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35mm in super cold


wade

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I'm doing a job in Antarctica during winter. Expected temps of about -30 celcius. I've worked a fair bit in cold, but this is getting really out there. Using an Aaton 35 III. Anybody out there with some real expereince in these temperatures?

 

I'd appreciate any comments on pitfalls etc.

 

Thanks

 

Wade

Australia

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I haven't shot there personally, but last year I got some advise Eduardo Serra who has shot 'Map of the Human Heart' there. They got internal heaters for their Panavision cameras. Also there are heating barneys for the magazines which are very useful too.

 

The cameras themselves usually are fine, but you need to take care with batteries and magazines. Never put batteries in the snow, because they will lose their charge very quickly outside in the cold. I usually try to get cooling boxes for the batteries, which will help isolate them. As for your magazines, keep them warm as long as possible, because if the film gets cold, it can break. Store them in a warm place as long as possible and if you have to put them in the camera, leave them in their box while you make your way to the camera and only take them out on the last possible moment.

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I thought the film should be acclimated to the outside temperature before the cans are opened to prevent condensation. Same with the lenses.

 

The camera should be "winterized" (I believe this consists of replacing the oil lubricant with graphite or something.)

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In the temperatures that I have shot in (-15 degrees Celcius) I have never had a problem with condensation of the filmstock. Lenses are usually fine too when taken outside, but taking them back into the warmth leads to condensation. I once shot in the Dolomites in the winter and once we took the lenses back inside, they started leaking water big time. But that was more due to the fact that although it was snowing, once the snow hit the ground (or the lenses, or anything else for that matter) it started to melt. After about one hour everyone on the set was dripping wet and we still had another 10 hours to go...

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  • 5 weeks later...

hi

according to my experience aaton 35 isn't build to film in antartica at all. what you can do is make a test in an industrial fridge after winterising the camera body.

Arri III is noisy but goes verry well in those conditions.

we should aske DP's thierry Machado who filmed last winter a featur in north canada for several months.

I did a prep in S16 for antartica thru fridges.

Maybe aske directly Mr beauviala at aaton what they think about antartica because there are verry few mechanicles parts in the mouvment and a lot of electronic for the video head.

We used it (aaton 35) for "migrations" on ultralights all over the world and it was not easy to maintain in a good shape.

good luck it must be a magic destnation!!! to film

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Yeah, I also kind of think the Aaton sounds a bit wrong for that environment.

The easy snap on mags are probably not very well suited for those temperatures.

Push the mag in slightly askew or too hard when it's that cold, and the film might

not hit the claw or whatever and then it will break off. That's the only place where I'd

prefer another camera. The 435 is great, but it's movement is so big it's really easy

to break the film when loading in low temperatures (has happenened to me on many

occasions up in the north of Sweden).

 

I think the best camera for really cold conditions probably is the Arri 3. It's spacious and

easy to load, it's built like a bloody tank and it just always works. If you have to handhold,

it's probably a bit too much. Maybe an Arricam LT if the budget can handle it?

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I've shot in the Arctic and in the cold room at General Motors R&D plant in Detroit, both at -40c.

 

We used heater blankets to wrap the gr=ear as much as possible, and special cold boxes for the batteries. No special attention was given to the mags or stock. I'd recommend using Cooke S4s as the focus mech is less likely to freeze. Forget zooms, ours froze solid.

 

I would advise getting fluid heads adapted also, again they can be modified by having the grease changes.

 

The hardest thing to keep going is you. -40c is bearable, until the SLIGHTEST breeze gets up, then suddenly it feels life threatening. You should have shelter withinn a few yards at all times.

 

I'm not sure I'd want to do it again. It can be very scarey because it can change so fast.

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The problem with condensation is linked to humidity. If it's dry cold, no problem. I guess the stock doesn't like much the changes of tempeature that occur to quickly either... But when audiris mentionned he would keep it "warm" as long as possible, I guess he didn't mean 96 ° F...

 

It's true that the film would brake if let in so cold temperatures !

 

I confirm what David says, it's mainly a problem with grease.

 

Take Lithium batteries. They hold low temperature much better, but they are one use only, you can't reload them. They're very expensive too.

 

When I'm aware of condensation I take an hair dryer that I use very gently and slow to rewarm lenses (always the problem of temperatutre shock) it fastens the time it would take for condensation to get off.

 

Then I keep the lens box open, lenses' s caps open so they get slowly to the room temperature and it gets off. (mind that a grip or loader stays nearby the box).

 

When I have no power supply, I use a gas thermic thing I don't know the name in english, it's designed for removing paint from wood d'you see what I mean ?

 

Or even a gas soldering pen that has a little accesorie that blows warm air (it's made in Ireland but I don't remember the trade mark, sorry, my box isn't here). It's got nearly the side of a maglite so you can always have it with you.

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