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Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

Started 2 weeks ago | Questions
Captive18 Contributing Member • Posts: 942
Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

Planning a trip to Costa Rica. Bringing the R5 and RF 100-500 L. Do you think my gear would be fine without a rain cover permanently on my gear? Or should I just plan to have a rain over handy at all times while there?

 Captive18's gear list:Captive18's gear list
Olympus TG-6 Canon EOS R5 Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM +6 more
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Canon EOS R5
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BirdShooter7 Veteran Member • Posts: 9,127
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

It’s definitely fine without a permanent rain cover.  You’ll just need it if it’s actually raining.  Even my R10 and RF 100-400 have made three visits to CR, only using a rain cover during rain.

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Some of my bird photos can be viewed here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gregsbirds/

OP Captive18 Contributing Member • Posts: 942
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

BirdShooter7 wrote:

It’s definitely fine without a permanent rain cover. You’ll just need it if it’s actually raining. Even my R10 and RF 100-400 have made three visits to CR, only using a rain cover during rain.

Cool deal. Thank you. It’d be nice to just travel with the 1 lb 100-400 vs. the 3 lb 100-500.

 Captive18's gear list:Captive18's gear list
Olympus TG-6 Canon EOS R5 Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM +6 more
CamerEyes Regular Member • Posts: 266
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

Captive18 wrote:

Planning a trip to Costa Rica. Bringing the R5 and RF 100-500 L. Do you think my gear would be fine without a rain cover permanently on my gear? Or should I just plan to have a rain over handy at all times while there?

I use the rain cover of my backpack to cover my gear when it's raining. It's light and easy to squeeze inside my camera bag. It's just there when needed. I don't think you'll really need it. I am from Southeast Asia (Hong Kong) and it does rain a lot here as well. I rarely worry about my camera getting wet, unless it's torrential rains we're talking about.

 CamerEyes's gear list:CamerEyes's gear list
Sony a7C Canon EOS R7 Canon EOS R6 Mark II Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM Canon EF 50mm F1.4 USM +12 more
expro Senior Member • Posts: 2,273
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

Keep one of those fibre towels in your pocket. They fold out to about 1 meter. Great for wrapping the camera gear quickly if rain or sand. And can use to clean it too.

 expro's gear list:expro's gear list
Canon EOS R3 Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS USM Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM Canon RF 14-35mm F4L IS USM
Zeee Forum Pro • Posts: 25,627
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

They sell plastic ponchos at the cloud forrest. I bought one 

I try and treat high humidity like I do in freezing temps. When I bring the camera home in freezing temps I leave in the bag for a few hours to acclimatise. It is not as convenient in hot humid temps but the same thing. If you are heading out of an air conditioned room I try and do that as best I can. Once in Mexico I stepped out of the room and the whole camera and lens were drenched. I went back in two the room right away.

We were own the dryer side of Costa Rica so I didn't really notice it. I was more like a hot blast furnace 

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Don't Look Up.

 Zeee's gear list:Zeee's gear list
Canon EOS R7 Canon EOS R6 Mark II Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM +1 more
Catama Regular Member • Posts: 270
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

Definitely have some type of rain cover with you in the field as rain in Costa Rica can hit you quite suddenly.  I used a plastic garbage bag that I kept in my pocket and was large enough to cover the camera plus telephoto lens. Worked quite well.  Many times the rain hit quite intensely for a short period and then went away, so using the garbage bag made it easy to get on and off without much fuss.  Have a great trip!

 Catama's gear list:Catama's gear list
Canon EOS 7D Mark II Canon EOS M5 Canon EOS R5 Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +8 more
OP Captive18 Contributing Member • Posts: 942
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

expro wrote:

Keep one of those fibre towels in your pocket. They fold out to about 1 meter. Great for wrapping the camera gear quickly if rain or sand. And can use to clean it too.

Good idea!

