Red One in high altitude

[Arthur Liou]

Had anyone had experience shooting Red1 or other digital camera in high altitude? I'm taking one to Tibet this summer, and will operate between 14000 and 18000 ft. The temperature is not too low (30-60F), but I'm wondering how the machine would cope with the height.

 

[Anson Fogel]

Arthur -

Yes, without much trouble. The thinner air means we have had to turn the fan to high if its really warm and sitting in the sun, to keep it cool. But only in the rare case where its quite warm and sunny and you're above 10,000 feet. Other than that, it just hums along.

 

[Keith Putnam]

Be sure you're well stocked on IR filters and/or ND+IR combos. With the thinner atmosphere at altitude filtering out less IR you're going to find that even with the MX chip an IR cut is necessary even with low values of ND.

 

[Peter Degerfeldt]

Hello Arthur,

We recently shot on 7300 meter with another digital camera, ( Stereoscopic 3D aerials) no problem at all. I'll guess the RED have the same performance.
My experience with high altitude and cameras after climbing on Everest twice and some 4000 skydives, is that the cameraman is more likely to fail before the camera.

Pay respect to the altitude, walk slowly and drink a lot ( water, tea )

If you want more feedback please drop me an email.

blue skies, Peter

 

[Steve Gibby]

I shot me and Ketch's Epic M8 at 10,000' in the Rocky Mountains just a few weeks ago, with an ambient still air temperature of around +15F. I experienced no problems of any kind..

I've also shot my Red One cameras at altitudes as high as 12,500' in the Rockies, with temperature ranges from -5F to +65F ,again no problems of any kind.

 

[Arthur Liou]

Thanks, guys. This is very helpful information. I remember reading about issues with reduced battery capacity. Is it caused by temperature, altitude, or is it not that big of a deal?

 

[Steve Gibby]

There is a slight decrease in battery capacity in colder temperatures, but I don't believe altitude has much affect on battery capacity. In real cold weather, you'll find that wrapping the batteries in neoprene (or other simple insulating material) will insulate them and help keep their capacity a bit higher.

Last year a friend of mine made some prototype neoprene protective covers for the Red One camera body, named Camera Cozy. Those are excellent for cold weather work. I don't know if they're still making any of those. Something like that for Epic would also be good real for cold weather shooting. The Camera Cozy doesn't cover the battery, but I'm sure battery covers of neoprene would be pretty easy to make. I also remember hearing about someone making neoprene Red EVF covers too.

I've attached a few pics of the Camera Cozy in use on one of my Red One cameras at about 11,000' high in the Rocky Mountains.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I've shot with the RED One at about 14000ft several times. I've been at the summit of Pike's Peak here a couple times and it's 14,110ft at the marker. Never a hiccup from the RED One, even shooting to RED Drive.

 

[Phil Bates]

Shot the RED One at 14,000 ft from a helo. The gimbal was open to the atmosphere so the camera faced all the elements. No problems.

Phil

 

[Arthur Liou]

It's good to know many success stories. I can sleep better tonight. Thanks for the Camera Cozy pics, Steve. I'll definately check it out.