Tips for going in August

S

Scubamickey

Member
It will be our first trip to WDW in the summer time and my first time with a DSLR in Florida summer weather. ; I will use the ziplock trick. ; What I am wondering is, there will be times during the day or even at night when the camera will be out and around my neck. ; Do I need to worry about going in and out of the AC in the different buildings? ; Is there anything else I need to be aware of when traveling in Aug with a DSLR? ; I have read it can rain a lot in Aug and plan on keeping the camera in a ziplock back inside the camera bag during the time its raining. ; Is a ziplock bag good enough for rain protection? ; Anyone ever have problems doing this. ;

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. ; Thank you. :)
 
I have only carried it in it's bag, and never in anything else, and have had no problems. ; Sure the outside gets a little wet, but the inside is usually nice and dry. ; I have also never had a problem with the A/C. ; The biggest trick I can offer, and this isn't even camera related is this, drink a lot of water, and take a break in the middle of the day, go back to your room and take a nap. ; The park is open almost all day, and there is plenty of time to make it through each park in one day even with taking a break.
 
Get an insulated jug and fill it with ice from the machine every morning. ; ; You'll save a fortune and stay safe. ;
 
"PolynesianMedic" said:
I have also never had a problem with the A/C. ;
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Ehh I just remembered two years ago. ; The 14-24 fogged up EVERYTIME I left the room. ; Even waiting 20 minutes wasn't enough!
 
Thank you all for your feed back. ; It helps. ; We are going to have water delivered to the hotel and DH is carrying a backpack cooler. ; Disney charges way to much for bottled water. ; Although I have read that they give away free ice water, which I thought was very nice. ; We also plan to do afternoon naps and maybe go to a water park and just cruse around the lazy rivers. ; The lazy river has more shade then Pop Century Pools. ; :)

Good to know that it can take more then 20 mins for the camera to get adjusted to the warm air. ; And that the ziplock trick is about all I need to know. ; We are taking it slow, so I hope to be able to get some great shots. ; I'm still learning, so Im not sure how great, but for me great. ; lol

Thanks everyone for your help.
 
"Scubamickey" said:
Good to know that it can take more then 20 mins for the camera to get adjusted to the warm air. ; And that the ziplock trick is about all I need to know. ;
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If you have a car with you, another option is to leave the camera bag in the trunk overnight so that it stays at the outside ambient temperature. ; Also, when you go inside buildings that you know you aren't going to take any pictures of, if you put your camera back in the camera bag and zip it shut, the padding in the bag will act as an insulator and keep the camera closer to the outside temperature which will help prevent fogging. ;
 
Thank you for the tip of putting the camera into the bag before going into the building. ; Good idea about leaving it in your car over night. ; We wont have a car on this trip, but I will remember that for later trips. ; Thanks. :)
 
I haven't traveled in August, but I have been late June-early July (with Tim) and many times in September and the only problems I had with my camera was the initial trip out of the room and the lens would fog up.

I would carry a lens cloth and carefully remove the filter and wipe it clean and then dab the lens itself. ; But, I found that if I pointed the lens toward direct sunlight (while still mounted on the camera) it would seem to burn up the fog on the lens pretty fast.

I do wonder if I had kept the camera in the bathroom (when not being used for showers) if that would've helped prevent the fog-up since the bathrooms tend to be less air-conditioned then the rest of the rooms....well, at least they seem that way in the DVC units.

I sit corrected, the only other time I ran into problems with a lens fogging up was when it would rain and we'd be hiding out in a store or post-show building and then step back out to the hot muggy weather when it stopped.

But, for the most part, I never really ran into any problems.

