Monsoon Gear Care: A Working Checklist

Every year around this time, I get the same calls. A member’s shutter has started sticking. Someone’s flash won’t fire after a garden wedding that ran through a drizzle. A drone that flew fine in April suddenly won’t calibrate in July. Mysuru’s monsoon isn’t as brutal as the coast, but the humidity here is enough to quietly ruin gear that isn’t looked after — and most of the damage I see wasn’t caused by rain falling on a camera. It was caused by moisture sitting inside one, unnoticed, for weeks.

I’ve been shooting through monsoons in this district for a long time now, and I want to share the checklist I actually use — not the general internet advice, but the specific things that matter here.

Before you leave for a shoot

• Check your bag’s weather sealing, not just your camera’s. Most damage happens in transit, not during the shoot itself.

• Pack silica gel sachets in every compartment — lens pouches, battery slots, the works. Replace them each season; used ones stop absorbing moisture long before they look “full.”

• Carry a plain rain cover, even for indoor events. Umashankar’s rule: if you’re travelling between venues in Mysuru during monsoon, you will get caught outside at some point.

• Charge batteries fully but don’t seal them in airtight pouches — batteries need to breathe a little, or condensation builds up faster.

During the shoot

• Wipe your lens front element with a dry microfiber cloth between every few shots if you’re outdoors — not just when you notice fog, by the time you notice it, moisture has usually already crept past the coating.

• Avoid switching a cold camera straight from an air-conditioned car into humid outdoor air. That temperature jump is exactly what causes internal fogging. Give it a few minutes to acclimatize with the bag partly open.

• If you’re shooting a mehendi or haldi function with water or turmeric paste flying around, a simple plastic sleeve over the body does more than people expect.

After you get home — this is the step everyone skips

• Take the memory card out, then take the battery out. Don’t leave gear “resting” fully assembled overnight.

• Open every compartment — battery door, card slot, lens cap — and let the camera sit uncovered in a dry room for at least a few hours before it goes back in the bag.

• Run a dry cloth over the body and mount, checking the lens contacts and hot shoe for any dampness.

• If you own one, this is the season your dry cabinet earns its keep. If you don’t, a sealed box with fresh silica gel and a lid that actually closes tight is a reasonable substitute — just don’t leave gear in a cupboard that shares a wall with a bathroom or kitchen.

Once a week, not once a season

• Fire the shutter a few times on gear you haven’t used in a few days — mechanical parts that sit idle in humidity are the ones that stick.

• Check your lens for the faintest haze inside the glass. Caught early, it’s a cleaning. Caught late, it’s fungus, and that’s a repair bill nobody wants during peak wedding season.

• Inspect drone propellers and gimbals for any give or looseness — moisture affects these faster than camera bodies.

A note to newer members

I know gear maintenance isn’t the exciting part of this profession. Nobody dreams of silica gel sachets. But I’ve watched members lose a lens to fungus that could’ve been avoided with two extra minutes after every shoot, during exactly this season. Treat your equipment the way you’d treat a client’s trust — consistently, not just when something’s already gone wrong.

If your gear does show signs of moisture damage, don’t wait it out. Bring it in early — a small service now is far cheaper than a full repair later.

Stay dry out there, and keep shooting.