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6-8MP Camera for Everest and other extreme weather environments

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Danieljf

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Hi Everyone,

I will be working in India for two years followed by 6-8 months travel. I will be trekking round Nepal and will see Everest.

I am thinking between these cameras, Oly C-8080 or Canon Pro1, alternatively go for a EOS 300/350D or Pentax *ist DS.

I am concerned about the extreme heat in India and then the cold conditions when trekking. Second to that is size, obviously the SLRs will give me a better ISO in poor light, but the cost is greater (which influences my travelling time) and also the size of carrying a second lense in my rucksack.

I do have a 35MM EOS 300 and an A80. I am considering using the A80 to try to get the settings right for the 35MM, but since this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity I don't want to miss the shot. I large screen would be good to review on the spot, the Sony DSC V3 is attractive purely for that, but not convinced of the quality.
 
Hello,

I own a KMinolta A1 at the moment, but looking for a replacement/complement in form of a dslr.

If you can afford it, I would take a close look at the Olympus E-1. It's by way the cheapest dSLR with weather sealings out there. And if you don't need high ISO too much and massive resolution, you could be satisfied with the image quality, too. However it's quite a bit bigger than the "prosumer" digicams and heavier than most of the low-end dSLRs out there (think 300D, *istDS, D70, E-300). The dust protection will be very fine, too, especially in India, I'd suppose.

I'm quite fascinated by the E-1, but as I'm shooting quite a lot of concerts I need low noise at high ISOs (but the E-1 is still not out of the game because of it's fantastic build and kit lens).

greetings

fabian
 
You'd be best off with a completely mechanical film camera and an exposure meter in your pocket, or a small point-and-shoot that can be kept warm in your pocket.
Skipper494.
 
Fully weatherproof, dustproof and built like a tank (close enough to Canon's ID cameras). It has its own in-built sensor cleaner that works (no dust), it's very easy to use and comes with a very high quality standard lens, equivalent to 28-108mm in 35mm terms.

The image quality is as good as anything equivalent on the market and you can quite comfortably use up to ISO800 with no post-processing, and ISO1600 with a small amount. One battery charge is good for at least 800 shots.

Cheers

Ray
Danieljf said:
Hi Everyone,

I will be working in India for two years followed by 6-8 months
travel. I will be trekking round Nepal and will see Everest.

I am thinking between these cameras, Oly C-8080 or Canon Pro1,
alternatively go for a EOS 300/350D or Pentax *ist DS.

I am concerned about the extreme heat in India and then the cold
conditions when trekking. Second to that is size, obviously the
SLRs will give me a better ISO in poor light, but the cost is
greater (which influences my travelling time) and also the size of
carrying a second lense in my rucksack.

I do have a 35MM EOS 300 and an A80. I am considering using the A80
to try to get the settings right for the 35MM, but since this will
be a once in a lifetime opportunity I don't want to miss the shot.
I large screen would be good to review on the spot, the Sony DSC V3
is attractive purely for that, but not convinced of the quality.
Click to expand...
--
There are no limits, only challenges - me (unless someone else said it first).

Photography is like a good book, you become absorbed by the image, not the syntax and sentence structure - me (unless someone said this first as well).

http://www.rkp.com.au/AustralianImage/
 
It's splashproof, but has the E-1's operating temperature range been explored?
 
Something with a built-in PV-Cell and 40 gigs of HD memory.

Larry.


Danieljf said:
Hi Everyone,

I will be working in India for two years followed by 6-8 months
travel. I will be trekking round Nepal and will see Everest.

I am thinking between these cameras, Oly C-8080 or Canon Pro1,
alternatively go for a EOS 300/350D or Pentax *ist DS.

I am concerned about the extreme heat in India and then the cold
conditions when trekking. Second to that is size, obviously the
SLRs will give me a better ISO in poor light, but the cost is
greater (which influences my travelling time) and also the size of
carrying a second lense in my rucksack.

