[VisualDarkness]

Do somebody have experience with rainsleeves or similar especially for shooting with my Sigma 150-500? I am already tired of leaving it at home when there is a slight drizzle/rain in the air as I most likely would't be able to use it for any extended period that day. If it also fits my Sigma 70-200/2.8 it's a huge plus! I'm looking more to the sturdy textile(?) kind than the cheap plastic bags but any suggestion is welcome.

[Lowell Goudge]

The 150-500 and 70-200 are considerably different beasts, the 70-200 remains the same length throughout all zooming and focus, the 150-500 does not.

Not sure about your 70-200 but the zoom throw is the only issue to worry about, I.e. how much rotation you allow.

I personally would get a bag.hood to cover the entire lens and camera simply because although most Pentax bodies are weatherproof, I consider that insurance for when primary protection fails, not as primary protection itself.

[VisualDarkness]

Yeah, the 150-500 is the tough one due to how much it grows at 500mm and zooming is really useful for "finding" the object in the viewfinder. Forget about the 70-200mm as it's easy to find a coat/bag but it would be nice to not having to buy two sets.

[mickey]

A friend of mine Uses a Nikon d700 and 70-200.
He bought some cheap waterproof trousers and cut the legs off.
The ankles are elasticated and he fits that part down near the lens hood.
Works surprisingly well.

[derekkite]

Camo-Mac Waterproof Camera Covers

Reasonable price and work very well. The only issue I had is if I have my eye on the viewfinder and the cover tucked around me everything fogs up. If you form the camera end around the viewfinder the problem goes away.

[Tamia]

My longest lens is only the DA 55-300mm, but I made my own rain sleeve from a cheap waterproof jacket sleeve. Wrote about it here.

[stormtech]

Here is quite an extensive selection of rain covers:

Rain Covers - The NatureScapes.Net Store

[VisualDarkness]

A friend of mine Uses a Nikon d700 and 70-200.
He bought some cheap waterproof trousers and cut the legs off.
The ankles are elasticated and he fits that part down near the lens hood.
Works surprisingly well.

Looks decent at least, maybe as a last resort.

Camo-Mac Waterproof Camera Covers

Reasonable price and work very well. The only issue I had is if I have my eye on the viewfinder and the cover tucked around me everything fogs up. If you form the camera end around the viewfinder the problem goes away.

My anti-virus won't let me even enter the webpage.

My longest lens is only the DA 55-300mm, but I made my own rain sleeve from a cheap waterproof jacket sleeve. Wrote about it here.

I will need a big jacket.

Here is quite an extensive selection of rain covers:

Rain Covers - The NatureScapes.Net Store

The problem is sizing and none of the stores or rain cover makers replies to my questions about it. I take in as either they don't know or they can satisfy my needs therefor have no interest in replying.

[derekkite]

My anti-virus won't let me even enter the webpage.

Email the camomac folks at:

brianwardell1 at btinternet.com

They were great to deal with. The standard is for a 50-500 Sigma.

[littledrawe]

I am already tired of leaving it at home when there is a slight drizzle/rain in the air as I most likely would't be able to use it for any extended period that day.

This is what I am going to get once we get the first snowfall in my neck of the woods.

OP/TECH USA Mega Shoot Cover

3 sizes to fit your needs.

[ramseybuckeye]

The Optech Rainsleeves are 18" long, cheap, and they work, and take up very little space.

[VisualDarkness]

I got myself a black (would have liked camo but it wasn't in stock) RainCoat Pro. The standard would have worked just fine but for the small extra sum I chose the Pro for the extension part just i case I would ever need it. A short review of how it worked with the lenses in my short short testing in snow.

Ease of mounting:
At first it was a bit confusing how to strap it on an extremely extending zoom that the 150-500mm is. After some experimenting I found a couple of different variants. The 70-200mm created a lot of loose textile hanging around but most of it can be hidden and snared up with the straps.

Quality:
Directly out of the bag it simply feels solid. It is very thin and even more impressively lightweight but yet it feels very rough and tough. All seems are well done and the textile straps are really soft (in a good way) and therefor easy to work with. It breathes but you can feel your hands warming the air inside the sleeve. It looks very waterproof with no moisture inside despite big water drops on the outer surface.

Comfort and function:
So far I got some things perfect but I still have trouble with primarily one thing.

To start with the bad part, I got trouble strapping it so that the camera side textile don't get pushed to my face during zooming out with the 150-500mm without blocking either the zoom or the focus ring. The results in a tough time seeing the LCD and an even tougher time getting my eye to the viewfinder without first having to push the excess textile back up with my nose. Hopefully I can find a better way to mount the coat. Also reaching controls on the left side side is a bit hampered, if you tighten the cord on the back of the camera, due to the lack of sleeve on that side.

Other than the first negative part it actually works better than expected. The thinness and the softness of the material makes no to almost no force to hinder zooming, focusing and camera controls. One big bonus I found is that the velvety finish actually slows the water drops movement and minimizes potential splashing and therefor limits the risk of drops traveling in from outside of the coat. Another bonus is that it really muffles the shutter sound, the dampened sound together with a K-5 is awesome. However I recommend adding a protectional filter on the lens as the snow often found its way into the hood due to wind.

I would love to have their neoprene hood caps too to complement this setup.

Got any question, just ask!