Protecting a camera from rain and bears

[WalkingintheAir25]

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[CAP]

I have shot the Florida panther many times, They shots will require editing as all of the known panthers are GPS collared or RFID Tag'ed, do to there low numbers. But i not sure where you are at but i have many shots of them in the red lands, baby's and all. But i called a buddy that works for fish and wild live and he just gave me the coordinates of where all the panthers where and i went right to them. There are some web sites that track them too i will try to get those for you so you can get your shot.


Also i shot mine on my buddies 800mm with 2x TeleConverter on my 1DX so i was still faw away and i placed my self in front of where a group of them where heading i was in cammo and they came right near me within 50 feet of me.

 

[IzzieK]

We're going to Florida in a couple of months and would like to know the coordinates too. Anything near Cedar Key?

I have shot the Florida panther many times, They shots will require editing as all of the known panthers are GPS collared or RFID Tag'ed, do to there low numbers. But i not sure where you are at but i have many shots of them in the red lands, baby's and all. But i called a buddy that works for fish and wild live and he just gave me the coordinates of where all the panthers where and i went right to them. There are some web sites that track them too i will try to get those for you so you can get your shot.


Also i shot mine on my buddies 800mm with 2x TeleConverter on my 1DX so i was still faw away and i placed my self in front of where a group of them where heading i was in cammo and they came right near me within 50 feet of me.

 

[robbins.photo]

I recently bought a device I can hook up my nikon camera to that will take pictures by itself when triggered by an animal crossing a heat and motion sensing beam. I really want to get a picture of a Florida panther, which are very people shy so I have to leave my camera in the woods overnight. The problem is I need to be able to protect my camera from bears and rain. I'm sure I can build some type of concrete enclosure to put the camera in, but I'm not sure how to go about protecting the lens without interfering with the picture. Does anybody know what I can put over the lens to keep it safe? Are there any products you an buy to protect it that won't take away from the quality of the picture? Thanks for reading.

Leave... my camera.. in the woods. At night, unattended. Hmmm... Yup, that would be a big no no for me personally, plenty of options for protecting the thing against weather that would be pretty low cost - heck just a garbage bag, lens hood and UV filter would be more than sufficient for that. But bears or other animals? Well, that's a bit of a different story. I can't think of many options that would be sturdy enough to stand up to something like that and yet not seriously degrade image quality that would also offer the camera a decent level of protection against something that big should they take an interest in your enclosure and wish to investigate.

 

[TheNevadanStig]

Grow a pair, carry a sidearm, ranger up and chase them down. They aren't that scary

507 by TheNevadanStig, on Flickr

151 by TheNevadanStig, on Flickr


Best bet for predators is a blind, a callbox, and a lot of water, sammiches, and patience

I also would not leave my DSLR out there like that. They make much cheaper trail cameras for a reason.

 

[CAP]

Ok so the web sites that track them have kinda old charts like 2 or 3 weeks prior.

Now first off they do not track them 24/7 There are triggers if they move out of a zone or go some where they should not.

They do ping them twice a week normally in the after noon because panthers rest on the hot parts of the day and don't move much.

My friend gave me a chart for a them on Wednesday at 12:35pm about and i was in the field set by 1:45pm that day i set my self up in common trail they take and within 1-2 hours of sitting they started coming around and came right to me 5 there was a lot 6 of them adults and 2 babies and we kinda split up but the mother kept with young like within 25 ft at all times but there where about 50ft from me at the closest point.

I had to wait another 2 hours before they left so could leave and not be eaten. hehe

I know university of Florida has access to there real time tracking system i will try to get some info on that too.

Also DONT USE FLASH !
And when they are in shadows it hard to get sharp shots even with my 800mm Canon it had tough time in dark areas