High altitude photography

[Avotius]

Questions questions questions for anyone who has done any high altitude shooting. The highest I have ever been is about 3800 meters shooting with a canon 30V and mamiya 6 with no problems, temperature varried but it wasnt all that cold, maybe around 5-10C.

This time we are going all out to an area of China where the altitude will be well over 5200 meters and the temp should be abut -20 to 0 C at any given time. I am planning on taking my 20D, 30V, and Yashica GSN with me, maybe also a 6x15 for landscape stuff. I was wondering if there were any battery/altitude problems that I should watch out for. Also ill be shooting slide film (velvia, provia) and bw (pan f and xp2).

Thanks.

 

[David Murphy]

The biggest problem you will have at 5200 meters is breathing -- so pack some O2 with the film. "Well over 5200 meters" is an invitation to altitude sickness, so be careful. People die of this sometimes. I have heard of basically healthy mountain hikers collapsing and dying at these sorts of altitudes.

At the very least your judgement will be affected -- this could of course impact the photographic results. I have heard of astronomers at Manua Kea obseratory (5000 meters or so) developing plates in the darkroom with the lights on.

I am a pilot and in the USA we are required to be on Oxygen at 3800 meters. There is good reason for this. Among the varied and odious effects of altitude induced O2 deprivation is the deterioation of night vision -- be careful.

 

[physiognomy]

Here in Colorado I've shot several times above 14,000ft (~4300m) in the summer with no difficulty, and mostly below 10,000ft during the cold months. I would say that you will have battery issues if you expose your camera to extreme cold for an extended period. In the cold (0 to -20degC) I have tried to overcome this by keeping my camera inside my jacket while I'm not shooting & using an ER case to provide some insulation. Another trick is to take spare batteries & keep one set warm in your pocket incase of failure. That way you can just swap them out & warm up the dead ones. My Electro GT doesn't seem to mind the cold all that much, so you should be ok with your GSN if you use the case & protect it from prolonged exposure. To be honest I don't usually take a battery dependant camera with me if I'm shooting in the cold... Just avoids any problems/missed shots... Oh, if you are going to be up that high definitely take a UV/Haze filter with you for landscapes.

Peter

 

[Nachkebia]

I have been shooting at 5,201 metres (just found out) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shkhara in great caucasia (Georgia) with F6 and D70s, no problems at all, I have to do same with rangefinder 🙂 btw from my experience hardest weather condition for any camera is humidity...

 

[EmilGil]

It sounds like you're going to Tibet? I was there last year, and apart from being a bit short of breath I didn't notice any problems with myself or my cameras (Nikon F90X + F3HP). Just take a couple of days to acclimatize (spelling?) in Lhasa or so (3800m) before you rush up the mountains, otherwise you're bound for a nasty head-ache...

Sunrise over Mt Everest is quite a nice view! =)

 

[Avotius]

It sounds like you're going to Tibet? I was there last year, and apart from being a bit short of breath I didn't notice any problems with myself or my cameras (Nikon F90X + F3HP). Just take a couple of days to acclimatize (spelling?) in Lhasa or so (3800m) before you rush up the mountains, otherwise you're bound for a nasty head-ache...

Sunrise over Mt Everest is quite a nice view! =)

nope not tibet, but the tibetan are of sichuan, im not gona enjoy this much though as we were susposed to leave an hour ago and of course last night at 2am they changed the time without telling anyone...

 

[x-ray]

I am a pilot and in the USA we are required to be on Oxygen at 3800 meters. There is good reason for this. Among the varied and odious effects of altitude induced O2 deprivation is the deterioation of night vision -- be careful.

I'm a pilot as well and want to advise the effects of lack of 02 on judgement. Your judgement goes in the trash with 02 deprivation. It happens so slowly that you probably will not know it's happening. It becomes very easy to make fatal mistakes when this happens.

Likely at extended periods your batteries will no longer function and your camera lubricants will freeze. The camera may or may not work. I've shot aerials at high altitude for extended periods in sub zero temps and had problems with batteries in hasselblad EL's and static dischrge marks as the motor wound the film. Humidity is extremely low and static makrs on film is a real issue.

Have fun and play safe.