Ortlieb Aqua-Zoom
 

For my big tour next year, I'll have a D-SLR, probably the Olympus E-510. To keep it free from moisture and dirt, I was thinking about buying the Ortlieb Aqua-Zoom.

Has anybody any experiences with this? How easy (or annoying) is it to open and close when you want to take a shot? What about carrying options? I have a small Arkel handlebar bag; will it be too large for that?

Cheers for any replies.

I don't think it's necessary on the bike. The Arkel bag already has four hard-plastic sides and a plastified top (mapcase). I assume you'd put some padding at the bottom so it takes forever for water to get in. I use the same handlebar bag with the rain cover and my camera never got wet... until I took it out for a shot. Remember that whenever you take the camera out and put it back in a waterproof bag, you'll put it back with all the ambiant moisture and it'll bath in that air.

Thanks for your reply, Erick. That make sense; I might just buy a raincover like this to wrap around the camera when the weather is bad.

Cheers

How about using a zip-lock freezer bag for when it's raining?

You can use a plastic bag with a hole and rubber band for the lens. Personnally, if I feel the need for a for a plastic for shooting, I just keep going. Stopping and taking the camera out (and back in and restarting) in the rain is never fun, no matter what your setup is.

Use a rain cover for the bag! When I say my camera never got wet, it's with the rain cover. What I meant was that you don't need an immersion-proof bag... unless you plan on going swimming with your camera. I'm not crazy about watertight panniers but I wish Arkel made their handlebar bags rainproof. Just a waterproof fabric with a big flap over the zipper would be enough.