Burning Man 2007 via train.. camera safety?

Greetings!

I am heading out to Burning Man 2007 in a few months.. ( http://www.burningman.com ) (anyone else going?)

I am leaving from Chicago Illinois and heading to Reno Nevada via the California Zephyr .. the trip is about 2000 miles each direction, and will be a total of 4 (four-eight) hours on the train.. each way

Once in Reno a ride up to the Black Rock Desert will be made.. A 8day 7night adventure in the desert will ensue (with a lunar eclipse!)..

Does anyone have any tips/suggestions about: protecting a manual and automatic 35mm film SLR from dust.. Apart from the method of sealing it up in a zip up lunch bag with a little hole for the lens does anyone have any suggestions as to how to keep my focus rings and cameras working for 1 week?

(what kind of worries should I have about a hot-shoe flash?)

Christopher Colley said:

I am leaving from Chicago Illinois and heading to Reno Nevada via the California Zephyr .. the trip is about 2000 miles each direction, and will be a total of 4 hours on the train..

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Sorry, no experience with anti-dust ideas, but am totally in awe at the speed of your trains!

that is fast!

More like 48 hours. There's no 500 mph train in the US.

You might want to do a search here. I recall someone went to Burning Man last year and had quite a thread going. There may have been some discussion of protecting gear in that thread.

Have fun.

i went to burning man last year. unfortunately, i'm not going this year.. but maybe next year.

no matter what you do, your gear will get dusty. i had some cured meats double wrapped in paper in a cooler.. and those got dusty somehow! your return trip from the playa is a great time to make arrangements for CLA

you can take steps to manage the dust, though. keeping stuff always in bags is a good idea. especially lenses, open up only what you need at the moment. it's also good to bring a can of compressed air or some other way to dust off things. i would also only open your camera inside your tent where the dust is not too crazy. also, keep a bag with you at all times. you will likely get in a dust storm where visibility drops to zero... its nice to just throw everything into a bag, put your goggles and mask on, and wait it out.

also, don't forget an extra battery..

Christopher,

This year will be my third burn. The dust at Black Rock is alkalai, ever present, and extremely hard on cameras. I am "professional" - shooting mostly medium and large format but I neither take my cameras, nor have much desire to shoot while I'm there except for occasional snaps taken with a cheap digital point & shoot. My advice:

1) Don't bring a camera you care about.
2) If you do, use a sealed protection bag, even an underwater type bag or housing.
3) Don't take pictures (many of which cannot be shown in mixed comapany anyway - you need to sign a waiver for use of such), take memories!

Best

In 2000 I worked to a live data streaming dot com that sent a large RV to Burning Man with lots of d--------l cameras and video camera. Everything was wrapped and sealed. The team was highly experienced with the equipment and had attended Burning Man before. In spite of there best efforts when a wind storm hit, all the equipment was so infested with dust that all the equipment was scrapped.

I live in the Desert, but not as Dusty as that part of Nevada, I have a used Nikkonus (SP?) for bad weather and dust. Good seals, protective filter for the lens. Takes a little getting use to, mine is unmetered so I use take a Weston 6 wrapped in tape. There were a few water proof point and shoots 35mm made in the 90s, like the Konica Off Road. If you do take a good camera be sure to bring along a roll or two of duct tape to seal it up, the back, if possible around the lens mount, battery compartment, bring extra UV haze filters for each lens and tape the lens on to the lens as well. You can also shoot in in a rain cape.

Paul Howell said:

I live in the Desert, but not as Dusty as that part of Nevada, I have a used Nikkonus (SP?) for bad weather and dust. Good seals, protective filter for the lens. Takes a little getting use to, mine is unmetered so I use take a Weston 6 wrapped in tape. There were a few water proof point and shoots 35mm made in the 90s, like the Konica Off Road. If you do take a good camera be sure to bring along a roll or two of duct tape to seal it up, the back, if possible around the lens mount, battery compartment, bring extra UV haze filters for each lens and tape the lens on to the lens as well. You can also shoot in in a rain cape.

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I agree with Paul. My concern is that if a dust storm starts up => put the camera equipment away and use lots of duct tape to keep sand from getting in.

Steve

thanks folks ;-)