Gear at the Beach

[mattinthehat]

Next week I am taking a vacation to the gulf (woot!) but I am terrified of sand, especially getting into my zoom lenses. I plan to use large ziplock bags for carrying my camera when I'm not taking pictures. But besides that and not changing lenses I'm not sure what else I can do.

What can I do to protect against sand, or what else should I be worried about that I haven't thought of? Would it be better to just use a prime lens since there are less nooks and crannies for sand to blow into?

Thanks!

 

[Derrel]

Next week I am taking a vacation to the gulf (woot!) but I am terrified of sand, especially getting into my zoom lenses. I plan to use large ziplock bags for carrying my camera when I'm not taking pictures. But besides that and not changing lenses I'm not sure what else I can do.

What can I do to protect against sand, or what else should I be worried about that I haven't thought of? Would it be better to just use a prime lens since there are less nooks and crannies for sand to blow into?

Thanks!

To protect against sand, one can always stay home. Or stay in the car. As far as things to be worried about, the list is pretty long. Lemme' see here....fingerprints, smudges, flying rocks, ticks, mosquitos, black flies, gnats, spiders, snakes, rabid skunks,rabid dogs, angry boyfriends, drunken frat boys, falling, car crashes, lightning, hailstorms, sleet, rainstorms, and of course, earthquakes, tornados, volcanic eruptions, and dropping of equipment.

Smile and have a good shoot! :lol

 

[clanthar]

Be afraid. Then be sensible.

The sand you can see isn't your biggest problem -- it's the smaller stuff. And that's only the beginning. Salt is both corrosive and conductive. Electronic equipment does not like salt. Stand on the beach for 15 minutes on a windy day and then lick your lips -- taste that? It's in the air. Long ago I made my living repairing cameras. I could tell when I opened them up which ones had spent a lot of time at the beach. They had salt cancer.

OK -- so I take my camera to the beach. My old man has a house on the Gulf and I visit. Photographs are more important than gear. The minute you leave your camera at home because you're afraid it'll get dinged your camera becomes worthless. When I go to the beach with my camera I keep it in a shoulder bag that I keep closed. I take the camera out of the bag long enough to get the photo and put it back in the bag and close the bag. I do not change lenses on the beach -- only in the car.

If I'm shooting on the beach and the wind picks up I switch to my walk-around camera which is a high-end consumer compact. That camera I'd sacrifice for one great photo and then replace it. Everyone should have a camera they'd be willing to sacrifice for one great photo.

Joe