D7200 Water Protection

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
I will be making a trip to Buffalo N.Y shortly and of course plan to visit Niagara Falls. I will have my D7200 with Nikon 18-200mm and Tokina 12-24mm lenses with me. My concern is possible damage to my equipment from the mist. I am considering either a trip on the Maid of the Mist boat, or a walk on the stairs near the falls. With my equipment, how concerned should I be? Should I consider some sort of rain coat, and if so which ones work well? Or should I just play it safe and not even take my camera on this part of the trip?

Thank you in advance,
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I have this Ruggard rain shield that works well. Lens Coat also makes rain covers, but be sure to read the reviews. When B&H has had Lens Coat rain covers on as a Deal of the Day, there are a few low scores for feedback. Not to mention that brand tends to be more expensive.

The Ruggard comes in different sizes depending upon the length of the camera/lens combo.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1249876-REG/ruggard_rc_fc717_fabric_rain_shield_medium.html

And as Fred mentioned, be sure to use front filters which will add an extra layer of protection between the water and the internal components of your lenses. Don't forget to take lens hoods. Rain covers work best when they can be fastened around hoods. And extra rubber bands just in case a drawstring on a cover decides to break. The covers Fred linked might be good to have even if you get a more expensive rain cover. It's always good to have a backup for this type of situation.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Thanks for the suggestions.

The first suggestion is cheap enough, but I really wonder if this will do the job.

I am a little nervous about some of the negative reviews of the second suggestion.

The third suggestion does not appear to offer much protection to the rear of the camera.

I am looking at the Venterior cover at
https://www.amazon.com/Venterior-Waterproof-Camera-Protector-Cameras/dp/B06XQMS14R

Has anyone actually used any of these covers and do you have any comments or other suggestions?

Thanks,
 
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spb_stan

Senior Member
I would vote for the D200 also. Lower res but is better protected. Lower res is still fine for any screen display, just not as good for large prints At a distance, where the air is clearer of mist, higher res is a good thing but close to the falls, the air is filled with diffusing water droplets so the contrast is poor and detail is low. Light is good so the weaker ISO performance of the D200 will not be a factor. The mist gets into everything, more than rain because the droplets of mist are so small they float in the air for hours because joining other droplets and falling as rain or evaporating if at the top of the air column. I was hiking up a fall, tiny compared to Niagra but the mist was similar and everything had water inside when I stopped for the night at the top of the 3000fit climb next to the falls. Many rain resistant backpackers wallet, inside my pack, turned my few dollar bills into moist limp pieces of blotter paper that took all day laying on a rock in the partital sun to dry out. My down sleeping bag was damp even in its rain resistant drawstring bag. I am not sure a raincoat is going to help, raindrops are 1000 times larger than mist droplets and predictably fall towards earth. They behave differently and mist has no direction other than air current, gravity has a lot less effect on them than the fall's wind currents.
 
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