Komodo - Weather-sealed?

[Christopher A. Bell]

Agreed. I think the marketing warrants the question. Especially with the "Go Anywhere" Jason Mamoa video/section of the Komodo page.

But ya, its definitely not weather sealed. You can see straight through the vents right out the other side of the body so lol.

I believe someone(not affiliated with RED) covered that a few months ago and said based on the pics, it's basically a cooling tunnel and all of the electronics are sealed off from it with only the backs of heatsinks or other heat dissipation devices exposed, so even though you can see through it, nothing internal to the camera itself is exposed there. But as with anything else, use at your own risk.

 

[Christopher A. Bell]

Has anyone made a rain cover for it?

; )

 

[Daniel hills]

; )

A little out of my price range.! Anything cheaper?

 

[Anthony Howard-Crow]

I believe someone(not affiliated with RED) covered that a few months ago and said based on the pics, it's basically a cooling tunnel and all of the electronics are sealed off from it with only the backs of heatsinks or other heat dissipation devices exposed, so even though you can see through it, nothing internal to the camera itself is exposed there. But as with anything else, use at your own risk.

I wondered if it that kind of design. Should have looked in there with a flashlight lol. Thats good to know at least.

 

[Christoffer Glans]

I wondered if it that kind of design. Should have looked in there with a flashlight lol. Thats good to know at least.

Just remember that the fans themselves are electronic and not shielded, so don't pour your drink into it.

 

[Michael Hastings]

A little out of my price range.! Anything cheaper?

Don't know how much those bags are. You can get a complete waterproof housing for the Komodo for about $3K for rain, surf, and true underwater to 150 ft. Fairly lightweight PVC particularly when used for surface. Needs a 6 to 8 pound weight for true underwater.

 

[Andrew Reese]

Salty Surf Housing? For Komodo its showing $4500 on their website? or is there another brand out there I am not aware of? I know Gates are pricey...

Don't know how much those bags are. You can get a complete waterproof housing for the Komodo for about $3K for rain, surf, and true underwater to 150 ft. Fairly lightweight PVC particularly when used for surface. Needs a 6 to 8 pound weight for true underwater.

 

[Anthony Howard-Crow]

Just remember that the fans themselves are electronic and not shielded, so don't pour your drink into it.

haha for sure. I treat everything like its allergic to water anyway. Its just good to know how hardcore I should try to baby something lol

 

[AlexAtkinson]

'Now that you brought that up, as a spouse of an actual Fire Chief in charge of prevention and sprinkler inspections - can I bitch about a common unrealistic depiction often in movies:

The sprinklers have a liquid filled bulb at every sprinkler head that bursts and releases the water when it exceeds the temperature limit - only that particular sprinkler!!

It does NOT set off all the sprinklers if you hold a lighter on one of them. Rant over.

FYI PSA:

On the production side, I shot a side by side demonstration of a room fire - one with sprinklers and one without. The fire spread amazingly fast - like 60 seconds from starting in a trashcan and catching drapes on fire to the complete room being engulfed in flames and melting the TV set. The sprinkler version put it out as soon as it started up the drapes. Apparently a typical house can be sprinklered for $2000-3000.'

Seems like one of the most understandable review for a newbie like me.

 

[Russ Fill]

I would guess that the Komodo falls under the same amount of water profness as all the DSMC/2 cameras. If you look in to the area where the vents for cooling are you see that it is indeed just a chimney and basically nothing electronic in there other than the fans. Now while the fans are not water proof they are running almost all the time so if a drop or 2 hit them its most likely the water will be spun off to the edge of the chimney and drip or be blown down to the bottom.
The water issue Im most worried about is the edges of the side panels on our cameras and the bottom part. That seam may have a small rubber ring around the edge but really if water gets in the crack or seam in-between the side panels or accessories and where they bolt on that could be an issue. I have added clear tape or some sort of tape to the area around the bottom of my camera over these seams just to give me a little added protection. I work a lot on boats and in the water and in jungles with rain so Im very aware of where my camera is at all times and how hard it is raining or about to rain.
Ive tried just about every rain cover in the books and I keep coming back to the same solution. A Target or Dollar store clear shower curtain to wrap the camera when not in use and a good oversized golf umbrella for those crazy downpours. And a small towel to absorb any extra and wipe off.
Bottom line is dont be stupid and think that your camera is or should be water proof. Nothing is unless its a underwater housing made for such.
End rant

 

[Michael Hastings]

Salty Surf Housing? For Komodo its showing $4500 on their website? or is there another brand out there I am not aware of? I know Gates are pricey...

Just saw this linked from another thread. AQUAVIDEO - My company (pretty much just me these days) has been making underwater housings for video/movie cameras since 1981 for every type of camera from consumer camcorders to broadcast cameras, 16/35mm, Sony cinealta, and every version of RED camera including the first U/W housing for the REDONE (SN 008) in 2007. Although many of my housings for REDs have been aluminum - many have also been PVC which actually has a lot of advantages. Made a PVC version for Jordy Klein for the Komodo for about $4500 including glass dome.

With RED cameras shooting RAW you really don't need a particularly sophisticated housing to get excellent results. In most cases the only controls you need are Power, start stop and IRIS. Focus is provided but in reality you normally shoot with ultra wide lenses that can be preset since with any stop over about F4 everything is in focus in most situations. Almost any open water shoot will have enough light for F8 and in many Caribbean type shoots you need an ND to keep from loss of resolution at high F-stops due to refraction.

The only things that makes much difference in the actual picture quality are a good lens and a good dome port. (I use the exact same glass ports as another leading U/W housing manufacturer.)