Adventures with Camera? 50 miles! Camera gear in the Elements?

[mpphoto12]

HI this summer i am doing a hike in New Mexico that is 60 miles enduring all kinds of weather and the scenery is amazing from what i have heard and seen. It is an eleven man crew by urselves for two weeks hiking from 60-70 miles. I have heard many people bring Point and shoots on these and keeping them somwhat intact and having good pictures.However i am an advanced amateur photog and would like to know how i could keep my camera clean and protected from the elelments.


Note: i want to pack light due to my already 50 pound pack of clothes food gear etc.


Heres what i have :


rebel XT


kit lens


gitzo tripod


remote release


crappy lightweight tripod


Tamron 70-300


more but those are basics

• I want to know if anyone has suggestions as to the idea of bringing a SMALL pelican case to waterproof my XT sounds and buying a used XT to bring instead from ebay instead of mine just in case of damage? Is this recommended or should i purchase a point and shoot? Other suggestions?
  

[IAMB]

I say improvise when space and weight is a concern. Get a nicely padded pouch for each lens and then pack the body in a ziplock bag with a pack of silica gel to keep the moisture out. Wrap the ziplock in a fleece or something (you should have one along since desert nights are somewhat chilly) and it'll be fairly well protected and will stay dry. I did the same with my XT body last year and it survived two days of hellish conditions in the Cascades. Everything else was soaked - including me - but the camera survived quite nicely.

[Marine96]

Your pack is going to be full of gear like food,personal gear and crew served gear such as a dinining fly and such, by the time you are done packing your pack correctly you will have little room for a dlsr and added equpiment. My suggestion is to buy a higher quality P&S for the trip and use the manual mode as much as possible to achieve the best photos.

[mpphoto12]

have any of you used a Pelican Case? recommend it? i would like my gear to be as safe as possible and thanks for the advice! What was that gel you were saying?? Thanks

[IAMB]

Silica gel... it comes in little pouches and is generally pcked in with many optics to keep moisture out during shipping. If you don't have any laying around, check with your local sporting goods store... most binoculars and spotting scopes are shipped with at least one pack and they should be plenty willing to just give you one or two. If you're out in the desert where temperature swings are pretty extreme between night and day, condensation can become a big problem with any optics.


Another option is to check with your local university's chemistry department and see if they'll let you have some of whatever dessicant they're using, though you'll probably have to make your own pouch for it out of whatever breathable material you have handy.


A last resort is to grind up some instant rice, though you'll have to mix it about 50/50 with table salt to keep small organisms such as fungi and bacteria from using the rice as food and contaminating everything... a far worse fate than moisture in your equipment.

[mpphoto12]

thank you how about using a combination of that and a pelican case??

[mpphoto12]

better news i just learned it got bumped up to 75 Miles!!! tough lol and im only 16

[peety3]

I've taken my Rebel XTi and kit lens hung around my neck on several 160-mile bike rides. Zoom wide, aim, shoot, check screen for general verification, maybe zoom in a bit, shoot a few more, keep riding. I love what I come home with. Used to do this with my Minolta 7D and an 18-70 I think. Rebel samples at http://photos.templin.org/gallery/2007ATLms150 and Minolta samples at http://photos.templin.org/gallery/2007PADms150.


Biggest suggestion I have: use Canon batteries, and take more than enough. First time I tried taking the Minolta, battery died at lunch. Funny, that camera quickly became HEAVY when it was useless until the overnight (where I could get more batteries).