Now, heat related problems related to the person behind the camera is a different story. ; It is easy to forget to hydrate and I tend to sweat a lot so, as Capt. Dan said in Forrest Gump, don't forget to protect the feet
 
Grumpwurst, I agree the bathrooms tend to get less AC in all the hotel rooms I have ever stayed in. :) ; That could be a really good idea. ; I will put it on my list and try it. ; Why I have a list is because Im new to this and when you are at Disney you get over excited so much you may forget your own name. ; lol ; And anything else you thought you knew before getting to Disney. :)
 
We'll be heading back this August also! I've been a few times in August with my D200 and have a little list of things to consider in hot & humid weather. I do the bag in the bag for fogging. It usually rains once a day so I carry a kitchen garbage bag and put my camera bag in it when it rains.They're also good for wet rides. They don't sell them on property but in a pinch you could use the hotel waste basket liners. I carry a small super absorbant micro towel. Handy to wipe hands and smudges. Beware of children squirting water from their fans ;D As soon as the weather gets warm they're armed with spray bottles and misters that could wet your camera. I carry the least amount of gear I can. A fast lens for dark rides (Sigma 30mm) and an Nikon 18-200VR for walking around. At night I use a lightweight Velbon Ultramax tripod.
 
Oh gosh I never thought about the spray bottles. ; Thank you so much Debs for bring that up. ; I can imagine getting my camera sprayed and getting upset. ; The garbage bag sounds like a great idea. ; I was thinking about what kind of rain gear I could get for my bag and your idea will work great.

What do you all do with your camera when on that rapid water ride(not sure the name) at AK? ; Is a ziplock and/or garbage bag enough? ; I keep thinking Ill leave the dslr in the room and take the point and shoot, but I hate the thought of doing that. ; I guess i could skip that ride, but the past two times we have been to AK, I have skipped the ride for one reason or another. ; So I have never been on it.
 
Sorry I missed this the first time around...just wanted to either agree with or add to the advice - for travelling in the hot summer months (something I have practice with not only travelling to Disney in the summer, but because I LIVE down here!).

First thing I do when I get to my room at Disney is set the AC to the max fan speed, lowest temp setting. ; So if anyone suffers from lens fogging, it's ME! ; My primary technique for combating the effects is to stick my camera bag in the closet with one of the spare blankets over it...it has the best chance of retaining some bit of warmth in there...but it will still get cooler than the outside and will fog up mightily when it hits the humid Florida summer. ; So step 2 is, in the morning when I'm having coffee, showering etc and getting ready...I stick the camera bag on the balcony. ; Best to take off lens caps and leave the bag unzipped so the lenses are exposed to the heat. ; Now this of course is predicated on having a room with a private balcony...in the cases of staying where I didn't have a private balcony, I used the afformentioned car trick - sticking my camera bag in the trunk of the car in the morning before I get ready. ; By the time I'm done with the morning routine, the backpack and all the lenses have equallized to the temperature and humidity, and fogging is over.

As for going in and out of AC buildings - no worries. ; I've never seen cameras go through the fogging all over again just from going in buildings or rides - I think you'd have to stay in quite a while for the camera to lose the warmth inside the lenses. ; And Disney doesn't keep their AC so cold that it would happen quickly.

Ziplocs will be fine for basic protection. ; If I don't have my camera bag with me, I will often take a large ziplock bag along in a pocket for emergency protection. ; Several times I've had to stick my camera in the bag for rain protection - it works just fine. ; You really don't even have to seal the bag - I've put the ziploc over the camera and lens with the opening side of the bag facing down, and my hand still inside the bag holding the camera...as long as you're not thrashing around, it will give you plenty of protection to get you to a dry spot. ; The rain sleeves are a great idea if you are thinking you may be dealing with a full rainy day, and want to keep shooting...but for emergency temporary cover for those brief Florida showers, a ziploc should suffice.
 
Thanks, I'll check out OpTech RainSleeves . ; They are pretty cheap, which is nice. ; Probably the cheapest item in a camera bag. lol

Zackiedawg, great tips thank you. ; Love the blanket idea, thanks for the tip. ; We are staying at Pop, so no privet balcony. :( ; And we wont have a rental car. Again :( lol ; What I was thinking is doing the ziplock bag trick while having breakfast at the food court. ; Hoping by the time we are done, that the camera will be read.