 Captive18's gear list:Captive18's gear list
Olympus TG-6 Canon EOS R5 Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM +6 more
OP Captive18 Contributing Member • Posts: 942
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

CamerEyes wrote:

Captive18 wrote:

Planning a trip to Costa Rica. Bringing the R5 and RF 100-500 L. Do you think my gear would be fine without a rain cover permanently on my gear? Or should I just plan to have a rain over handy at all times while there?

I use the rain cover of my backpack to cover my gear when it's raining. It's light and easy to squeeze inside my camera bag. It's just there when needed. I don't think you'll really need it. I am from Southeast Asia (Hong Kong) and it does rain a lot here as well. I rarely worry about my camera getting wet, unless it's torrential rains we're talking about.

That’s a good idea!

 Captive18's gear list:Captive18's gear list
Olympus TG-6 Canon EOS R5 Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM +6 more
AbuMahendra Regular Member • Posts: 106
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

Why do you think your gear needs to be covered 24/7? I live not far from the equator in a lush and wet country and have never covered my gear. When it rains, you put it away and take cover. Simple as that.

OP Captive18 Contributing Member • Posts: 942
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

AbuMahendra wrote:

Why do you think your gear needs to be covered 24/7? I live not far from the equator in a lush and wet country and have never covered my gear. When it rains, you put it away and take cover. Simple as that.

Even though I did say “permanently” in my original post…I’m not thinking it has to be covered 24/7. That’s silly. Just when it rains, I’m curious how much the gear can withstand water. Kind of comparing it to the OLY gear with its weather-resistance ratings.

 Captive18's gear list:Captive18's gear list
Olympus TG-6 Canon EOS R5 Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM +6 more
BirdShooter7 Veteran Member • Posts: 9,127
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

Captive18 wrote:

AbuMahendra wrote:

Why do you think your gear needs to be covered 24/7? I live not far from the equator in a lush and wet country and have never covered my gear. When it rains, you put it away and take cover. Simple as that.

Even though I did say “permanently” in my original post…I’m not thinking it has to be covered 24/7. That’s silly. Just when it rains, I’m curious how much the gear can withstand water. Kind of comparing it to the OLY gear with its weather-resistance ratings.

I don’t think I’d pour any water on the Canon gear like I’ve seen done with the Olympus but overall I’ve gotten the R6 fairly wet during rain showers and there weren’t any obvious problems.  I do always carry a plastic shopping bag in my pocket to cover the camera if it starts raining and I also try to keep a microfiber rag to wipe any water away when droplets get on my camera/lens.  I don’t really spend much time worrying about the camera getting wet but I do make a reasonable effort to keep water exposure to a minimum.

-- hide signature --

Some of my bird photos can be viewed here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gregsbirds/

OP Captive18 Contributing Member • Posts: 942
Re: Costa Rica weather and weather resistance

BirdShooter7 wrote:

Captive18 wrote:

AbuMahendra wrote:

Why do you think your gear needs to be covered 24/7? I live not far from the equator in a lush and wet country and have never covered my gear. When it rains, you put it away and take cover. Simple as that.

Even though I did say “permanently” in my original post…I’m not thinking it has to be covered 24/7. That’s silly. Just when it rains, I’m curious how much the gear can withstand water. Kind of comparing it to the OLY gear with its weather-resistance ratings.

I don’t think I’d pour any water on the Canon gear like I’ve seen done with the Olympus but overall I’ve gotten the R6 fairly wet during rain showers and there weren’t any obvious problems. I do always carry a plastic shopping bag in my pocket to cover the camera if it starts raining and I also try to keep a microfiber rag to wipe any water away when droplets get on my camera/lens. I don’t really spend much time worrying about the camera getting wet but I do make a reasonable effort to keep water exposure to a minimum.

Sounds good. I need to start carrying a plastic bag with me and get into that habit.

 Captive18's gear list:Captive18's gear list
Olympus TG-6 Canon EOS R5 Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM +6 more
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