Piotr Naskrecki
Well-known member
I recently spent about a month in the rainforests of Ghana doing a biological survey, and shooting a lot of pictures. Since my last forays into the wet tropics I have acquired several new pieces of equipment, and thought it would be a good idea to test them under extreme field conditions.
The core of my setup consisted of one 1Ds Mk II and one 1D Mk II, and a wide assortment of lenses and flashes, all Canon. I also had a carbon fiber Gitzo tripod with an Acratech Ultimate Ballhead, and a brand new laptop Sony Vaio SZ120. The short of the story is that virtually all pieces of my equipment eventually failed. Perhaps not surprising if you consider that the humidity in the forest was a nice and steady 100%, with temperatures never falling below 25C, even at night. Naturally, I tried to keep everything dry and clean, but after a few weeks in a tent mold found its way into pretty much every piece of equipment and clothing I owned. Here is how things went.
The first piece of equipment to go was my brand new laptop. First the DVD writer stopped responding, then the laptop’s case started falling apart – literally. Of course, I had two additional backup devices (60 GB Nixvue), but not being able to make backup DVD’s was a real disappointment.
Then my 1D Mk II stopped recognizing an attached flash. While trying to make sure that the flash is sitting well I discovered that the flash shoe on the camera was loose, and eventually it almost completely separated from the body. Luckily I had my 1Ds.
But then my 1Ds started acting up. First, it would not recognize the TTL capabilities of the flash (I later discovered that the flash, 580EX, was the culprit, along with a corroded extension cord connecting the flash with the camera.) But more serious was the discovery of what looked like about 50 dead pixels on the sensor. Interestingly, they changed their position from picture to picture. It must have been condensation because the artifacts disappeared after my return home. !D bodies are very well environmentally sealed, and the water must have gotten inside while changing lenses. Still, the artifacts spoiled quite a few pictures.
The Gitzo tripod gave me more headaches than any other piece of equipment. While great under dry conditions, these tripods fail miserably if they get even slightly wet. The locking mechanism of the legs alternatively locks up and fails to lock at all, making the exercise of extending or collapsing the tripod’s legs an extremely painful and frustrating experience. The Acratech ballhead did not perform much better. Because I have an older model, one without the rubberized knobs (my attempts to buy rubberized knobs from Acratech were unsuccessful, despite their assurances that customers with older versions the ballhead could do it), locking the plate was very difficult if the knobs got even a little wet (and they were always wet.) One time, after I thought I had securely locked the camera, the plate clamp gave way and my 1Ds fell out from the top of a fully extended tripod. The camera hit the ground with its Arca plate, which probably protected the camera from serious damage, but broke off the plate, destroying the threads on the camera body. After that I could not attach the plate to the camera.
Other casualties include several SD memory cards (Transcend – avoid them like fire) and a 100-400 mm lens (mold – you really must check your glass daily when in a rainforest, and remove any traces of humidity; I discovered mold on the front lens after only 2 days of not using the lens).
The lesson in all this is that you should always have backups of your backups. Despite the calamities I was able to continue shooting, and did not lose any images (except those that were on cards that failed while still in the camera.) But next time I am bringing a third body, and an additional external DVD writer. I will also be buying a new ballhead, most likely another Acrarech – despite my problems I really like their design, and now all their models have rubberized knobs. I am not sure what to do about a tripod – I like the lightness of carbon fiber Gitzos, but the locking mechanism is a serious problem. Hakuba used to make fantastic carbon fiber tripods, but they no longer do.
Also, despite some problems with the 1Ds I continue to be impressed with the water resistance of 1D-series bodies, and the absolutely excellent battery life. Less so with the Canon lenses, all of which got water inside them (through condensation, not submersion.) My previous setup was all Nikon, and I never had condensation problems with Nikon lenses, even under conditions as harsh as during my last trip. I guess they are sealed better.
I attach a few shots from Ghana.
Cheers,
Piotr
A giant scorpion Pandinus imperator - I illuminated the animal with ultraviolet light (all scorpions shine blue in UV light), while the rest of the scene uses ambient light.
The rhinoceros viper (Bitis nasicornis), surely one of the most beautiful snakes in the world.
Leaf katydid (Mustius superbus) - these animals spend their days flattened on the underside of a leaf, lettin ghe light shine through them and nearly completely disappearing.
