Antarctica Trip

Just looking for some advice and suggestions for a visit to the Antarctic region in their summer season. How to lower the risk of condensation etc. Keeping batteries warm and basically any thoughts would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Keep a spare battery or two in a pocket to keep them warm.
You probably won't have a problem with condensation. I never did on my winter Arctic trips, but if you do put the camera in a ziplock bag and remove as much air as you can before you take it back inot the warm. Add either a towel or those little packs of dessicant you get with various things.

Lucky you going to the Antarctic. I look forward to the photos!

wow, nice one! I''ve only been to the Arctic, which has civilisation reasonably close to hand.

i did attend a talk by Nico Wills about his ant/arctic trips and i remember him aying he would wrap everything in plastic bags to stop them getting too soggy and try to store them away from too much heat/cold - so not near the fire/heating.

he also mentioned a battery device that was located on his body, the wires ran down his arms to a connector at the glove and then a lead into the camera. he said that was the best device as the batteries just died in the real cold, but being near his body, the power packs were fine. it also meant that the camera was stored without power, so not so prone to issues with heat and cold changes.

i seem to recall he had backup storage for the images at the 'base camp' and would copy everything as soon as he could each day, even uploading them to a laptop, so that any subsequent failure souldn't be too damaging.

personally, i'd also advise taking a film camera as the light in the polar regions is incredible and both my trips to the Arctic have seen the film shots capture it better than digital (medium format film was very good). alas, changing film in extreme conditions can be rather tricky.

good luck

In low temps., battery life will be MUCH shorter, so as Gwyn suggests - carry spare batteries with you and keep them in an inside pocket. I always carry two spares in very cold conditions. Also, take your camera outside to acclimatise a little before starting to shoot, i.e. don't keep it tucked up in a nice insulated case until you reach the Penguins (please substitute any other appropriate subject), but take it out in advance to let it cool down.

I have shot with both my K-r and K-5iis in well below -10oC with no problems (down to -20oC with the K-r).

Phil

Got to confess here that I`m gathering info for Daughter. I`m afraid it`s not me going, so, doing the dutiful parent bit I`m getting as much info as I can to support her visit. Dealing with a phone call from East Anglia is one thing but from The deep South is another.

In that case recommend she takes her Pa with her as resident expert .

Utterly baffling first post ^

The link doesn't lead to anywhere remotely relevant so I'm very confused!

I have no idea how experienced your daughter is so this might be teaching grandma to suck eggs (if it is, ignore this), but I would make sure she knows how to read a histogram and use exposure compensation. All that snow will make exposure a little tricky.

When I went somewhere snowy, my favourite photos were taken using Portra 160 in a 1950s medium format folding camera. Go figure.

Only you could make a statement like this, Kris!

I can't post the photos, but this is one of them: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/288579/41246680/in/album/874242

If you have a camera that accepts a battery grip (such as a K-3 or K-5), then it might be worth getting one of the cheap knock-off grips (or a used genuine one) and modifying it to add wiring that runs to a battery pack that you can keep warm, similar to the idea mentioned in a post above. I don't think I'd want to do that to a genuine new one but wouldn't mind modifying a cheaper one.

I would certainly take a medium format film camera too, probably one that didn't need batteries at all, though I have the accessory for the original 645 that allows an external battery pack to be kept warm.