I do have a 35MM EOS 300 and an A80. I am considering using the A80
to try to get the settings right for the 35MM, but since this will
be a once in a lifetime opportunity I don't want to miss the shot.
I large screen would be good to review on the spot, the Sony DSC V3
is attractive purely for that, but not convinced of the quality.
Click to expand...
 
Pack a lot of batteries especially in the cold, computer, portable hard drive etc etc. i see battries as the big problem on a trip like that.

Personally if it was me, i would take a tiny 5-8mp P+S like the Ricoh 1RV and either a Mamiya 6 (late model) or a Mamiya 7 and several lenses and a bunch of MF film.

You really want MF quality for a trip like that.
Danieljf said:
Hi Everyone,

I will be working in India for two years followed by 6-8 months
travel. I will be trekking round Nepal and will see Everest.

I am thinking between these cameras, Oly C-8080 or Canon Pro1,
alternatively go for a EOS 300/350D or Pentax *ist DS.

I am concerned about the extreme heat in India and then the cold
conditions when trekking. Second to that is size, obviously the
SLRs will give me a better ISO in poor light, but the cost is
greater (which influences my travelling time) and also the size of
carrying a second lense in my rucksack.

I do have a 35MM EOS 300 and an A80. I am considering using the A80
to try to get the settings right for the 35MM, but since this will
be a once in a lifetime opportunity I don't want to miss the shot.
I large screen would be good to review on the spot, the Sony DSC V3
is attractive purely for that, but not convinced of the quality.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.troyammons.com
http://www.pbase.com/tammons
http://www.troyammons.deviantart.com
 
I've used mine in pouring rain and on 43+C, dusty, windy days (we don't really get 'cold' weather downunder). Naturally you have to be careful when changing lenses on windy days, but I've not had a problem to date. I would quite confidently take it anywhere and pretty much have. If it gets dirty, dusty, salt water encrusted, I just wash it all off at the end of the day.

Cheers

Ray
Leejay Wu said:
It's splashproof, but has the E-1's operating temperature range
been explored?
Click to expand...
--
There are no limits, only challenges - me (unless someone else said it first).

Photography is like a good book, you become absorbed by the image, not the syntax and sentence structure - me (unless someone said this first as well).

http://www.rkp.com.au/AustralianImage/
 
Skipper494 said:
You'd be best off with a completely mechanical film camera and an
exposure meter in your pocket, or a small point-and-shoot that can
be kept warm in your pocket.
Click to expand...
I agree. Films are a lot lighter than batteries -- you plug them into the camera without having to plug them into mains electricity first!

Furthermore, to my knowledge there is no battery technology that is improved by low temperatures, OR storage.

There are still a few things that film does better than digital -- harsh environments is one of them.

Regards,
Baz
 
Thanks everyone for feedback so far.

My understanding is film gets brittle at approximately -30 to -40C. The E1 looks like a good choice as it can operate around the same temperature as film although it is very expensive and a bit outside of my budget.

The alternative is to get the Canon EOS 300/350D. I would then be able to use my film EOS 300 when trekking and use 300 film lense as a telescopic zoom on the digital.

Thoughts?
 
Danieljf said:
Thanks everyone for feedback so far.

My understanding is film gets brittle at approximately -30 to -40C.
The E1 looks like a good choice as it can operate around the same
temperature as film although it is very expensive and a bit outside
of my budget.
Click to expand...
The mamiya 7 would probably be too. Its very expensive, but its light and so sharp it approaches LF. I have wanted one of these too for a while, but a $1000-1500 body and WA lenses that are $1000-1500 each have put me off.
Danieljf said:
The alternative is to get the Canon EOS 300/350D. I would then be
able to use my film EOS 300 when trekking and use 300 film lense as
a telescopic zoom on the digital.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
That makes a lot of sense and the price is right, but Personally I would still carry a larger format, 1ds at least if you can afford it. You can always sell it when you return. Considering its a once in a lifetime trip, I would have a very hard time not wanting to carry one of these and 2 lenses and a lot of quickloads.