A forest chameleon (Chamaeleo gracilis).
Self portrait with a mantis finishing her dinner.
--
http://www.insectphotography.com
The core of my setup consisted of one 1Ds Mk II and one 1D Mk II, and a wide assortment of lenses and flashes, all Canon. I also had a carbon fiber Gitzo tripod with an Acratech Ultimate Ballhead, and a brand new laptop Sony Vaio SZ120. The short of the story is that virtually all pieces of my equipment eventually failed. Perhaps not surprising if you consider that the humidity in the forest was a nice and steady 100%, with temperatures never falling below 25C, even at night. Naturally, I tried to keep everything dry and clean, but after a few weeks in a tent mold found its way into pretty much every piece of equipment and clothing I owned. Here is how things went.
The first piece of equipment to go was my brand new laptop. First the DVD writer stopped responding, then the laptop’s case started falling apart – literally. Of course, I had two additional backup devices (60 GB Nixvue), but not being able to make backup DVD’s was a real disappointment.
Then my 1D Mk II stopped recognizing an attached flash. While trying to make sure that the flash is sitting well I discovered that the flash shoe on the camera was loose, and eventually it almost completely separated from the body. Luckily I had my 1Ds.
But then my 1Ds started acting up. First, it would not recognize the TTL capabilities of the flash (I later discovered that the flash, 580EX, was the culprit, along with a corroded extension cord connecting the flash with the camera.) But more serious was the discovery of what looked like about 50 dead pixels on the sensor. Interestingly, they changed their position from picture to picture. It must have been condensation because the artifacts disappeared after my return home. !D bodies are very well environmentally sealed, and the water must have gotten inside while changing lenses. Still, the artifacts spoiled quite a few pictures.
The Gitzo tripod gave me more headaches than any other piece of equipment. While great under dry conditions, these tripods fail miserably if they get even slightly wet. The locking mechanism of the legs alternatively locks up and fails to lock at all, making the exercise of extending or collapsing the tripod’s legs an extremely painful and frustrating experience. The Acratech ballhead did not perform much better. Because I have an older model, one without the rubberized knobs (my attempts to buy rubberized knobs from Acratech were unsuccessful, despite their assurances that customers with older versions the ballhead could do it), locking the plate was very difficult if the knobs got even a little wet (and they were always wet.) One time, after I thought I had securely locked the camera, the plate clamp gave way and my 1Ds fell out from the top of a fully extended tripod. The camera hit the ground with its Arca plate, which probably protected the camera from serious damage, but broke off the plate, destroying the threads on the camera body. After that I could not attach the plate to the camera.
Other casualties include several SD memory cards (Transcend – avoid them like fire) and a 100-400 mm lens (mold – you really must check your glass daily when in a rainforest, and remove any traces of humidity; I discovered mold on the front lens after only 2 days of not using the lens).
The lesson in all this is that you should always have backups of your backups. Despite the calamities I was able to continue shooting, and did not lose any images (except those that were on cards that failed while still in the camera.) But next time I am bringing a third body, and an additional external DVD writer. I will also be buying a new ballhead, most likely another Acrarech – despite my problems I really like their design, and now all their models have rubberized knobs. I am not sure what to do about a tripod – I like the lightness of carbon fiber Gitzos, but the locking mechanism is a serious problem. Hakuba used to make fantastic carbon fiber tripods, but they no longer do.
Also, despite some problems with the 1Ds I continue to be impressed with the water resistance of 1D-series bodies, and the absolutely excellent battery life. Less so with the Canon lenses, all of which got water inside them (through condensation, not submersion.) My previous setup was all Nikon, and I never had condensation problems with Nikon lenses, even under conditions as harsh as during my last trip. I guess they are sealed better.
I attach a few shots from Ghana.
Cheers,
Piotr
A giant scorpion Pandinus imperator - I illuminated the animal with ultraviolet light (all scorpions shine blue in UV light), while the rest of the scene uses ambient light.
The rhinoceros viper (Bitis nasicornis), surely one of the most beautiful snakes in the world.
Leaf katydid (Mustius superbus) - these animals spend their days flattened on the underside of a leaf, lettin ghe light shine through them and nearly completely disappearing.
A forest chameleon (Chamaeleo gracilis).
Self portrait with a mantis finishing her dinner.
--
http://www.insectphotography.com
