Help, camera and tips for a ski season

Associate
Joined
22 Nov 2004
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Im off skiing for 6 months and am after a camera that will last with the conditions, Got upto £150 if its even neccessary to go that high as im not into this photography stuff.

I am very good at looking after things well so im not gonna go dropping it fully into the snow or leaving it somewhere stupid, have heard a tip of putting the camera into a sealed bag to get the condensation to stick to the bag not the camera when going inside after being out in the cold all day.

Large buttons (ski gloves) and a quick reaction time after pressing the button is a massive plus.

Also would prefer one without normal batteries and am planning on just wacking the pictures onto my laptop.

many thanks and had a look at some pictures on some other posts and was very impressed, thought they was stolen from one of them websites which sold nice desktop pictures and what not but more and more amazing pictures followed throughout the thread.
 
Caporegime
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Taken from another thread on here (you may have read it but just incase).

MrSix said:
A Few Tips:
1) There seems to be too many gray skies during the winter. Use a graduated filter to color the sky while leaving the foreground natural.
2) When photographing wildlife in snow, the best way to reduce contrast is to use a fill flash.
3) Get prepared the night before and have everything at your fingertips. You become slower in cold weather and it is much harder to do the simplest movement with layers of clothing and gloves.
4) The sunlight during the early morning and late afternoon offers unique photography opportunities due to the reflections and colors. Get an early start and you will be rewarded.
5) Look for the contrasting lines and objects that appear when the snow does not completely cover the landscape. Place yourself in multiple positions to find the most dynamic photograph. Don't forget to add some color to the photograph as it will create a dramatic effect with the white snow.
6) Night photography can be accomplished from the light of the moon. The landscape lights up under the light of the moon and the reflection of the snow.
7) To reduce some sky in the photograph, position yourself at a higher location and look down.
8) Look for the birds. If it is snowing, use a slow shutter speed for the snow to add an interesting effect. Keep in mind, though, that it is a hard combination of wildlife and a slow shutter speed.

How To:
The snow reflection goes from forty to fifty percent with dirty snow, up to eighty to ninety percent with fresh fallen snow and even higher reflection with wet, fresh fallen snow.
1) If the freshly fallen snow is pure white, meter the pure white area only with spot-metering. There will not be any detail in the snow. Open up 2 stops.
2) If the snow is side lit and you see a lot of detail in the snow, then the snow is not pure white. Pure white has no detail. Textured snow is 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 stops lighter. If you open up to 2 stops, your photograph will be too light.
3) If the day is sunny and the snow is in shadows, it can vary up to 1 stop.
4) If the day is overcast, meter the snow and open up 2 1/2 stops.

Some of it is probably no use to you and other bits may not be too depending on whether the camera you get has any manual features but it's a good start.

As for condensation forget about plastic bags, what you want to do is make sure the camera can warm up (and cool down) slowly when taken into a different environment. The best way to do this is to just leave the camera in your bag for an hour or two after you get back in (or alternatively in it's case if it is quite thick), that way it will warm up slowly as the bag does and no condensation will form.

You also need to think about the battery life, modern cameras are usually fine down to quite a bit below freezing, batteries are not. So best bet is to keep the camera warm(ish), so don't leave it out all the time or put it in a front pocket (your bag is the best bet, if you have one, not the front pocket because stuff gets surprisingly cold in them).

Unfortunately I can't help you with what camera as I don't really know much about the current P&S range.

Are you doing a season then? Whereabouts? :)
 
Last edited:
Soldato
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You also need to think about the battery life, modern cameras are usually fine down to quite a bit below freezing, batteries are not. So best bet is to keep the camera warm(ish), so don't leave it out all the time or put it in a front pocket (your bag is the best bet, if you have one, not the front pocket because stuff gets surprisingly cold in them).


Best bet is to take two batteries. Keep one in an inside pocket and one in the camera, and keep swapping them; the one in the camera should last long enough for the one in your pocket to warm back up. Rinse, repeat.
 
Associate
OP
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ah yes the battery tips, keep one close to your body for warmth, thats cool will put it in an inner layer pocket.

that stuff makes little sense to me but it has made me interested to learn more than the basic basics as i want some nice photos.

obviously a compact camera will be needed but for my budget i cant imagine anything else.

thanks for advice so far.
 
Caporegime
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I don't know what compacts have manual settings but if you did want to go a bit larger the Fuji S6500 Bridge camera could be a good bet, only a few pounds above your £150 budget but a lot more advanced than most compacts.
 
Associate
OP
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nah i think its gotta be a compact otherwise its gonna get in the way too much or wont even be able to fit it in any pockets or will take harder knocks at angles compared to a flat compact.

thanks tho
 
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