Diy Hvx Raincover

Gary Sconce

Veteran
I have made nothing new here, but I thought some would benefit from the cheapo HVX raincover Matt Sconce and I made for the SLEEPER film shoot. We needed a sturdy raincover to stop what amounted to a rainstorm, + firehosed water shot into the set. The cover worked extremely well, handheld and on tripod for nearly 9 hours with nary a drip into the camera. Just a good, dumb old raincoat for a camera. :cheesy:

Materials:
>Good quality rubberized nylon raincoat, (green)
>Source for clear thick polypropolene type plastic (We found a quilt bag that had carried a new quilt for a queen size bed)
Shoe Goo
An old wet suit material mouse pad
Industrial strength velcro (from True Value... Amazing stuff!)

Tools:
Scissors
Popsicle stick to apply goo
Tape measure
Sharpie black pen

1 - Take rain coat and slide HVX (or DVX) down arm until the lens cover seems to start to get tight in the arm. Back off camera up arm 1 inch and mark with sharpie inside where the bottom of the lens is.

2 - Cut off front of arm end as shown in the diagrams

3 - Cut mouse pad as shown in diagram. Don't forget to cut out the notch where the pad intersects the front of the HVX on the speaker area.

4 - Shoe goo in pad as shown. (When shoe gooing, realize that the goo needs time to set up to get totally hard so be patient on this part. 24 hours is good.)

5 - Cut off back of raincoat as shown in diagram measurements.

6 - Cut out rectangle hole where controls of camera and monitor are.

7 - Cut out corner of clear plastic scrounged from whatever. Shoe goo clear plastic onto raincoat around rectangular cut hole. An alternative is to first shoe goo the clear plastic, let it dry, and THEN cut out the rectangular hole.

8 - Put on industrial strength velcro to pull down the shoulder material. Under no circumstances will you cut this back here as it must remain sealed to the entrance of water all the way down the back. Velcro the bottom back. Match cut a tiny hole in the bottom to fit to your tripod mount if mounting on something.

9 - Let all dry, add goo as necessary, check for leaks with a top water shower. This coat is NOT meant to stop water from below the camera... it is a raincoat, not a waterproof housing.

10 - Use with your HVX or DVX. Always be careful... you know what you paid for these cameras! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

Pics:

IMG_2603.jpg


Side View, Front View, Top View pics:
IMG_2600.jpg

IMG_2602.jpg

IMG_2601.jpg
 
You should start to mass produce these and sell them.

:kali:Ha! ... Along with making Hypercam heavy duty camera stabilizers for Red cameras, Hyper-Fly wire fly rigs, Hyperglide static fly rigs, Hypercrane three axis camera jibs, Hypershoulder counterweight camera mounts, Hyperpod tripods, Hyperdollies... Naw. No time for all that. You can sell 'em if you want. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG) I'm just too hyper... (LOL!) :shocked:
 
how about some images with the hvx in it

I would love to do that but the HVX is in Fresno... 50 miles south of me where Matt Sconce is at this moment fighting final post production battles on PUSH. :undecided I am way up in the mountains on Yosemite's south border. (It is sooo pretty here! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG) ) I will try to fit it into the cover next time I am there and will post pics then. It looks wrinkled now, but it fits tight and perfect with looseness over the control areas where it needs to be. The mousepad extends the front out and is tight over the lens cowl, so no string is necessary.
:Drogar-Happy(DBG):
 
Hi Gary, do you still have the plans for your raincover? It seems that your pics aren't showing anymore. I would really like to make one for my dvx.
 
Hi Gary, do you still have the plans for your raincover? It seems that your pics aren't showing anymore. I would really like to make one for my dvx.

I visited my photobucket account and they renewed the pics. They are dumb.

We used this recently in Troy Ruff's monsterfest entry 'Mercy' in the final crane shot. We were shooting the camera from behind with water and none got in! :thumbsup:
 
Do you think it would be possible to modify this design to the point where you can actually submerge the camera in water?
 
I visited my photobucket account and they renewed the pics. They are dumb.

We used this recently in Troy Ruff's monsterfest entry 'Mercy' in the final crane shot. We were shooting the camera from behind with water and none got in! :thumbsup:

Awesome!! Do you have any pics with the camera in it?

Question:
How do you make the front section of the raincoat from sliding down/moving and blocking your lens?

Thanks for taking the time answering my questions
 
I had an idea to make one of these once, but the list of parts was much smaller. It consisted of

1 - Trashbag

2 - Roll of Ductape

3 - ?????

4 - PROFIT!
 
Do you think it would be possible to modify this design to the point where you can actually submerge the camera in water?

Nope. You need a solid 2-3G pressure proof leak proofhousing to use under water.

It works well and is rip proof... much better than a trash bag with duct tape. Also, it goes on and off fast and easy. Hey, it was cheap, re-usable and works every time. THAT is good. :Drogar-Happy(DBG):
 
Awesome!! Do you have any pics with the camera in it?

Question:
How do you make the front section of the raincoat from sliding down/moving and blocking your lens?

Thanks for taking the time answering my questions

The front doesn't slide down because the mouse pad links in with the front mike post on the HVX, and also the stiffness of the rubber mouse pad keeps the front straight and protecting the lens set. :happy:
 
how about some images with the hvx in it

Sorry, no pics of it actually on the HVX, as I am usually the one running the rig and haven't snapped the pic. :undecided Watch the Monsterfest film MERCY and look at the end fly-away out of the building and into the rain. That is all with the HVX raincoat on and with a powerful hose shooting water at the head of a 21 foot crane with the camera on it. It worked so well, the Director Troy Ruff (RUFF PRODUCTIONS) commented on the fact that not even a drip was on the lens. Yay! :Drogar-Happy(DBG):
 
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