MADE Products CA-1113-BLK SLR Camera Armor for Canon 5D Digital SLR (Black)

I love this armor. After reading a lot of reviews and agonizing over spending $20 on this or $50+ on a dedicated camera bag, I decided to get this and then throw my $2,000 5D in my backpack. I am only half kidding.

My house is a nest of dirt and dog hair (I live in the woods), but the particles really don't show much on the smoke, though people had complained about this. I really think the buttons line up fine, too. I think you may have to take this off every so often to make sure it's clean underneath (especially if you live in the woods or in muddy/dirty/dusty environments) but the first time I put it on, it fit fine and went right over the buttons. Most of all, I love the little screen protector.

I originally was whining about this lens armor not fitting, but after about 30 minutes of screwing around with it, I did get it to fit my 28-135mm lens. Their website says it fits up to 80mm I think so I figured it would work eventually. The entire time I tried to get this thing on I was afraid of breaking the lens but I am glad it fits. It is REALLY difficult to get this thing on the lens. It should even fit my 70-200mm, but I am not about to take this thing off and try it with a different lens.

The only issue with this entire thing is that when you zoom in, you're going to hit the lens armor a little bit at the maximum, but you can still zoom all the way. It's not really a problem. I wish the armor was a bit easier to get on/off, but this is a must-have for someone who is taking photos in (a) dirt-ridden environments or (b) traveling with their camera.

It got here super fast and I love holding my camera now. I have arthritis in my hands and this makes my camera much more comfortable to hold. It was really difficult for me to get the strap back on after I took it off to put the armor on, but small price to pay. This is a great product, ESPECIALLY if you have the good luck and skill to get the armor on your lens.

I bought this product after dropping my Canon 5D and having to take it in for service. Ug. Anyway, I managed to tear the "armor" trying to install it on my camera. My mistake, I suppose. The thing is, even if I could have gotten it on without damage, it makes the camera too bulky for my taste. Features were harder to access and I could tell right off, this wasn't going to be the solution for me. I realize there aren't a lot of options but I don't think this is worth the money.

1) read enough other reviews so you can take this in perspective.

2) ordered it, sipped and arrived with no trouble. Putting it on was brainless. I see where I'll have to use some exacto-knives to cut away the area for my remote triggering devices. but since most people don't do that type of 'bulb' shot -- I'm thinking about the Leonid Meteor shower in November where I spend most of the night with my lens open at the sky -- it's not a design flaw -- the fewer the holes, the 'tighter' the case. Though I do wonder about their uses of 'flaps'.

3) Which brings me to the problem -- the hot shoe mount did rip on my unit, not a lot, but a little -- and some of the very sticky black electrical tape (not included, go to your ACE store or use duct tape) DOES work to keep it in place -- but it would be nice if they had flaps that set in and strapped across so if a tear started it would stop and not get larger. I'm not one to bitch very much so this problem is minimal since a lot of my shots are with lights on my macro, and seldom involve a cord and slave.

4) MY PROBLEM -- and not a big one YET -- is that I need to set the diopter over and over and over and over -- and it is covered, and for some reason it turns itself or one of my dogs or I seem to turn it a click or two one way or the other every now and then -- there is absolutely no way to get to the diopter adjustment -- without pulling back the base of the already ripping hot-shoe protector and, wishing for a third finger - focus it .......AGAIN!!! I night need to cut a hole for the diopter adjustment and then cover it with a flap of electrical tape of duct tape -- it would only take about five minutes start to stop.

It's not a big problem so I've ignored it -- and I can deal with it though holding the box up to my eye, pulling back the rubber and then turning the dial all at the same time. Not EASY but doable and worth the trouble by far! but the new hole would be wonderful, but I can see why it's not there, it would weaken the hot-shoe protector even more.

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I took the advice of the person who said get the smoke, it shows less dirt, I did and was glad. He was right -- I'd hate to see what my camera would look like with the black armor.

They don't show it, but the sun lens will work forward on the lens, that is like it's suppose to, but you can't store it on your lens like you used to -- backwards -- so it's nice that it doesn't mean you can't use it on your lens, or that you have to use their roll forward pseudo-lens cover. But it's a drag to carry the sun shade separate. For most folks their sunshade is probably more than OK.

