible.

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi James

I did a shoot in February and it basically rained the whole time ..but quite lightly only ..the cams got a bit wet and the only thing that happened was the loupe kept fogging up I kept wiping them down so they didn't get too soggy

If it's heavy rain then get a proper rain cover for the camera ... I have often thought about making myself one of those umbrellas that fasten to your head with an elastic head strap .. I reckon that would work far neater than a rain cover and you are less likely to get condensation issues too.

Chris

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I would expect a bit of condensation to be honest, but i'm reluctant to go out spending £100+ on a rain cover. Just not a justifiable purchase in my eyes.

[Jerome Cloninger]

I recently filmed in the rain with mine. I crafted a makeshift raincover from a poncho. The opening for the person's head was used for the lens. I took waterproof electrician's tape and sealed that around the lens hood. Also made a slit for the eye piece on the loupe, then took an elastic "shoestring??" and tied that around the loupe. Then I just cut the remaining excess off. It worked rather well. Aside from being a bright yellow (only one available besides pink at Wal-Mart on my way to the gig) it didn't look too redneck.

I took this pic to show my wife what I ended up doing. Sorry I don't have one from the front.

Would I do this again??? Sure! But I've decided to definitely buy a rain slicker/wetsuit/rain jacket for this camera. I had a PortaBrace for my A1 and it worked well and was worth every cent.

[James Manford]

Originally Posted by Jerome Cloninger

I recently filmed in the rain with mine. I crafted a makeshift raincover from a poncho. The opening for the person's head was used for the lens. I took waterproof electrician's tape and sealed that around the lens hood. Also made a slit for the eye piece on the loupe, then took an elastic "shoestring??" and tied that around the loupe. Then I just cut the remaining excess off. It worked rather well. Aside from being a bright yellow (only one available besides pink at Wal-Mart on my way to the gig) it didn't look too redneck.

I took this pic to show my wife what I ended up doing. Sorry I don't have one from the front.

Would I do this again??? Sure! But I've decided to definitely buy a rain slicker/wetsuit/rain jacket for this camera. I had a PortaBrace for my A1 and it worked well and was worth every cent.

Awesome.

My cover is basically the same material as a poncho. It covers the majority of the camera, just not the LCD or the massive Canon zoom lens i'll have on it !

[Noa Put]

I"m pretty sure the camera is not designed to use in the rain so you either can use a selfmade solution like Jerome did or spend money on a cover that was designed for the ea50. If I would be shooting more then once in the rain I would spend the money to protect the camera in any way I could, if it was just one time I"d custommake a bag to fit, waterdamage is not covered by the warranty, you could also get one of these and keep the camera and yourself dry at the same time.

http://savasplace.com/wp-content/upl...nvention-7.jpg

[Chris Harding]

Hi Noa

As already mentioned above in my post but you would have to make sure the umbrella does clear the camera that's on your shoulder .... This doesn't really help the tripod mounted camera of course but before now (When I still had my Panasonic DVC20's) I did use a brolly and fastened it to the actual tripod just using a G-Clamp ... I'm not sure how waterproof the normal bounce brollys are but those just have a shaft so it would be simple to make up a fitting so it went on the tripod and then shake it off and use it with your lighting kit at the reception.

I'm a lot in favour of keeping off the rain rather than wrapping the camera in plastic ..I know it's a bit bulky but at least the cam is less likely to sweat under an umbrella coming up from the tripod than inside a plastic bag!! Next time it rains here (we are coming up to our wet Winters) I'll take one of my white bounce umbrellas outside and see how much rain stays away! Surely a really heavy downpour would cause the wedding to be moved indoors??? I can't see much more tolerance than a light drizzle as all the guests would get soaked, even if the bride was under shelter

Chris

[Mike Beckett]

The camera may just pick up a little bit of noise from the rain rattling off the umbrella. And in this country anyway, rain tends not to fall neatly in a vertical direction, it has been known to be diagonal, or even horizontal!

I've done the garbage bag thing, I've hated it. The noise, the ergonomics, everything. The plastic used in proper raincovers is "quieter" I find, and when the rain gets heavy you don't find pools and puddles forming in the same way as on that thin garbage bag plastic. A good Kata, Portabrace, Petrol etc. is much less likely to tear than a proper raincover.

Of course, living where I do, rain is a certainty on every shoot and a raincover is a worthwhile investment! It all depends on your location and what you do.

[Jerome Cloninger]

I found one made by "camrade" that they can a wetsuit, and has a cotton liner to reduce rain sound they say. It fits with zippers, I'd prefer Velcro, but in thinking about this one or the portabrace.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Mike Beckett

The camera may just pick up a little bit of noise from the rain rattling off the umbrella.

I was joking with the umbrella link :) but should have added a smiley. I wouldn't see myself walking around like that, but I guess it would be somewhat effective.

[Mike Beckett]

Don't laugh... I tried to find a mini umbrella with a hotshoe mount once, until I realised it may be a bad idea! Which is probably why B&H and CVP didn't have any on their websites!

[Steven Digges]

Originally Posted by James Manford

Just wondering how it holds up to bad weather?

The answer is IT DOES NOT HOLD UP. All video cameras hate water. The Porta Brace rain slicker I bought for my Canon XL series cameras fits the EA50 well enough to be safe to use.

It may be "hard" to spend $200.00 for something you may only use occasionally but it is a cheap investment to protect a $3,500.00 camera. I have seen Kata rain covers for much less than Porta Brace but either one is cheap insurance in my opinion. And I live in Phoenix, Arizona, it rains here about once every ten years. No need for me to walk around with a Bennie Boy umbrella on my head with a propeller on top :)

Rain covers are also good in dusty, dirty environments. I have used mine for NASCAR auto racing because of the dirt coming off the track and the champagne, or Gatorade these days in victory lane. When a race track gets wet they dry it off by dragging a jet engine around behind a truck. It is like the worlds biggest blow dryer. It throws rocks and rubber balls at you. No fun at all, and the uninitiated can soon find them selves with a damaged camera, bad stuff in their eyes, and ears that hurt because they took their protection off once the cars parked. Rookies only make that mistake once. Rain covers serve more than one purpose.

Steve

[Jerome Cloninger]

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

Rain covers are also good in dusty, dirty environments. I have used mine for NASCAR auto racing because of the dirt coming off the track and the champagne, or Gatorade these days in victory lane.

Steve

This is also my next exact reason for getting one and the dirt bike stuff that it appears I'll be filming more of soon.

[Steven Digges]

Jerome,

For credentialed motor sports you can get "almost into the action". I make an exception for lens filters and buy cheap ones for that. I keep a spare in my kit. I have taken hits and gone through more than one at a race.

Steve