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GH2 In the rain
  • FilmCatFilmCat

    Hi guys,

    I'm Itching to use my GH2 (as I've been in revising all morning :( ) and work on some colour grading with davinci. Although it is raining quite heavily, that's good as I want to film the water droplets but I'd be interested to know if anyone has had any problems with the camera getting wet/damp and whether I should take precautions other than an umbrella?

    I'll be using old manual glass if that makes any difference Zenitar/Nikon

    Also if anyone in NW London has a monitor I could borrow in three weeks that'd be great ;)

    Thanks :) Max.

  • 14 Replies sorted by
  • FilmCatFilmCat

    Thanks, I won't be out for long, I use an external mic anyway, so I'll just put a bit of electrical tape over the mics.

    Thanks for the heads up :)

  • mintcheeriosmintcheerios

    I shot some friends on a water ride at an amusement park and got my camera soaked. I wasn't on the ride, but it splashed pretty damn far. The camera was fine, including the audio, but yeah, tape on the mics would probably be wise.

  • JDNJDN

    Can also confirm no problems filming in pretty heavy rain. Depending on the inside/outside temperature and humidity difference though, once you finishing shooting, you may want to wipe dry your camera, turn it off, then put camera and lens inside a plastic bag (garbage bag is fine) and let it come up to room temperature before opening the bag -- this will prevent fungus causing condensation from forming on your lens (it'll form on the bag instead).

  • htinlahtinla

    I've used mine in a momentary downpour and it survived. No umbrella, just a ziploc sandwich bag wrapped around the body and part of the lens. The camera did get moist, not drenched - it probably would've died if it did. Along with an umbrella, definitely put a bag around it and tape up the mic holes if you don't need them to record sound. Keep a dry terrycloth towel or wool sock in your coat pocket and immediately wipe the camera dry if it happens to get too wet. When you're done, put the camera inside a plastic ziploc bag (with silica gel packs if you have some) before going indoors to prevent condensation.

    With all this said, the GH2 is not a weather-sealed camera, so you probably shouldn't expose it to harsh weather too often. The cumulative effect could shorten its lifespan.

  • FilmCatFilmCat

    I'm back in and dry, didn't even get a single drop on the camera :) it's just sitting in a cool dry room now, will warm up slowly then I'll bring it inside. I think I was more worried about getting myself wet haha, I shot it on my Zenitar-M 50mm 1.7 (My favourite lens that i got for a fiver :) )

    I'll upload what I've shot to this topic and I'd love any criticism! I've done a lot of film work in the past but all for narrative without taking too much consideration to framing and cinematography but that is where much of my interest lies.

    Thanks, Max.

  • FilmCatFilmCat

    Well Davinci keeps crashing so it looks like I'm back to After Effects...

  • FilmCatFilmCat

    Here is what I did earlier, please give me any comments, negative or positive, I haven't really used the GH2 much since I got it a couple of months ago. But I hope it is good in some people's eyes, I defiantly like it :)

    Shot in about 30mins with GH2, Zenitar 50mm 1.7, Manfrotto 502AH tripod head (although I was pulling focus, moving the head and holding an umbrella at the same time so it isn't great :P)

    Max.

  • AdamTAdamT

    @FilmCat Your video has been blocked by HFA/EMI for copyright reasons.

  • FilmCatFilmCat

    Hmm, it works fine for me, I'll upload it to my server instead

    I probably should have just added a track I have the copyright permission for but I really thought this one worked, it's unfortunate...

  • B3DB3D

    What country are you in? Here's what I see in USA: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/gdn3v730i7hujz9/2013-03-18%2016_15_17-GH2%20In%20the%20rain%20-%20Personal%20View%20Talks.png

  • FilmCatFilmCat

    I'm in the UK, I'll add the link on my server in a few minutes :)

  • svartsvart

    I used mine in 95F/95% weather last summer and the camera has moisture inside. It kept running just fine but my lenses kept fogging up all the time.

  • FilmCatFilmCat

    Oh, that must be quite annoying, have you tried drying it out then @svart ?

    The video can be viewed here for anyone who can't view the youtube video.

    Thanks for any comments and thanks for everyone's experience with wet/damp conditions, Max.

    (it's 330MB so downloading it by right clicking save as would probably be a good idea :) )

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