They need to make a lens cover for the larger lenses and make a set of lens covers for the smaller lenses that could be shipped together with the body and one lens cover -- I've got 4 lenses that I carry, and only the main carry lens has a cover on the end. They do make them, but not for the large (small f) lenses.

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DOES IT REALLY WORK?

IN one word, yeah. in TWO words, IT ROCKS! exceptionally well. I have 4 retired sled dogs who travel with me as companions all the time -- the inside of my car or truck is not set up for people, it's set up for wildland photography and for the dogs. One dog sleeps with it's paw on my camera -- before I wasn't happy, but that's how she's slept for 15 years ever since a trick hit her (she's 20 now) and so now I don't even worry a little about the camera well a little -- but only because it's about a 4 month old canon 5D with a reasonably large lens on it.

I'd have given it a 5 star, but that diopter and ripping of the hot-shoe flap is still a problem, even when you know it is, and are careful --

WOULD I BUY ONE AGAIN? YES. ABSOLUTELY

I generally buy my equiptment in Reno as I was kicked out of a store in Roseville, and never did find the one in Sacramento -- I guess I looked a little 'rough around the edges' for city folk. So, I asked in Reno if they had heard of the armor and they said yes. I asked why they didn't tell me and how often they sell it -- and their answer was revealing: 1) they didn't know what kind of photographer I was -- meaning how good or how prolific, and more telling they likened it to a surge protector -- EVERYONE needs a surge protector. EVERYONE - but few buy one, they say that they will be careful and turn their computer off if it starts to storm -- (BTW, 'storms' are only about 10% of the problem) --- but its really quite difficult to travel at 186,000 miles per second to unplug you computer if you actually SEE the strike. Most people say they will use a strap with their camera-- and I don't even pretend I'll use a strap, maybe when walking -- but not when shooting, I am either freehand or on a tri-pod -- So the Armor is VERY cheap insurance for a very expensive camera. and lens. BTW -- you can take a plastic bag and use a rubber band on one end, the armor plate on the other, and you have an exceptional waterRESISTANT lens cover for very cheap -- just open it ujp every night when you go to bed to let the lens 'air out'. Their inclusion of the Plexiglas (or what ever) cover for the LED screen on the back of the camera has already saved mine once and I try to be careful -- but stuff happens -- and we all know it does, so be ready -- and just know that the four stars are because it DID rip at the hot shoe even when I was careful, and I didn't keep picking at it -- though the diopter adjustment makes me keep pulling the cover away -- a VERY small price to pay for the protection.

Attracts dirt? ha! maybe for the first couple of weeks, then it seems to repel it -- listen, you haven't seen the inside of my vehicles -- dust and dirt -- from red clay dust to gray power volcanic ash -- and hairs -- from a black and gray Malamute and a black and white Siberian husky and coyote brown-tan from an Alaskan husky and a blackish whitish tan from another Alaskan Husky you haven't even SEEN dirt until you've seen the inside of either of my two travel vehicles -- and at first I kept looking for attracting more dirt -- and here is what I found -- IN THE BEGINNING I did get a few more dog hairs -- and maybe some more dirt and dust, but after the first month or two, I think it really DOES protect the inside -- I look at my mirror and prism -- I lock it up and look -- and it's as clean as the day I got it -- and I'm looking with a Nikon SMZ-800 with thorough the lens lighting at about 100x and it's CLEAN. I would budget this into any camera I own now that I own it and have seen how well it works!, just like I always budget in a new surge protector for the computers I buy. MADE Products CA-1112-BLK Camera Armor for Canon XTi/400D Digital SLR (Black)

Len protection must be made for only small lens like a 50mm. Does not fit on most of the lens I use. The Canon 5D model makes the camera too big, even for my large hands. It does attract dust. It makes attaching lens very difficult.

the cover fit nicely but seems to collect static dust and small hairs all over the rubber which made me a bit skeptical as to how good it is in the longrun as the digital sensors have a hard time when dust gets on the sensor, creating more work in the long run to keep it clean. I prefer to avoid the dust and hairs on the body exterior as much as possible and once they are on there the static charge makes them difficult to get off. Dont know if I will even use this now. but if you are in extreme weather conditions than the casing itself would provide some good , extra protection.