Wrestling With An Octopus

I was put in mind of this analogy when photographing today's product for the column. It also had certain features of trying to hang out wet washing upside down or put a toddler back into a play suit. There were more things to do than could be done and new surfaces kept emerging. I think it was invented by M.C. Escher...

It's the Aquatech All-Weather kits for cameras and lenses - the professional version of the simple plastic bags that people use in winter. The AquaTech ids far and away more successful and versatile, however, and is really the only answer for extra-long and extra-expensive lenses.

The cover goes down your right arm, over the camera and lens, and draw-strings closed at the front. The basic kit gives you perfect cover for a DSLR or mirror-less camera with a standard zoom lens and then there is also a longer supplementary cover for medium telephotos. A separate kit goes for this longer lens cover straight away but I daresay there are extra lens covers that you can add at any time.

The construction is thick nylon cloth with water-protected zippers and a hood over the back part of the camera that goes close to your face. An additional sealed eyepiece means even if water leaks down you it cannot get into the camera.

In short, there are enough seals and snugs at all points of exposure to ensure that you can get your picture without damage. of course, a UV filter at the front of the lens is necessary but you know that already. You can go out into " What the heck am I doing this for? " weather with thousands of dollars worth of camera and lens and come back with thousands of dollars worth of camera and lens...
The difficulty I had was trying to make it look like a sensible package on the table - in the end I just gave up, shot it from several angles, and will leave it to your imagination.

In-store right now, or go to the on-line shop and order it. Aquatech make all sorts of protective gear for photo work but they cannot tell you what you are doing this for...