Protecting my canon XTI from paintballs :/

I will be attending a paintball tournament in May with my canon xti. Obviously I want to protect it. Is there any good trick to cover up all the fragile parts to consider the camera "safe" without losing picture quality? Should I just ghetto wrap it with some rags to protect it from the paintballs? I will be inside the nets and I usually do get shot every once and a while.

Someone from another site recommended a waterproof case - which would work - but i couldn't find any xti waterpoof cases on the market.




Suggestions?


Thanks,

Kyle

 

The only thing i can think of is a waterproof case. But I also think youre crazy for taking a 1000 camera in a cage filled with 300 fps projectiles

 

300 feet per second, not MPH.


And yes, I am crazy. I've only been shot in the lens of my video camera twice in two years... Not too bad

 

lol yeah fps, im tired. And how did that video camera lens look afterwards?

 

Orange.

 

ironically im going paintballing tomorow...
... first of all what type of paint ball games will u be photographing?
-if it's wood ball id suggest getting a brightly color jersey of some sort and pray that u dont get shot at.
-if it's speed ball with this you'll loose some mobility but stay low to the ground and behind a bunker possibly just stay out of the way and if u need to move shield the camera

 

i would think anything that wont break is fine... paintballs are edible, so its not goign to eat your camera finish or anything, but it could probably break something if you're not carefull

 

they sell camera armour (I think its called) basically thick rubber coverings, but in reality there are only 2 things I'd be worried about, 1 while you are shooting, and that is the lens. I'd make sure you're using a UV filter for sure. if you took a direct hit on the front element you want as much protection as possible. The other problem is that the lens may not be weather sealed, so the oils can get into the lens. you could probably just use some saran wrap to ghetto cover it, and carry a rag to brush off anything that gets on the barrel.

The other thing I'd be worried about, which isn't a problem when shooting, is the LCD. When you are shooting and have the camera up to your face, it would be pretty hard to hit the LCD, but if you are carrying the camera and take a stray to the LCD it could very well crack the LCD. Hoodman sells protective covers if you are worried about this

http://www.hoodmanusa.com/default.htm

but the best thing I can think of for safety is a bright suit and a bright mask if you can (maybe just some bright tape on the mask) in case they see a head/mask and take a shot at you, and probably the best safety device, a long focal length and some distance

 

Some very good ideas. I'll use them all probably.

I'm shooting professional paintballers at the PSP event in South Carolina. They know where to shoot and rarely misfire. However, sometimes they do due to sensitive triggers and the cameramen and refs take a few every once and a while. Out of these occasions, they sometimes do hit the camera - usually the side.

Xfloog, the saran wrap and rag idea is a good one. Thanks.

 

A paintball isn't going to break the camera. There just isn't enough force from something with such little mass.

What you need to do is A: waterproof case or B: Ziploc bag.

You can glue/tape/spit a bunch of ziploc bags, for a cheap, customized waterproof casing from your camera. You wont' be able to see though the viewfinder well, but you wouldn't anyway with the paintball mask on. You'll need to get a UV filter so you can super glue the bag onto the rim of it to seal it. A rubber band is nowhere good enough.


Personally, i wouldn't even bother with an SLR. There's too much that you'd need to do that just gets in the way of making pictures. I'd use a quick PS camera and put it in an underwater case, done.

 

I've seen people shoot paintballs through a plastic loader before. There's definitely parts on a camera that are more delicate. Granted, the guy got bunkered and shot at point blank, but still, I wouldn't bet on it not breaking your camera.

The real problem though is the paint, not necessarily the impact. Tournament paint especially is thick and oily to prevent wiping. I'm sure you know each time you clean your paintball gun, the stuff has an uncanny ability to get into every little crevis.

I like the P&S idea. Maybe you can put a viewloader cover over the camera?