Shooting in the rain ?

[eugenehug]

Hey all !
I will be starting working on my little Indie feature Monday !!!:hv20-smilie72:

Problem is, I live in Houston and we are getting a buttload of rain lately. I am thinking of shooting thru the rain. Just put the cam in a baggie with the lens sticking out and let her rip. I guess I will have to load the tapes inside the car w/ AC running to get rid of excess moisture so the condensation sensor does not shut it down.

MY QUESTION IS >>>>>>

Has anyone used an HV20 extensively in the rain / humid conditions ???
I have 3 weeks to do the pic but it looks like mother nature will be piddling on my big H Town all thru the production and I figger better make it work even in the rain. It will make it a challenge if it goes from wet season to our normal drought - dry season on doing pick up shots

[SenorKaffee]

I think "cold" rain will be no problem for the cam as long as it not getting wet directly. Just get someone with an umbrella. Either way the audio will be unusable without an external mic.

[Erik Bien]

If you're using an off-camera boom mic for your audio (you are, right?), you can wrap your softie with the 'hogshair' sheet from a cheap furnace filter and that will kill most of the sound of the drops hitting the mic.

[Simon Hughes]

Put some silica gel packages into the plastic bag with your camera and with your tapes. You can get them in plastic cubes that you can heat to remove moisture and use them again and again.

[24Peter]

Biggest problem you may face is CONDENSATION - the bain (or is it bane) of a mini camcorder's existence. Avoid taking the camera to or from air-conditioned locations when shooting in wet/humid conditions. And if you must, make sure you remove the tape. Then allow the camera to achieve ambient temp. before using it.

Condensation can actually cause the mini-DV tape to stick to the tape heads in the camera resulting in a nasty, costly, unsightly repair.