http://www.photo.net/bboard/big-image?bboard_upload_id=22006884

I was not aware about film being that brittle at super cold temps but you dont bend 4x5 sheet film. Also on lenses, I took a trip in the smokeys recently, with a LF, MF and 35mm digital camera. I shot digital 10% of the time, mf 10% and LF 80%. What I am saying is i trended towards the larger format, and now when I look back at these photos I wish I had done them all in the largest format I had, although 4x5 is probably out for you. I even wish I had done a few in 8x10. With my 8x10 I had 3 lenses, but I ended up shooting a normal lens 90% of the time.

For digital I shot a 18-125mm sigma lens and never took it off my camera.
that was a really good zoom range for my camera.

--
http://www.troyammons.com
http://www.pbase.com/tammons
http://www.troyammons.deviantart.com
 
Danieljf said:
Hi Everyone,
Click to expand...
Hi!
Danieljf said:
I will be working in India for two years followed by 6-8 months
travel. I will be trekking round Nepal and will see Everest.
Click to expand...
Lucky you!!!!
Danieljf said:
I am thinking between these cameras, Oly C-8080 or Canon Pro1,
alternatively go for a EOS 300/350D or Pentax *ist DS.
Click to expand...
Since you have a canon EOS film camera I would think the logical choise would be to get a Canon digital SLR. You can use the same lenses on both of them! I'm sure you can find a 300D body (or with kit lens) for less than a Pro 1 although I'm not up to date on prices.
Danieljf said:
I am concerned about the extreme heat in India and then the cold
conditions when trekking. Second to that is size, obviously the
SLRs will give me a better ISO in poor light, but the cost is
greater (which influences my travelling time) and also the size of
carrying a second lense in my rucksack.

I do have a 35MM EOS 300 and an A80. I am considering using the A80
to try to get the settings right for the 35MM, but since this will
be a once in a lifetime opportunity I don't want to miss the shot.
I large screen would be good to review on the spot, the Sony DSC V3
is attractive purely for that, but not convinced of the quality.
Click to expand...
Yes, carrying big cameras is never fun when facing uphill :( Do you plan to take your film SLR with you regardless of what you buy??? I would simply pick up a 300D and go with it. Or, if you absolutly want film the EOS 300 and 300D! They use the same lens(es) so the extra weight is just the body! The other digital SLRs metioned are for sure great cameras!!! I would love to have them all, but you already have Canon and carrying two separate systems is just a bit too much, not to mention the price!

My 300D has survived MANY mountains and deserts for me without any problems what so ever! If you just pay resonable attention to it it won't break! That's my experience.

Also, consider battery time. The prosumer (point and shoot) cameras tend to have much lower battery life time than the SLRs. That was at least a BIG factor for me when I made the same choise. Maybe that has changed nowdays, but check it!

--
My gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/dcfaria
 
Danieljf said:
Thanks everyone for feedback so far.

My understanding is film gets brittle at approximately -30 to -40C.
Click to expand...
Well, yes you will have to wind it gently, and that means gently by HAND!!

Auto winders need batteries -- do any batteries at all work at those kinds of temperatures ? (bit academic AFAIC, 'coz I don't work at THAT kind of temperature!)
Danieljf said:
The E1 looks like a good choice as it can operate around the same
temperature as film although it is very expensive and a bit outside
of my budget.
Click to expand...
I don't think the E1 can manage -30 C (see up thread, and remember that American contributors are still thinking in degrees 'F')
Danieljf said:
The alternative is to get the Canon EOS 300/350D. I would then be
able to use my film EOS 300 when trekking and use 300 film lense as
a telescopic zoom on the digital.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Those are cheapo dSLRs. They have all the problems of dSLR in harsh environment, only more so. If the E1 doesn't manage it (you would be doing the experimenting for the entire Olympus community) the cheapo Canons will not manage it either.

