Mountaineering

[ericande]

I'm going to start mountain climbing and I will be (obviously) taking tons of photos up there. I currently have: A d50, sigma 17-80, nikon 50, nikon 70-300. I think my lenses should be fine as far as getting the composition I want and everything. My questions:

1) How will that gear stand up to the elements? I know a d200 would be better, but that's not going to happen. What can I do to be careful with it? I've heard of putting the gear in a bag when coming out of the cold. If I forget to do that, will it hurt the camera or only make it shoot poorly for awhile?

2) What other gear do I need to bring? I plan on having 3 fully charged batteries (longest climbing trip should be 3 days), about 4 or 5 1gb cards, some kind of padded bag/protective case, tripod, remote, polarizing filters. I know an extra body is recommended, but that isn't happening either.

We are going in spring and summer, but should still see temps around zero degrees farenheit.

 

[Alex_B]

hmm, if it is going to be cold... the more batteries the better .... and wear them close to your body

 

[shingfan]

temperature doesnt hurt the camera....is the condensation from humidity that kills them when it comes to low temperature.....if the camera is consistantly exposed to cold temperature...it should be oka...(but exposed to cold for too long will stop the electronics from funcationing....need to warm them up before they'll work again).....just bring more batteries......their efficiency drop a lot in cold temperature

I remember one time i put my laptop in the trunk.........the laptop came out not running....i then need to put it in the oven to heat it up before i can use it

 

[Big Mike]

We are going in spring and summer, but should still see temps around zero degrees farenheit.

You shouldn't have any problems with that. As mentioned, the main problem with cold temps is condensation...but that happens when you go from the cold to a warm moist area...like indoors or hot vehicle.

some kind of padded bag/protective case

Obviously some sort of bag or case will be needed. What you use and how you use it...will really depend on a lot of things like what else you are carrying. There are great camera backpacks...but if you have your other gear in a backpack...then you may want something else.

The best would probably be a hard case...like a Pelican product. They will keep you gear safe from the weather and falls etc...but only when it's packed up. Those aren't really something for long hiking/climbing trips though...unless you have some Sherpas to carry your gear.

I would thing that weight would be a major issue for what you take, if you are hiking/climbing...so keep it simple.

 

[ericande]

...unless you have some Sherpas to carry your gear.
.

lol, no sherpas.

Maybe I'll pick up a couple extra batteries and bring 5 or so total. I was thinking of leaving the prime, but then again, it's so little it's not hard to bring or anything. I don't think I'll worry too much about a hard case for protection. I suppose if I fall hard I have bigger things to worry about then broken gear.


thanks guys

 

[6Speed]

One time I was snow skiing and the temps were around a few degrees below zero. I had my ol' pentax k1000 with me, and the shutter froze open when I tried to take a photo. I had to go inside for a few minutes and then it unfroze. Granted, it is an old camera, I've never had the shutter stick open like that before, or since.

I noticed that anytime I've seen pictures of climbers on the 8k m peaks, they don't carry SLR or dSLR cams. They're always little point and shoot digi's, or point and shoot film. I assume b/c of the weight savings, but it could also be something to do with the shutter locking up in -40 deg temps.