My 7D got some skin.

Shooting the Junior Guard Video on the beach made me nervous about sand and the salty air destroying my Canon 7D. I know my friend John assured me that photographers have put similar cameras through worse conditions, I couldn't help myself to some extra protection from these harsh elements.

I came across the this Delkin model after a long time of searching for "Rubber cases for the Canon 7D". Finally I realized the product is called a "Skin". I thought a rubber skin would provide the perfect protection at the beach while allowing me full access to all the camera's functions, it had to be better than the Opteka rain gear I purchased last month.


1) Putting the skin on the camera is a little annoying. You have to take the camera strap off and back on in order to apply the skin properly. I realize it's not a major drawback, but I was still irked.

2) The LCD cover floats around too much. I think Delkin should have fixed the LCD cover on the skin instead of having it attach independently. I think I'm just going to scrap this cheap piece of plastic since it adds to the glare while checking out the footage on the back of the camera.

3) It gives the camera an entirely different feel that I don't think I like. Sometimes you're not sure the buttons are getting pressed down completely, and the Mfn button on the front is real hard to press down since it's so small.

While I realize I'm complaining a lot about this skin, I'm also glad I have it. I plan to take it off once the Junior Guard project is over, but I'll keep it in my gear bag in case I come across objectionable surroundings again.

Geeking out on my Canon 7D

I've had my 7D for months now, but I haven't been able to work with the supreme video features because of the limited capabilities of my computer... until now.

Fellow lifeguard and photographer, John Hanacek and I are working on the next San Clemente State Junior Lifeguard video. John has the computing power and photography skills to help this project leap to the HD level, which sets us up to create something substantial.

I spent all last week working on several problems I'll face at the beach while filming. I bought a shotgun mic and fuzzy windscreen to overcome the wind and crashing waves competing with the voices I want to record.

A Hoodman was purchased to overcome the bright sun that washes out the LCD screen used during recording. I also purchased a bunch of rubber bands to attach the Hoodman to the camera.

I already had a flash bracket to attach the mic off to the side of the lens to keep it out of the field of view.

I purchased extra neutral density filters to take advantage of the large apertures available on my Canon 50mm 1.4 lens.

I tried a couple of DIY stabalization systems, but in the end I decided to use a monopod along with  an Opteka X-Grip I bought from Amazon.

Day 1 -  I downloaded some picture profiles that were supposed to create a cinematic effect with the 7D. John and I reviewed the footage at the end of the day and noticed everything looked brown and soft. We decided to go with the Standard picture profile for the rest of the shooting.

Day 2 - The new picture profile is working great, and I'm getting better at manually focusing. The shotgun mic works better than expected (Azden SMG-1X), I was able to capture audio from distances beyond what I was able to hear during recording.

Day 3 - I plan to return to shooting this Friday where the Junior Guards will be watching a rescue demonstration. That should be lots of fun.