Working in the super-cold is hard on you and hard on the gear. For instance, what happens if you breath on the LCD? Are you going to use an ice axe to chip the frost off?

Hmmm....

Minus 30 C is not the environment we are used to, only "colder". It is a whole new world of limitations and difficulties, all of which require a lot of thought, and not a little practical experience...

I reckon you should be Googling after Antarctic Photo-technique or similar .....

.....or maybe even e-mail one of the guys down there, they spend a lot of time on the web -- some of them come visiting here...

Regards,
Baz
 
Bluegrass said:
"Weather Proof: Splash Proof Design to resist moisture and dust
Operation: 32° – 104° F (0° – 40° C), 30 – 90% humidity
Storage: -4° – 140° F (-20° – 60° C), 10 – 90% humidity"
Click to expand...
How did you get a degrees symbol? I have been trying to do that for ages.

Regards,
Baz
 
All good points about the weather and extreme temperatures... We are howere NOT talking about antarctic climat, are we?? I get the impression that we are talking about trekks in the himalayas, not clibing Everest!?!?

"I will be trekking round Nepal and will see Everest."

All cameras discussed (including the cheapo 300D) will do just fine on normal himalyan trekks.

Daniel
Barrie Davis said:
Danieljf said:
Thanks everyone for feedback so far.

My understanding is film gets brittle at approximately -30 to -40C.
Click to expand...
Well, yes you will have to wind it gently, and that means gently by
HAND!!

Auto winders need batteries -- do any batteries at all work at
those kinds of temperatures ? (bit academic AFAIC, 'coz I don't
work at THAT kind of temperature!)
Barrie Davis said:
The E1 looks like a good choice as it can operate around the same
temperature as film although it is very expensive and a bit outside
of my budget.
Click to expand...
I don't think the E1 can manage -30 C (see up thread, and remember
that American contributors are still thinking in degrees 'F')
Barrie Davis said:
The alternative is to get the Canon EOS 300/350D. I would then be
able to use my film EOS 300 when trekking and use 300 film lense as
a telescopic zoom on the digital.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Those are cheapo dSLRs. They have all the problems of dSLR in harsh
environment, only more so. If the E1 doesn't manage it (you would
be doing the experimenting for the entire Olympus community) the
cheapo Canons will not manage it either.

Working in the super-cold is hard on you and hard on the gear. For
instance, what happens if you breath on the LCD? Are you going to
use an ice axe to chip the frost off?

Hmmm....

Minus 30 C is not the environment we are used to, only "colder". It
is a whole new world of limitations and difficulties, all of which
require a lot of thought, and not a little practical experience...

I reckon you should be Googling after Antarctic Photo-technique
or similar .....

.....or maybe even e-mail one of the guys down there, they spend a
lot of time on the web -- some of them come visiting here...

Regards,
Baz
--
Click to expand...
--
My gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/dcfaria
 
Thanks Tammons,

There has to be a balance. I am volunteering for two years and I will be earning approximately $150 a month (I'm from the UK). Every penny not spent on technology will go on travelling. I'm planning to travel overland via bus/train from India through Nepal/Everest, Tibet (if I can get in) to China and then depending on funds go to SE Asia or Africa.

If I buy a digital SLR here it is going to cost £500-£600 and then another lense for £100-£200 which is a lot of money. I could spend a month or two in another country for that at least!

The alternative is to use my two years volunteering to master 35MM and use that. Again, the downside is that I have to carry film around with me which is space, I could invest in a 1GB card which is much smaller and I have webspace up to 2GB to back up upon.

Also, Everest will be a small part of my trip overall, I will be glad to get there, let alone photograph it. I will want to print up to A4/A3 size upon my return hence the choice between an 8MP prosumer or 6MP SLR.

The fact I will be on the road a lot during this trips puts me off an SLR because I will be a walking advert to get mugged (English for being robbed), a smaller prosumer means I'll draw less attention to myself but will lose out on picture quality.

