Shooting in the rainforest at DVinfo.net

Darren Teale · January 25th, 2009, 04:26 PM

My team and I have been asked to put a proposal together for shooting a doc in Papua new guinea in the rainforest.

I have two z1s but am unsure how they will stand up to the hot and damp climate, we will be there for two maybe three weeks.

Can anyone put me in touch with someone who has shot in similar conditions or have any advice.

Thanks in advance.

Darren

Alex Horvath · January 27th, 2009, 04:37 AM

Yeah, the Z1, the best investment I ever made, shooting in Siberia at -30degrees as well in Amazonia at +40degrees, never had one failure.
In the rainforrest there are two moments when you should keep an eye at your cameras, it´s when the sun goes down and early in the morning, then the air becomes pretty wet because of the difference of temperature.
When we slept over the night in the wilderness I just put my 2 Z1s in a light fabricbag and hang it on a tree to keep away the moisture and simultaneously have the same temperature as the air. The only moment where I had a problem with a damped lens was early in the morning when we made a fire and I was to close to it. (my fault)
Otherwise treat you cameras as every sensitive elektronic equipment like not to long in directly sun...and so on, than you are on the safe side with your Z1s...

good luck

Jeff Rhode · March 13th, 2009, 04:44 AM

Although I don't have any direct rain forest experience I would think that placing the camera in a ziplock with a couple of "moisture munchers" to absorb any moisture on the camera would help dry it out. They are little pouches containing Silica Gel , like the ones that come in the boxes with new camera gear. Much larger bags can be purchased for an assignment like this. I keep a couple in the cases that I store gear that I am not using.

Silica gel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A quick google search will give you many suppliers.

Jyrki Hokkanen · March 13th, 2009, 07:32 AM

I have done lots of rainforests, three to five weeks at a time. Sometimes had minor technical problems, never a total failure. Some general rules, tested by others and me:

Always keep camcorder overnight in watertight bag, with silica gel. One silica gel pouch lasts less than a week in rainforest conditions so bag enough those. In the morning, before taking the camcorder out, let it run for a while, to warm up - water condenses onto surfaces colder than the surrounding air (also inside the camcorder).

If moisture gets into them camcorders, the best way to dry them up would be to take them for a flight in an airplane, the air is extremely dry up there - I have tried this :-)

You should be fine for a few weeks - much longer times would allow mold grow inside the camcorder.

January 25th, 2009, 04:26 PM	#1
Darren Teale Tourist Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Stoke on Trent, UK Posts: 1	Shooting in the rainforest My team and I have been asked to put a proposal together for shooting a doc in Papua new guinea in the rainforest. I have two z1s but am unsure how they will stand up to the hot and damp climate, we will be there for two maybe three weeks. Can anyone put me in touch with someone who has shot in similar conditions or have any advice. Thanks in advance. Darren

January 27th, 2009, 04:37 AM	#2
Alex Horvath Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Innsbruck,Austria Posts: 45	Yeah, the Z1, the best investment I ever made, shooting in Siberia at -30degrees as well in Amazonia at +40degrees, never had one failure. In the rainforrest there are two moments when you should keep an eye at your cameras, it´s when the sun goes down and early in the morning, then the air becomes pretty wet because of the difference of temperature. When we slept over the night in the wilderness I just put my 2 Z1s in a light fabricbag and hang it on a tree to keep away the moisture and simultaneously have the same temperature as the air. The only moment where I had a problem with a damped lens was early in the morning when we made a fire and I was to close to it. (my fault) Otherwise treat you cameras as every sensitive elektronic equipment like not to long in directly sun...and so on, than you are on the safe side with your Z1s... good luck

March 13th, 2009, 04:44 AM	#3
Jeff Rhode Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NJ, USA Posts: 169	Although I don't have any direct rain forest experience I would think that placing the camera in a ziplock with a couple of "moisture munchers" to absorb any moisture on the camera would help dry it out. They are little pouches containing Silica Gel , like the ones that come in the boxes with new camera gear. Much larger bags can be purchased for an assignment like this. I keep a couple in the cases that I store gear that I am not using. Silica gel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A quick google search will give you many suppliers.

March 13th, 2009, 07:32 AM	#4
Jyrki Hokkanen Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 35	I have done lots of rainforests, three to five weeks at a time. Sometimes had minor technical problems, never a total failure. Some general rules, tested by others and me: Always keep camcorder overnight in watertight bag, with silica gel. One silica gel pouch lasts less than a week in rainforest conditions so bag enough those. In the morning, before taking the camcorder out, let it run for a while, to warm up - water condenses onto surfaces colder than the surrounding air (also inside the camcorder). If moisture gets into them camcorders, the best way to dry them up would be to take them for a flight in an airplane, the air is extremely dry up there - I have tried this :-) You should be fine for a few weeks - much longer times would allow mold grow inside the camcorder.