Borneo, equipment advise please

I

Ian Skelton

Suspended / Banned
Messages
4
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi, my friend will be going on a 3 week climbing expedition to Borneo. The atmosphere will be hot and humid. Two big questions here.
1. Should she take her Canon compact digital camera c/w spare batteries and CF cards or her trusty old film SLR which has never let her down? She can't take both as weight is a big factor.
2. How do you look after a camera in such an environment?

Wish it was me who was going!

Cheers ian
 
is her Canon waterproofed? if not I'd leave it behind.
 
Thanks Michael, I wonder how long it would take to saturate the silica gel?
 
Ian Skelton said:
So.. how do you waterproof a digital compact camera?
Click to expand...

Check manufacturers website, under accessories for your model to see if they make a waterproof housing or look on ebay to see if some available there.
 
Borneo, sounds good! Would that be the Indonesian or Malaysian part you're visiting?

Although it's not quite the same, when I went to Indonesia I found it best to take my 35mm Olympus camera. It's less power hungry and can operate without a battery if needed. Less chance of humidity/water damage also. I would recommend taking a water proof bag or capsule, the ones used on canoes & kayaks.

Whatever you choose just remember to take a lot of batteries, film/memory cards. Once away from any city some places will sell 35mm film but they have not been refridgerated and can be short dated. Prepare to haggle for film. Buying memory cards could be difficult also.

Hope some of that helps
 
Olympus make a really good compact that I think would suit that environment. I can't remember the numbers but the name ends in SW. You can drop it, throw it in puddles etc and it just keeps going.

If the camera (whichever she takes) is kept in a ziplock bag, don't forget to let it acclimatise before using it.
 
So.. I guess, a waterproof(ed) camera is the consensus. Lots of spares and acclimatize the camera.
I'll pass it on. Thank you all very much. What a helpful bunch!
 
I have an Oly Mju 770 SW and can vouch for the fact that it's waterproof down to at least 15 feet, so a bit of humidity won't hurt it too much! HOWEVER, battery life isn't all that long and you need to open a door to change batteries - which could let the damp in. Image quality isn't up to SLR standards (obviously!) but it's not too bad for what it is.

Saw the Gadget Show testing it several months after I bought mine and even after being buried in a volcano, played with in a geothermal pool (Mmmmm... Suzi Perri in a bikini...) and being dragged around a rocky beach at 15MPH behind a 4x4, it still worked, so it's pretty rugged!

Spare batteries aren't heavy or large and the xD cards are among the smallest (physically) available - both can (or could) be got from 7dayshop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top