List Price: $6.95
Sale Price: $6.00
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I bought a pack of these sleeves to use when shooting outdoor sports in the rain. I'm not a pro photographer and couldn't justify the expense of the superior Aquatech rain gear. I needed something small and light that fits in my camera backpack and keeps me shooting during poor weather conditions I occasionally encounter.
If you do a lot of shooting in questionable weather and can justify the $200 cost, the Aquatech is obviously a better solution. But for $6, the Op/Tech sleeves are hard to beat in a pinch, particularly for casual photographers.
The sleeves are large enough to cover most all but the largest of the pro telephoto lenses. It fits my D300 with battery pack and 70-200 2.8 with room to spare. The sleeve has a hole in the rear just remove your eyepiece cover, stretch the hole over the eyepiece, and replace the cover to hold it in place. The sleeve has a drawstring closure in front that holds very securely to the lens hood. The plastic is transparent and thin enough to allow operation of all the controls right through the sleeve (vs, sliding your hands up inside). It's a very usable solution, although it does make adjusting the zoom a bit more difficult. But again, this is intended to be more of an emergency or occasional rain solution.
I've spent endless hours shooting football games in the rain and the protection provided is excellent. As long as you don't poke a hole in it, your equipment will stay dry. I'm able to reuse them multiple times.
Pros: Very low cost, stores anywhere, excellent protection, low tech ease of use, able to see all of the camera's controls, works with tripods and monopods.
Cons: Takes a few minutes to put on and get adjusted, makes accessing some controls a little awkward (but not impossible), far too long for short lenses.
Bottom line: Excellent emergency protection during occasional bad weather for cameras with larger lenses. Those using smaller lenses should look for another solution.
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Works well to protect the camera from rain. Had to use this a couple times on my recent trip to Alaska. My only problem is it takes some time to get this thing on the camera properly, once it's on it's difficult to manipulate the lens zoom. Also if you're using a shorter lens then this thing is pretty much pointless since there's too much excess sleeve and nowhere to put it. The product itself is a high quality plastic too, not cheap like a grocery store bag.Small and compact, folded up tiny and shoved it in my backpack, acted as extra padding for my lenses. :)
It worked great with the Canon 40d and Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens.
It worked good with the 40d and Canon 17-40mm f/4.0L.
I gave up trying with my 40d and Canon 50mm f/1.8.
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I purchased this item thinking it was a good idea to have packed with camera accessories "just in case". I knew I was traveling to Europe on business and would have some free time to take some shots of local flavor. Upon taking a road trip to Salzburg, we encountered rain that turned to sleet that turned to snow. Salzburg was a wet, snowy photo op against the backdrop of cathedrals, snow capped mountains, and the location for scenes from the "Sound of Music". No umbrella no cover. But I had a rain sleeve! It worked perfectly (except for some random drops on the lens, which was protected by a UV filter anyway, so no damage. I may have looked a little funny, but I think I captured more shots in the wet weather than anyone who had to hide their pocket digitals under their coats. And those brave enough to shoot with SLRs had to juggle umbrellas (which didn't look like much fun). Also was able to shoot some great street shots without the worry of wetness (or exposure to the unsuspecting subjects). I was glad to have this. I will order more. Hey, you never know...Honest reviews on OP/TECH USA Rainsleeve - 18-Inch (2-Pack)
I have a Canon 5D Mark II which is prone to water damage so bought this rain cover because it always seems to rain when I go to the Renaissance Festival.Well, its raining today off and on and I'm going anyway, so I opened the packaging and pulled one of the two out. It's kind of like a plastic bag shaped to go over your camera and lens. I slipped off my eye piece protector and pulled the bag over my Canon 135mm F/2 L lens and placed the opening around the eye piece and slipped the protector on then pulled the cord tight around the lens end. It's got a nice little slip cord release button that makes resizing a breeze.
Bingo, instance emergency weather protection. But I get it on and start using it and right away there are two problems, one the slip cord end over the lens hood keeps slipping back towards the camera, I ended up using some gaphers tape to hold it to the hood. The other problem is you lose the use of your neck strap since it is hanging out the end. You really don't realize how much you use your neck strap until you can't use it. Still I'm out in effiy weather with ominous looking dark clouds and I feel safer then without it. Ok now it's starting to rain and my fingers are really getting wet so I have taken leaving my hand inside the cover on the camera at all times which is easy to do since taking it in and out of the camera bag is a pain anyway and the bag is getting wet. Still I'm out in the rain and taking photos and no problems so far with my 5D Mark II.
Pros:
Easy on and easy off
Very good price point
You get two with each order!
Keeps your camera and lens dry
Cons:
Lens end keeps slipping back down barrel of lens
No place or hole for neck strap so you have to carry camera entire time.
Conclusion:
Get a pack just in case but don't rely on this as your primary weather protection.
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While obviously far from a U/W housing, for a couple of dollars, this little glorified plastic bag does a really good job! The cinch around the lens opening works well, and accommodates a 70-200F4 on a Canon 40D with plenty of room to spare.If one is careful to not tear the opening designed for the eyepiece, this device can be used many times, although this is the apparent weak spot, so be gentle putting this on and taking it off.
I have used this in a pretty bad rain storm, and it kept the camera and lens body dry, although conditions got so bad, I couldn't keep water off the lens face, and gave up.
Could you make this with a giant zip lock and a rubber band? Sure, but for the low cost to buy these, I have one in each of my camera bags just in case.
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