Weather Proof Red!

[Joseph Ward]

Hey You Guys! I’m just wondering how to make Red more weather proof for EFP/ENG use. From the body to wire, connections, etc. Any suggestions? :shifty:

[Ken Corben]

Great question - there's a range from rain covers to fully submersible weather proof gear.

Major players are:

Kata
Ewa
Lowepro
Portabrace

It all depends on what your specific applications are?

I plan to use a custom camera bag made by DUI of San Diego for my REDONE for my Arctic/Antarctic shoots since the housings are custom made for the camera and feature their tried and true crushed neoprene designs with waterproof zippers. Protects from cold as well as water and other elements.

Examples of the range of products:

[JohnF]

Don't forget bin-bags or rubble sacks! (they fold almost to nothing, dry with a quick shake and cost next to nothing)

I have a Kata rain cover which work quite well except that once wet they take ages - and I mean ages to dry out again. (unless you have dry, sunny conditions with low humidity)

But a Polar-Bear jacket with heat packs is essential for shooting in cold climates/mountains etc...

JohnF

[Steve Gibby]

Carefully protected gear will usually last longer and be more reliable...

I would imagine the camera bag/cover manufacturers will eventually have custom rain covers, protective covers, and bags for RED One: Porta-Brace, KATA, Petrol, etc.

I have no knowledge of it, but it would be way cool if RED made their own line of bags, backpacks, covers, travel cases, etc.

Sidelight: having done a ton of mobile outdoor production over the years, my production backpack always contains an emergency rain poncho for me, and some simple plastic garbage bags for my gear. In need, and when caught without a raincover for my camera, many times I've simply used one of those trash bags stretched over the camera, with a hole cut for the end of the lens barrel. I know you'll cringe at the thought of covering a RED One with a trash bag, but at least in an emergency you won't get your camera soaked/ruined!

[steevo435]

Don't forget Camera Essentials in L.A. Patti Harrison has been making rain covers and "weather protectors" for my company for years....she's super easy going and happy to do "one off's" for anybody. A small company very customer oriented. Send her dimensions, drawings or pictures and she'll sew it up.
http://www.cameraessentials.com
My only affiliation with them is being a happy customer.:biggrin:

[Joseph Ward]

Thanks a lot guys. I will be trying your suggestions. One more thought? Could the camera have heating issues with covers? Can I put a small fan underneath cover, cool packs, or dehumidifier? LOL

[JohnF]

One more thought? Could the camera have heating issues with covers? Can I put a small fan underneath cover, cool packs, or dehumidifier? LOL

There are heating issues and some protectors are reversible giving a silvered/reflective side to reflect any solar heating (which can be quite significant). I have noticed that the Canon XL1/2 being mostly white and silver Super8 Nizo's, keep cooler for much longer in sunny conditions when compared with other cameras (Suggesting that camera colour schemes or materials should be looked at...)

If the environment is not dusty/sandy or wet I generally won't use a protector but I will keep the cam in the shade as much as possible with the viewfinder pointing down and the lens cap on!

That said I have noticed far more problems with cool/cold temps than with sunny/warm conditions. So protectors/covers do provide some form of insulation against the cold but as I said earlier real cold will require heat-packs and a thermal jacket (like polar-bear jackets)

JohnF

[tj williams]

Nice thing about the RED pointed out at NAB is that the lower part where you see the slots does not go thru to the electronics, just to the lower part of the heat sink. This means for water to enter it has to come in thru a port on the right side of camera. thru the PL mount which will be pretty tight, or around the rear screen or thru The buttons all of which looked really waterproof on the show cameras. The battery on AB/Vlock has the connectors pretty wel covered, the Mag locks down with the connector on the underside! The lemo connectors in use will be pretty waterproof. The major way I see water entering is through unused connectors. All in all, This looks a lot more waterproof than my Sony!!! Big deal to me as I live in Seattle...

[Steven-Marc C.]

I plan to use a custom camera bag made by DUI of San Diego for my REDONE for my Arctic/Antarctic shoots since the housings are custom made for the camera and feature their tried and true crushed neoprene designs with waterproof zippers. Protects from cold as well as water and other elements.

Hello sharkguy,
I am looking into a similar solution as we plan on using the Red on sailing boats this winter, and neoprene covers have proved most efficient for that use. We have someone in Paris who does some very good costum designs for shooters working on the transats and other races, but I'd also be interested in seeing what you can get from DUI. Perhaps we could share some design ideas.

[Lauri Kettunen]

If I remember well the power consumption of RED One is around 50W. So when the camera is covered, it's the same as having a 50W electric buld heating inside the cover and that's quite a lot of power transformed to heat.

Thinking of shooting outdoors in the winter, the power consumpted brings the advantage that perhaps no additional heaters are needed within the cover unless it's extremely cold. On the other hand, taking into account what Jim recently reported of the tests in Spain and about the possibility to overheat the sensor, I wonder, if the cover does not let the warmed air to flow outside there might be a risk of creating locally the conditions of a jungle within the covering bag overheating the sensor.

[Billy Summers]

I wonder, if the cover does not let the warmed air to flow outside there might be a risk of creating locally the conditions of a jungle within the covering bag overheating the sensor.


Could be used as a really cool visual effect though.

[odnamra]

Can you give me a url for DUI? I can't find it them using a search engine.


Great question - there's a range from rain covers to fully submersible weather proof gear.

Major players are:

Kata
Ewa
Lowepro
Portabrace

It all depends on what your specific applications are?

I plan to use a custom camera bag made by DUI of San Diego for my REDONE for my Arctic/Antarctic shoots since the housings are custom made for the camera and feature their tried and true crushed neoprene designs with waterproof zippers. Protects from cold as well as water and other elements.

Examples of the range of products: