PiCs: FAO Tom

[shiato storm]

well, this is what I'd be using my camera for, amoung other things...

and

and also


so it has to be tough...metal body or nothing at all, certainly not 300d then...
these were taken on a chinon se4, 50mm, 1/250 f?. at about 3500-3800m up. cool huh? Fuji superia film handled it ok, i used a kodak on the way down - utter waste of time. kodak = not great at all!
images scanned so not tip top quality but not bad.
no time for a tripod - so its all handheld, well, in one at least, I wasn't going to let go! and no the camera is not automatic, fully manual. adds another twist when halfway to the top!
they were taken this summer in the Alps, Chamonix - I've posted them here before but can't find em. the first shows a view with Mt Blanc on the left.. a picture just can't convey the sheer scale of the place. truely awesome. the next is looking 90degrees to the right of the 1st (a bit earlier in the day) and looks cool with clouds below for a change. the last is an 'action shot'! always wonder how things will come out when I do things on the move, did ok i guess, in conveying the feel of going up a mountain.

[Angus]

Awesome.

Any idea if normal film has a problem with the cold (i.e. sub -10C)? I'm going to Spitsbergen in April and have asked parents for a metal bodied fully mechanical slr to take for christmas (don't want to risk the battery in the EOS running out).

Don't really want to take lots of photos only to find out that the cold has made the film brittle!!

[shiato storm]

no shouldn't be a prob. check film manufactures first though. I was up in -5 in the shade with mine and they came out fine it shouldn't be a problem. the problems occure when you take a film out of a fridge and straight into a camera - you have to let it warm up a bit otherwise it can cause condensation on the film surface when inserted into the camera back.
when very cold, high shutter speeds could cause damage...a fully manual can be more reliable than fully automated at very cold temps. that said camera designers know people take them to strange places. people have been to the poles and top of everest haven't they, cold shouldn't be a real problem just below zero.


edit: just had a look around - camera-wise you're save to -40C! so I'd assume film can handle at least -10C. but i understand your concern, would it be too cold to allow a chemical light reaction on the film surface? dunno...

[Tom]

whoa :O

very nice. you might want to be lookin at the 1DmkII then, the one thing it has over teh 20D is the weatherproofing.

[shiato storm]

weather proofing?!! 1Dmk2? thats just silly money!! na, 20D is has all I need - perhaps I could make a camera protective case for it... how weather proof is the 1D anyway?

[Tom]

Just like the EOS-1D/1Ds/1V the Mark II is fully environmentally sealed, this means that there are rubber O-rings around the controls and that compartment doors have rubber seals. In total the camera has no less than 90 environmental seal points (indicated in red in the image above). It is however worth bearing in mind that the camera is only as well sealed as the lens used, and for that you'll need one of the special L lenses with rubber grommets which fit flush to the lens mount:

* Canon EF 16 - 35 mm F2.8L USM
* Canon EF 17 - 40 mm F4.0L USM
* Canon EF 24 - 70 mm F2.8L USM
* Canon EF 28 - 300 mm F3.5 - F5.6L IS USM
* Canon EF 70 - 200 mm F2.8L IS USM
* Canon EF 300 mm F2.8L IS USM
* Canon EF 400 mm F2.8L IS USM
* Canon EF 400 mm F4.0 DO IS USM
* Canon EF 500 mm F4.0L IS USM
* Canon EF 600 mm F4.0L IS USM
* Canon Extender EF 1.4x II
* Canon Extender EF 2.0x II

HERE

[shiato storm]

oooh..
so shiney and nice....shame its WAY out of my budget then! still, a lens with rubber seals wouldn't be a bad start. that said the camera I used to take the pics posted had nothing fancy at all, it just takes pictures. if its looked after right it shouldn't be a prob I guess.

[Tom]

with the om1 there are no electronics to go wrong...at all really. EOS-20D? completely different kind of camera, it doesnt function without electronics. Whilst mechanical stuff doesnt really mind too much about the odd bit of moisture, Im sure the electronics of a dSLR do

[shiato storm]

ah yes, true true. but surely canon or nikon would understand pros use their cameras in the wildest places on the planet? and whats to stop the no-pros of us too? my gripe would be that the non-pros would almost need a camera build to be tougher since we're going to take all sorts of shots rather than just in a studio or some 'safe' environment...perhaps its not to difficult to add some seals/covering to a standard dSLR to protect it?