Decisions, decisions!
tammons said:
Danieljf said:
Thanks everyone for feedback so far.

My understanding is film gets brittle at approximately -30 to -40C.
The E1 looks like a good choice as it can operate around the same
temperature as film although it is very expensive and a bit outside
of my budget.
Click to expand...
The mamiya 7 would probably be too. Its very expensive, but its
light and so sharp it approaches LF. I have wanted one of these too
for a while, but a $1000-1500 body and WA lenses that are
$1000-1500 each have put me off.
tammons said:
The alternative is to get the Canon EOS 300/350D. I would then be
able to use my film EOS 300 when trekking and use 300 film lense as
a telescopic zoom on the digital.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
That makes a lot of sense and the price is right, but Personally I
would still carry a larger format, 1ds at least if you can afford
it. You can always sell it when you return. Considering its a once
in a lifetime trip, I would have a very hard time not wanting to
carry one of these and 2 lenses and a lot of quickloads.

http://www.photo.net/bboard/big-image?bboard_upload_id=22006884

I was not aware about film being that brittle at super cold temps
but you dont bend 4x5 sheet film. Also on lenses, I took a trip in
the smokeys recently, with a LF, MF and 35mm digital camera. I shot
digital 10% of the time, mf 10% and LF 80%. What I am saying is i
trended towards the larger format, and now when I look back at
these photos I wish I had done them all in the largest format I
had, although 4x5 is probably out for you. I even wish I had done a
few in 8x10. With my 8x10 I had 3 lenses, but I ended up shooting a
normal lens 90% of the time.

For digital I shot a 18-125mm sigma lens and never took it off my
camera.
that was a really good zoom range for my camera.

--
http://www.troyammons.com
http://www.pbase.com/tammons
http://www.troyammons.deviantart.com
Click to expand...
 
Hi Dan,

I will be climbing Everest, I am not sure how much money it is going to cost but I will do it as cheaply as I can. I won't go any further than basecamp, far too dangerous and since I will have been living in 40C conditions going to -40C conditions will be a shock to the system to put it mildly!!!
astro said:
"I will be trekking round Nepal and will see Everest."

All cameras discussed (including the cheapo 300D) will do just fine
on normal himalyan trekks.

Daniel
Barrie Davis said:
Danieljf said:
Thanks everyone for feedback so far.

My understanding is film gets brittle at approximately -30 to -40C.
Click to expand...
Well, yes you will have to wind it gently, and that means gently by
HAND!!

Auto winders need batteries -- do any batteries at all work at
those kinds of temperatures ? (bit academic AFAIC, 'coz I don't
work at THAT kind of temperature!)
astro187939 said:
The E1 looks like a good choice as it can operate around the same
temperature as film although it is very expensive and a bit outside
of my budget.
Click to expand...
I don't think the E1 can manage -30 C (see up thread, and remember
that American contributors are still thinking in degrees 'F')
astro187939 said:
The alternative is to get the Canon EOS 300/350D. I would then be
able to use my film EOS 300 when trekking and use 300 film lense as
a telescopic zoom on the digital.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Those are cheapo dSLRs. They have all the problems of dSLR in harsh
environment, only more so. If the E1 doesn't manage it (you would
be doing the experimenting for the entire Olympus community) the
cheapo Canons will not manage it either.

Working in the super-cold is hard on you and hard on the gear. For
instance, what happens if you breath on the LCD? Are you going to
use an ice axe to chip the frost off?

Hmmm....

Minus 30 C is not the environment we are used to, only "colder". It
is a whole new world of limitations and difficulties, all of which
require a lot of thought, and not a little practical experience...

I reckon you should be Googling after Antarctic Photo-technique
or similar .....

.....or maybe even e-mail one of the guys down there, they spend a
lot of time on the web -- some of them come visiting here...

Regards,
Baz
--
Click to expand...
--
My gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/dcfaria
Click to expand...
 
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