Has anyone found a rain cover for camera bags? ; Im thinking if the camera bag gets soaked, then thats not going to be a good thing. ; The hair dryer in the room will get a good work out after the camera bag gets soaked. ; lol
 
"Scubamickey" said:
Has anyone found a rain cover for camera bags? ; Im thinking if the camera bag gets soaked, then thats not going to be a good thing. ; The hair dryer in the room will get a good work out after the camera bag gets soaked. ; lol
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Lowepro makes bags with all-weather covers - they hideaway until you need them, and then they can cover the entire bag (except the straps I think). ; Now for other bags, I don't know.
 
I don't use a specialized camera pack, just a normal backpack with some lens and camera cases in it to sort of crudely make it into a camera bag. ; But it has a built in rain fly that tucks into a pocket in the bottom. ; I've made use of it in Disney World, it works quite well.

The backpack itself is water resistant enough to take a brief shower, or at least to hold off the elements until I can make it to cover. ; Then for the Florida style torrential downpours I let the rain fly keep my stuff safe. ; I wouldn't go on a trip like that without a rain fly now, it's become part of the resources I'm accustomed to having at my disposal. ; It's nice to be able to shrug off a rainstorm and keep moving.

I know I've seen similar rain covers being sold separately. ; Here, check this list out:
http://www.rei.com/search?query=rain+cover&button.x=0&button.y=0
Some non backpack related stuff snuck into that query, but yeah, such things can be found if you look for them. ; I'm not sure about all of them, some seem to completely cover the pack, but others clearly allow access to the straps so you can wear the pack while it's covered. ; The prices seem a little high, but REI prices tend to be that way. ; Check out your local outdoor sports megastore if you have something like that around and see what they've got.

Incidentally, last year I discovered that my backpack also protects my gear from beer.

Eh.. was at an outdoor festival sort of thing. ; An event where you're not allowed to bring in water unless it's a factory sealed water bottle (no, I don't buy bottled water), presumably to keep the teenagers from sneaking in alcohol (and also to force people to buy the overpriced beer being sold at the festival), but where I apparently can't avoid having some slob slosh beer over my backpack.

Happily all I had to do was empty it out and hose it down. ; It probably ended up cleaner than before it had been sloshed with beer, that pack and I have a bit of a history and it was probably due for a hose down.
 
Thanks Roger, Ill check out the Lowepro.

Dan, thanks for the link to RIE. ; Ill check that out too. ; Your backpack sounds great. ; Water and beer proof. ; :) ;

I have a friend who is a Disney fan, sat her camera on the table when they were eating. ; One of her kids knocked it off the table. ; This happened twice. ; Both times something happened to the lens. ; I think the second time they couldn't fix it. ; You just never know what will happen. ; Its good that your bag was water proof.
 
Just for the sake of information and balance...my camera backpack also comes with a rain cover - the Kata R102 & 103 have one that comes with the bag, which is already light splash proof - the cover is for the heavy stuff. ; I've found the backpack rain cover does very nice double duty as a camera & lens cover in light rain - since it has little drawstrings to pull it tighter, I've used it over the top of my Tamron 200-500 lens and camera body in light rain, and it worked pretty well in a pinch!
 
my domke bag got beer dumped on it at Epcot. But, its canvas, so it soaked in!

I also have the Kata backpack, but I haven't had to use the rain cover yet. like justin said, its pretty water proof as is.

my experiences are the same with everyone elses concerning humidity. it's a short lived problem first thing in the morning when leaving your room, but usually not again during the day.

I have had times though, in the summer when its raining all day and you go into a long heavily air conditioned ride, and the camera fogs up when going back outside. But i tend to carry my camera and only stash it in the bag when its really pouring and I've given up shooting.

and count me in as a zip-log bag carrier to! I have them stashed in the laptop compartment of my pack. I also use them as lens bags....
 
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