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A used low cost tough Pentax, second camera for trip

Started Jan 1, 2019 | Discussions thread
KentG Veteran Member • Posts: 4,825
Re: A used low cost tough Pentax, second camera for trip

I was on an expedition in Central America many years ago. We didn't visit the rain forest we lived in it. Guys with not so weather-sealed cameras ( as in the Canon EOS-3) had a lot of failures. Guys with EOS-1 and F4 Nikons and my Minolta Maxxum 9 did not. But to keep out the moisture we did desiccant packs that we dried out every day as most lenses were not sealed in those days. So if you are only going in for a few hours every day think about getting a good selection of packs and be ready to nuke them dry every evening.

All that being said, make sure you use only weather-sealed lenses and cameras and if you can DO NOT replace the lens during the day while in the jungle, keep it sealed. Or make up a change bag.

Anyway the K-5ii should be OK. If you don't have a vertical grip for it try to pick one up because having 2 batteries and the ability to not have to open it up for a battery change is another good point to make. Rain forest is not friendly to electronics. In our case we had to change film of course so we always did that inside a bag with desiccant packs in it.

Hope your primary camera is well sealed.

Kent Gittings

 KentG's gear list:KentG's gear list
Pentax K-3 II Pentax K-1 Canon EOS 80D Pentax smc DA 16-45mm F4 ED AL Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 EX DG HSM +7 more
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