Recommend a travel bag and stuff...

W

wblanchard

Guest
Hello Friends!

Im traveling in March to Costa Rica for a week or two. A friend mentioned the climate down their really messed up some of his equipment. I've also been told to use something called CATCRAP to coat and polish my lens.

Anyone have some advice on this matter?

I'm just taking my Zorki-6 , Leica Digilux 2 and a ton of flash cards. I need someone to recommend a nice travel bag to protect my camera and gear from a sudden rain or the moisture in the rain forest climate.

Thanks everyone. I love this forum.
 
One of my kids spent 9 weeks there last summer right in the middle of the rainy season. She had her Nikon FM2/Nikkor 50mm and her Dell Inspiron laptop with her and used both every day. She just kept them in her backpack apparently with no special precautions and both seem to be fine six months later. Take your regular camera bag - I use Domkes and I wouldn't have any hesitation taking my RF gear there in those bags.
 
A friend of mine is a biologist - and his Canon EOS300 died on 3 week trip (admittedly, he was trying to take pictures of all kinds of small critters in the (moist) jungle...
There is a German company, Ortlieb, that makes (really expensive) waterproof camera bags!
While the Z6 will probably be fine, I would not fully trust the electronics of the Digilux in that climate.

Roman
 
You might look into LowePro's AW bag series. The mini-trekker AW is an excellent small backpack that can be used for more than just photo equipment. It also has a rain cover that will fold up from under it and completely cover the bag. It works well in my experience. Another thing to look at is another one of their bags -- the Dryzone 100 (or 200). It is completely waterproof -- as in throw it in the ocean waterproof. But all this said, for a very humid climate you would probably be best off with a camera bag that was water resistant, but breathable. That way the dampness will not get trapped inside the bag, where it can do the most damage. The best kind of thing for this would be a canvas bag. You can buy treatments for canvas that make it waterproof (more or less), so this might be a good way to go. I found the Domke 803 to be an excellent little bag, and it was water resistant enough for me to travel all around Japan during the rainy season. It has no zippers, so the water does not seep in that way. Mostly, it just bounces off the flap and down to the ground. The only area to worry about is the rear pocket, but that is usually flattened against your hip, so it does not get too wet. Anyway, best of luck and enjoy the trip!
 
I thought your friend was pulling your leg until I saw this: http://www.catcrap.com/
I was in Cozumel last summer and you could swim through the humidity. It didn't seem to affect my Canonet or FTb. I was only there a few days though. It seems that prolonged exposure to high humidity would damage the digital camera before it harmed the manual one.
 
Catcrap is sold in ski shops to keep goggles from fogging up in humid conditions. I don't think I'd smear it on top of lens coatings.
 
I used Catcrap on my eyeglasses when deer hunting in foggy/humid weather, but I'd never put it on my lenses.
Just take a couple of 10 gal. trash bags for the occasional downpour and keep everything in a water-resistant backpack, no big deal.
 
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