Landscape photographers put their gear through some very challenging environments, from rain to snow to freezing cold temperatures and more. Unique landscape conditions tend to happen in inclement weather, making challenging weather the time to be out. But just how tough is your camera?
For professional landscape photographer Nigel Danson, photographing in poor weather conditions is a regular occurrence. In this video, Danson shares a day out in windy, rainy, and freezing conditions, creating challenges all around, from concentration to camera gear functioning.
Danson uses his Nikon Z8 paired with the Nikon 24-120mm f/4 lens in this freezing rain, during which, at one point, his camera and lens are covered in ice, making even the manual focus ring difficult to use. The camera remained functional throughout the whole outing and had no lasting issues once he got back home.
During the course of this video, Danson shows just how challenging the conditions were, with the freezing rain, cold, and wind. He also talks about the importance of getting out in bad conditions as a landscape photographer and shares several tips for taking care of your camera when you face these types of challenges.
I enjoyed this video primarily because I saw that the cameras we use are really tough and built for harsh conditions. I often think people underestimate just how capable and resilient their camera gear is when used in bad weather conditions.
I remember a couple of times when my camera(s) really proved their mettle. I was doing an industrial job that required me to climb up a catwalk, it was straight up, but thankfully there was a metal cage around it. I had climbed up about 25 or so feet. My camera bag caught on the cage and dumped my Hasselblad 500Cm out and it fell onto the cement floor, that many feet below me. I climbed down, sick in my stomach over what I might find. It had landed on the 90 degree prism finder - which was destroyed, and it got waste binned on the spot. However, the rest of the camera worked fine, and I finished out the job with it. Another time I was walking down a very steep mountain with my Hasselblad ELm in hand. My footing gave way and I tumbled down 15 or 20 feet. The ELm came out of my hands landing on a rock on the base plate, which was bent pretty badly. However it still worked fine and I used it many more years with the bent up base plate. Eventually, I did have to get the 50mm Distagon lens repaired from the first incident, and replaced the ELm body from the second. The old mechanical Hasselblads are, without doubt, the best optical system ever and the most rugged.
Oh wow! Those are some tumbles!
I've been pretty lucky in that regard. I dropped a camera body once while doing a lens change (thought I had the neck strap on, nope, camera goes tumbling a bit - worked perfectly afterwards). Had a camera pop-off a tripod, the l-bracket took most of the impact, camera worked fine. And had a camera bag fall out of the car, but it did its job and helped protect the camera bodies and lenses inside.
Cameras are definitely pretty tough!
Cameras have always been tougher than we think. I once accidentally dropped a Canon FT-QL into the East China Sea. It was in there a good 2 or 3 seconds before i noticed it dragging in the water. I took it to a repairman, who claimed to dry it out and lube it, and it worked like a champ for an additional 20 years.
That's pretty good! I've managed to avoid any dunkings so far - but plenty of precipitation of various sorts!