XM2 Poncho Bag 3000 Beta (www.def3ct.com/images/raincover.jpg)

Just sharing.

I was on tourist little trip to a monsatery in a mountain near Barcelona... and well when we got up there it was just wet... lot´s of rain...
So I got out a bag we had some sandwiches in.. cut the bag to fit the XM2 and tied it to the camera with a pony tail rubber band.

I didn´t get one drop of water on the camera... a few on the lens.. but nothing more.
I was able to access every button and dial without problem, and I could even use the LCD screen.. (although I don´t usually use it).

The bag stayed on the camera for more than 4 hours without having any problem at all... well maybe a little noisy.. but I wasn´t there for the sound anyway...

I plan on cutting up a less noisy and more resistant piece of rain coat or "poncho" I have in here.. and make me a custom made "XM2 Poncho 3000" without having to pay $200, or whatever they charge.

I don´t have more pics of this... because I didn´t thought of posting... actually I ddin´t know my friend took me this picture.

I´ll post pics of this when I get it done...

Did I say it was free, and I didn´t get one single drop of water on the camera?

That's a very handy expediant, Federico! Thanks for the tip.

It's amazing what a plastic bag will do. Excellent for keeping dust out as well.

It's not just for small cameras either. If you have a chance, watch the making of 'The Long and the Short of It' on the Two Towers DVD. They have a high-definition camera wrapped in what looks like a plastic bag!

The main problem I could foresee would be condensation building up in the bag under certain climatic conditions. If you avoid the condensation it should be fine.

ive been wrapping my gl2 in a bag for a long time now, and ive found that in order to avoid condensation its better to wrap everything but the battery and leave the battery exposed... then i put a cloth bag that ive made around the entire camera and it does a perfect job of keeping the battery dry...
of course i would never do this in heavy rain but ive found that it works quite well in light rain and since i use it at the beach, i feel like its battling the salt air a little as well

speaking of salt air, can anyone name any suggestions to further battle salt air (ex: cleaning what parts with what solutions) or speak briefly about what effects, if any, salt air has on a camera?
thanks

Make sure you are using a filter of some sort of your lens! Salt can do a real number on lens coatings so better to ruin a filter than the lens. If you shoot a lot in salty environments then using an uncoated lens may be better - as long as you don't run into problems from lens flare, etc.

I've found shooting near the ocean on overcast days can really trick the auto white balance so manual white balance is a must.

<<<-- Originally posted by Jerry Ricciotti : speaking of salt air, can anyone name any suggestions to further battle salt air (ex: cleaning what parts with what solutions) or speak briefly about what effects, if any, salt air has on a camera?
thanks -->>>

thanks jeff,
i always keep a UV filter on my lens, unless i switch it out for a polarizer... but i dont know if it is coated or not? its a quantaray filter i got from ritz but i dont know too much beside that... is there a way i can find out?