DIY protection in desert
- Thread starter verushka
- Start date
Paul Hudson
Vacuum Tube Member
That is where we are. You must have a space blanket for sun protection. You can get these at camping stores. As far as dust, tape up any open ports and keep plenty of dust off with you. when you get home you will need Goo-Gone to remove the dust that sticks to your tape. Best of Luck!
armisiano
Veteran
For heat, I haven't any suggestion but the logical ones (stay in the shade, or in down time any air conditioned or cool areas).
As far as the dust goes, I shot something in the desert once, and literally just wrapped the camera and lens adapter in regular kitchen plastic wrap. It allowed me to still see and push all the buttons, and no dust got through. It looked a little ridiculous, but worked perfectly.
As far as the dust goes, I shot something in the desert once, and literally just wrapped the camera and lens adapter in regular kitchen plastic wrap. It allowed me to still see and push all the buttons, and no dust got through. It looked a little ridiculous, but worked perfectly.
Aside from taping up your holes/ seams you've got some tricky things to deal with if you want to DIY.
The obvious choice is to intelligently wrap it in garbage bags, I say intelligently because it's not just about throwing a bag over your camera and calling it a day, you may want to wrap the lens separately from the body if you need access to it.
The issue here is that traditional garbage bags are black, and black attracts heat, and you don't want that at all. The solution is to use a white garbage bag, but NOW your issue is accidental reflection/ light spill onto your subject, as the lighter bags will act as a deflector.
There is probably a nice in-between if you can find a store that has gray plastic bags at the cashier. Most stores will give you extras if you ask, some will charge 5-10 cents.
If you have a girlfriend, or are handy with a sewing machine check out second hand stores and buy a fat guy's old jeans. The wide legs are great for wrapping a lens/camera body and you might even find black denim for that professional DIY look haha.
Just a few ways I've protected my gear in the past, hope it helps. If you really really love your gear though, a Porta-Brace thing is probably your best bet.
http://www.portabrace.com/productA-CBA-HVX200
The obvious choice is to intelligently wrap it in garbage bags, I say intelligently because it's not just about throwing a bag over your camera and calling it a day, you may want to wrap the lens separately from the body if you need access to it.
The issue here is that traditional garbage bags are black, and black attracts heat, and you don't want that at all. The solution is to use a white garbage bag, but NOW your issue is accidental reflection/ light spill onto your subject, as the lighter bags will act as a deflector.
There is probably a nice in-between if you can find a store that has gray plastic bags at the cashier. Most stores will give you extras if you ask, some will charge 5-10 cents.
If you have a girlfriend, or are handy with a sewing machine check out second hand stores and buy a fat guy's old jeans. The wide legs are great for wrapping a lens/camera body and you might even find black denim for that professional DIY look haha.
Just a few ways I've protected my gear in the past, hope it helps. If you really really love your gear though, a Porta-Brace thing is probably your best bet.
http://www.portabrace.com/productA-CBA-HVX200
hermmermferm
Well-known member
I shot the end of a feature at Burning Man last year during the most terrific dust-storm ever and I'll tell you, if you're going to a place that's dusty, you're going to get dust in the camera no matter what (unless you have an underwater rig). As for cooling hard drives, laptops and such in a overheated van baking under the sun, I brought along a cooler with cool CLAY packs, the kind you'd use for sore muscles, this worked really well and didn't produce any condensation. You cool 'em in a fridge or freezer for an hour and it'll stay cold for hours when put in a cooler. No hard drives or laptops crashed so I'd recommend it.
Nick Walters
Mentholated Member
I forgot my rain cover once on a shoot that involved fake blood, so I did as some have suggested and wrapped the camera in plastic bags from the grocery store....it was only a temporary fix and taken off after each take, but it worked.
I would STRONGLY suggest buying a case, armor, cover.....somethin
I would STRONGLY suggest buying a case, armor, cover.....somethin