Digital Cameras at High Elevation?

[blue_morph]

What experiences have y'all had with digital cameras at and above 19,000 ft? I have a little Canon EOS digital and it has the rechargeable lithium batteries.

[Squid]

I brought a digital camera along on a trip to Mt. Analog, and it became a metaphor.

[letsroll]

you tooooo funny.

[Squid]

OK, real answer: On a trip to high elevation/ freaking cold weather, 3 of my companions used digital cameras, none of them experienced any hassle. Those who used lithium experienced much better battery life than those who used regular batteries.

 

I brought a 35mm film camera. Not only was it significantly heavier and bulkier, but the sad irony was that when I went to rewind/unload the film, I discovered that the film itself had frozen and shattered into a thousand pieces inside the camera.

 

I would definitely recommend digital over film for climbing/mountaineering. Search in this forum for the many threads that evaluate the various digital cameras.

 

Best of luck.

[skymeat]

My digital dosen't work when it get's a bit below zero, with NiMh, the lithiums work a little colder than that. I've never had film crack, must have been bitterly cold, but I always wear it inside my jacket.

[blue_morph]

Thanks for the answers. Yeah, I realize there are a bunch of digital camera threads but I specifically wanted to know how they handle cold and specifically 19,000ft + elevation.

[rbw1966]

I have a canon G2 thats been above 19K and worked fine with the factory rechargeable battery. I noticed no difference between performance at altitude or sea level.

[dbconlin]

Yeah, they may not work below 0, but if you keep it close to your body and only bring it out when you shoot, it should stay warm enough. As far as altitude is concerned, I can't see why that would be a problem at all.