Recording in extreme cold and dry climate

[David Vecchio]

Hello! I´ve been offered to work with an HDV camera in antarctica. I was wondering what kind of things I have to take into consideration to record in such conditions. Do I need any kind of extra equipment?

I'm thinking of taking a rain protector, though it doesn't tend to rain much over there.

thanks in advance

[Adrian Sierkowski]

While I've never filmed in the Antarctic I have been out in some pretty cold Philadelphia temperatures shooting. The first piece of advice I can give you is to keep your batteries warm! The cold will suck them dry so keep them under your parka until you have to use them. Also try not to touch anything metallic with your bare skin. . .

I'm sure others will chime in with more info.. . only other thing I can think of is let the camera acclimate to the temperature first, else you might get condensation on/in your lenses.

[David Vecchio]

thanks a lot, adrian, I'll take that into account.

[banba ban]

You might want to take a look at one of these:

 

http://www.portabrace.com/category_50_31

 

You put a few "pocket warmers" inside the case and it keeps the camera at a good operating temperature.

I have also put pocker warmers inside my case of batteries to help keep them warm.

 

Do you know what the temperature will be when you are there?

I've found that if it's only just below freezing many cameras cope ok without need for additional care.

 

Other equipment can suffer too if it gets really cold.

Anything that runs off 9v or AA batts will chew through them really quickly as you'd expect.

Radio mics can be prone to problems - don't really know why.

Cables freeze as does the fluid in the tripod head.

 

If you are travelling on a snowmobile the vibration will shake loose many of the screws on the camera and all of the other equipment - Loctite is a good solution before you leave.

 

I'm sure others have many more suggestions....

 

Good luck!