My son has been asking for a camera rain cover for a couple of months ¹ and I’ve been meaning to look in to picking one up. But something came up and I decided the time was right to buy.

Today I might have been down in DC for the Rally 2 End Racism. This event is dedicated to the unfinished work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., being held on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. It was a tempting opportunity, but when I looked at the weather report I noticed large periods of rain were predicted. The rain wasn’t enough to keep me away, but because I would have been going down to do some video and photography I needed to protect my gear. So I ordered two rain sleeves in preparation for the potential trip, and promised one to my son ². In the end the fact that my wife is in her third trimester gave me enough pause that I decline to travel, but I still have the rain sleeves.

Because I don’t trust myself to carry a camera without a neck strap, I opted for model which had openings on either side to enable two-handed operation. This allows me to connect my Peak Design straps through the openings ³. Given that I’m prone to dropping things, it gives me an extra sense of security while shooting.

The sleeve goes on well-enough, though it’s too large for my miniscule G7 because the lenses on a micro four thirds camera are just so tiny ⁴. There is a clear plastic in the back which reveal the camera controls and allows a user to look through the viewfinder, but I found this to be annoying. I’d love to find a model which has a hole for the viewfinder, and a protective flap to keep water from coming in when the camera is not being used, as it would make framing shots less cumbersome. The bottom of the camera has a double zipper opening, which is perfect for mounting the covered camera on a tripod.

I threw the sleeve on my D7000 yesterday and took it for a brief stroll out in my backyard during a steady rain. It took some getting used to, but I managed to capture a few photos ⁵. Clunky plastic viewport aside, it was rather fun being out in the rain with my camera! The sleeve performed well, it was soaked outside, but my camera was bone-dry when I pulled it out of the sleeve. I recommend using a lens hood and filter when out in the elements, as it adds another layer of protection, but the sleeve itself keeps the wet away and that’s good.

And I haven’t abandoned the rally. Over the course of the day I’ll be doing Skype calls with some of my friends who are in attendance and we’ll stream these to the ABCNJ Facebook page. If any are of particular note I’ll embed them here as well.