Shooting at high altitude

[toffer79]

Will hopefully be getting up to 21,000ft (brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!) with a 24-70L attached to a 5DMkII.

Anything I particularly need to consider?

Ta.

[Gary Brown]

There's an essay on this site titled Digital Mountain Climbing Photography that might be useful.

There have also been a few message threads on the topic; IIRC, the main controversy was hard disk drives, with some people saying they won't work and might be damaged if you try to use one at high altitudes and others saying they've had no such problems.

[toffer79]

Great! Thank you.

[BernardLanguillier]

I have only been to 19.000 feet or so, but the key advise will be about keeping yourself healthy enough to be in a position to think about taking pictures. Anyway, chances are you won't be feeling too great, so I would only use equipment that you really know full well, don't even consider taking a new camera with you unless you have had a lot of time to get totally familiar with it.  

Depending on how you travel and how steep the place will be, I would personally recommend carrying a tripod (you might have difficulties controlling your breathing meaning that camera shake is more of an issue), but be aware that weight is felt a lot more at high elevation.

Don't know how experienced you are going to such places, but the #1 think to remember is to drink at least 5 liters of clean water per day. That can be a lot of work in itelf.

The #2 thing is to enjoy the experience!  

Cheers,
Bernard

[Frodo]

Will hopefully be getting up to 21,000ft (brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!) with a 24-70L attached to a 5DMkII.

Do you really need such a large and heavy camera if you are carrying it all the way?  I'd take my G11 rather than by 5D/24-105, even if it meant a compromise in image quality.  Or better still one of the micro 4/3 cameras. If someone is carrying the rest of your gear, that's a different story.

[toffer79]

Bernard - thanks for the tips. Looking like it's going to be postponed for the next trip unfort.

Frodo - weight not a problem, just gotta man up  No point in upgrading if it's going to be left in the guesthouse.

[BJL]

I have found that cold weather severely reduce battery performance. So carry several spare batteries, have a place to keep those spare batteries warm (inside clothes against your body?) when not in the camera, and be prepared to swap batteries frequently (the recover when warmed up).