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View camera in inclement weather
What kind of protection do you use when using view cameras (large format 4x5, 8x10 etc) in bad weather. By bad I mean a) light rain/drizzle b) COLD. Pouring rain and wind is too much for me... Oct 08 12 07:31 pm Link anddd delete, cause I can't read:D Oct 08 12 07:32 pm Link SPierce Photography wrote: How do you focus, change film holders etc. Plastic bag is big enough for you and camera? Oct 08 12 07:34 pm Link MKPhoto wrote: OH! Sorry. I missed the "view" camera part. Actually just noticed, was coming back in to correct, and you had already replied. Never mind Oct 08 12 07:35 pm Link Lightstand, speedlight bracket, and one of those big shoot through brollies you bought by mistake.  Oct 08 12 08:13 pm Link Kaouthia wrote:
Oct 08 12 08:19 pm Link You could also get an underwater housing for it.  Oct 08 12 08:22 pm Link How about using one of those portable picnic roof things you see everyone using at art shows in parks?? I've seen 10' square ones for like $60.00 at KMart. Here's a place that has them!:-) http://www.acecanopy.com/pop-up-tent-packages.html Oct 08 12 08:23 pm Link Bellows shade, bellows hood mask and a water proof dark cloth. The shade and mask was part of the Sinar P kit. That protects the rain from getting on the lens. I have a waterproof dark cloth that goes over the shade protecting the shutter, but allowing me to cock and set it. The cloth drapes over the film back and stays on the camera the whole time.  -The Dave- wrote: MKPhoto wrote: Oatmeal container as lens shade. Plastic bag over camera, but you have to cut the bag to get at the shutter/f-stop and the film holder. Oct 08 12 08:26 pm Link I always just used a trash bag, oatmeal container and a few rubber bands. Oct 08 12 08:27 pm Link -The Dave- wrote: Please clarify a bit. Oct 08 12 08:29 pm Link MKPhoto wrote: Nah, just tent pegs & bungee cords. Whenever the weather is a concern, I'm usually on soft ground anyways. Oct 08 12 08:35 pm Link Kaouthia wrote: Once you said that, it will be rather simple to machine a bracket that will attach to the tripod and hold the speedlight bracket. Thanks! Oct 08 12 08:46 pm Link So the waterproof cloth will cover the whole thing, from the hood, all the way back? how do you see the settings on the shutter? Oct 08 12 08:50 pm Link MKPhoto wrote: Haha, glad to be of service, good luck! Oct 08 12 09:12 pm Link Husband with an umbrella. Although, i've never had issues with the rain here in Vancouver. More so with the cold, with my older cameras. Oct 08 12 09:17 pm Link mmcreative wrote:
Oct 08 12 09:20 pm Link -The Dave- wrote: MKPhoto wrote: Leonard Gee Photography wrote: Yup, seeing things were not a big deal as I used clear trash bags and I reached up into the bag to change settings and holders. Oct 08 12 09:34 pm Link I have a couple of these for my studio lights in the rain and I am pretty sure they would be handy for a LF camera too http://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Kids-Adj … B001N75WZM Oct 09 12 05:26 am Link i think it entirely too big a pain in the ass so if i am going to shoot in those conditions i use 35mm. the one time i had the 5x7 out in a light rain i had the luxury of shooting under a rain cover (4 legs and a vinyl "roof") Oct 09 12 05:41 am Link Clearly there are degrees of bad weather. In fairly mild inclement weather a couple of umbrellas, a tarp, and rain poncho work well. Dedicate one umbrella to go over the camera, another for your gear, keep your holders, meter and magnifier under your poncho. As the weather gets worse (and in dust storms), it's often best to have a cheap backup body, which one can risk losing, and an inferior lens. (In dust storms, never change lenses in the open air, be prepared to have to deal with scratched and spotted film.) Renting a minivan and shooting out the back/side door is good too. In the cold, watch out for misting within the lens itself, letting the lenses get to ambient temperature is important. Fingerless gloves are vital. Read the specs on your light meter, it may have degraded performance below a critical temperature. Watch out for where you breathe, your hot breath under a dark cloth on the ground glass is a nuisance. Watch out for the ambient temperature of the holders too, moisture can accumulate within the holder if not at ambient temperature. In snow, make sure you settle your tripod. Don't just put it in the snow, force it down and jiggle it, settling it before you put the camera on. Drips under trees are easily forgotten, and those drips are guided by the photography gods to land in the most inconvenient spot. Always. Oct 09 12 06:23 am Link Light Writer wrote: I've shot lighting from the inside of my SUV in the back, with the rear hatch open. Oct 09 12 06:29 am Link You can always buy a large light proof changing bag to load and unload holders in. Drape it in a large garbage bag with holes cut in it so you can insert your arms into the changing bag sleeves. I have shot in driving rain storms with my 4 x 5 outfit and it is not fun. I use a Calumet focusing cloth covered in garbage bags secured with bungee cords or gaffers tape to protect my head while focusing and keep the top of the camera dry. I also use garbage bags taped to the sides of the camera and atop the bellows lens hood. No matter what I did, I still got wet if it was windy and really had to watch out for the camera getting wet as well in spite of my best efforts. Oct 09 12 06:45 am Link MKPhoto wrote: Yeah, I was reading your OP and thinking that you might want to define cold. Cold in the 'Peg is an altogether different beast than almost any place else. I'm pretty sure the phrase "dead of winter" was first coined in Winnipeg. Oct 09 12 07:06 am Link garbage bag and gaffer tape Oct 09 12 07:13 am Link AgX wrote: Hehe, yeah!! at Winnipeg temps, you could have clouds inside the bellows!!! Can you say microclimate??:-))) Oct 09 12 07:19 am Link Cold like, f... cold. ..Are shutters in LF cameras OK for -30 cold? will bellows crack at -30.? Winter landscape here looks at its best when it is .... cold, infinite visibility, world as sharp as a razor. sky uniformly blue. True North. As far as drizzle, I see.. improvise until you are satisfied with the result  . Construction grade garbage bags and gaffer tape (is that British for electrician tape - one that peels without residue?) under umbrella being solutions of choice. Thanks! Oct 09 12 08:52 am Link MKPhoto wrote: Nah, electrical tape is PVC. Gaffer tape has a sort of woven fabric type consistency (like duct tape, except it doesn't rip the planet in half when you pull it off). Oct 09 12 09:06 am Link MKPhoto wrote: I have an umbrella clamp. with a goose neck, Clamps to the tripod and works quite well.. Oct 09 12 09:14 am Link A models changing tent works well, folds up and gives just enough room to work. Oct 09 12 09:27 am Link Kaouthia wrote: Yep, duct tape is like the Force, has light side, dark side and holds universe together. Oct 09 12 09:49 am Link "will bellows crack at -30." Even if your equipment isn't antique or vintage, and has a good quality leather, I would be worried the adhesives would be brittle. There is no telling what was used. Definitely the temperature to use a bag bellows, or make your own bellows and use adhesives that remain flexible in cold temperatures. As for the lenses, if your clockwork has a good synthetic lubricant in it your shutter shouldn't cease up on you. But the likelihood of that is pretty slim unless you lubricate your own. But anything below -30C, I use a 35mm Canon A-1 or TLR. Spring back springs stiffen, plastic darkslides and film holders get brittle. Your breath freezes up your focus screen and focusing hood quick. Not to mention it's always dark here in the winter. So focusing is a pain already. Oct 09 12 09:58 am Link . Use a tent. . Oct 10 12 03:22 am Link |
..Separated. 
