For the people that don't know, I live in the Canada. That's on the Wet Coast (aka Vancouver, British Columbia). This is the last tempered rain forest area in the world and the keyword here is rain. That's why God after his day of rest went to finish what he didn't have time to do in the first 6 days, like invent Goretex...
I have Goretex shoes, I have Goretex pants, I have 2 Goretex jackets and I even have 2 Goretex hats. Why? Because it rains. In the summer, not much and in 2014, this was one the driest summer we've ever had. But November to March? Rain, rain, and a little bit of snow that will be washed out by some more rain. When I got my first Canon 7D, I found a Kata 70-200 rain cover on sale ($60 after all the rebates, discounts and taxes). It's big, it takes a lot of space, it makes a lot of 'crumply' noises that I hate. It works very well when the camera is on a tripod and if it's not too cold. When I put my hands in the rain cover to operate my 7D, sometimes it starts to fog (must from the heat of my hands or...) It's almost impossible for me to use it without having the camera on the tripod.
I know that my camera and my 70-200 are 'weather-proof' (whatever it means) and I have used them regularly in light rain without any problem. But I always think, should I? Is this going to damage...? I've tried the garbage bags, that didn't work for me, too big, flaps in the wind and scares the dogs.
A couple of years ago, from a forum, I discovered http://fotosharp.com/. Good recommendations, so I looked around, looked good, cheap enough to try. I did.
- It's small. It came in the mail in a flat envelop. I roll it up in the small ball and use a rubber band to keep it bunched up. It's so small that I keep at the bottom of my camera bag.
- I don't know the technicals of my material it's made of, but it feels like Tyvek.
- The way I use it, is with my hands outside of the rain cover and I operate the buttons through it. It works fine. I love it.
This photo was made in the rain. It was a light steady drizzle that lasted a couple of days. I spent at least half an hour on my knees, in the rain, on the wet grass and this photo is my favorite.
I bought this rain cover in 2013, a white one, the pro, for my most used camera/lens the Canon 7D with the 70-200L f/4IS. Earlier this year, I commented on DPReview when somebody asked about rain covers and I said:
My only regret is having bought the white rain cover, I should have ordered the black one
A few days later, out of the blue, I got an email from Bob McCabe, the owner of FotoSharp, offering me to exchange my white rain cover with a new black rain cover, for free! I bought my white rain cover more than a year ago. He even offered to sent me the new one before I sent him back the white cover.
Now, that's service!
