I'm back from shooting a behind-the-scenes doc on the making of a feature
film in extreme conditions in the Canadian North.
We ranged between 58 and 68 North latitude. Here's a summary of my
experiences:
1. The weather turned out far worse than I expected. On the first day of
the shoot, we had a blizzard. The following day dropped to -45 with the wind
chill (-30 base temperature).
2. The only protection I could provide for this camera was to wrap it in
a Kata rain cover to protect against wind, then fill it with Hot Shots (chemical
heating pads). This worked great for the most part -- until I discovered
that all five Hot Shots FROZE on the -45 day. So I realized that the camera
was operating with no protection against the cold -- AND IT WORKED PERFECTLY.
On the other hand, the tripod I had froze up and became virtually useless.
Also, my eye actually froze to the chamois eyepiece I had attached to the
viewfinder.*
3. All the footage turned out great -- particularly the footage of a period
Inuit village complete with igloos. The 24P was marvellous. I left it on
all default settings, as I was satisfied with the look this provided.
4. Design flaws certainly presented themselves as I was working in these
harsh (and granted, unusual) conditions. Reaching in under the frozen rain
cover for the zoom and focus control was difficult, so I left it wide. But
any time I did need to reach in, I would invariably hit the audio level inputs,
and accidentally change them. Wish they could be locked.
Also, I found that the viewfinder kept falling to the flat position (from
its 45 degree angle). This was very annoying -- I wish there was a way of locking
this as well.
5. Aside from these concerns, the experience was incredible. The camera appeared
INDESTRUCTIBLE, and the footage turned out great. It was particularly nice
to aim the camera on a professional, fully lit set, and see how good the
24P looked.
In my opinion, this camera is perfect for documentaries to be shot in Arctic
conditions, sparing the expense and difficulty of shooting 16mm.
I used the 24P Standard mode, with 'Thick.' As the final market will be TV broadcast
(along with the film's DVD), I felt this was sufficient. (Of course, I will
go through a proper post -- online, color correction, etc.)
Prior to returning home from set (involving an hour's ride in "Tundra Buggies"
and buses), I would leave the camera in a heavy duty airtight plastic bag,
with a container of dessicant (water absorber) inside, then wrap that tightly
inside two garbage bags. This allowed for the warming up of the camera to
occur over a couple of hours. This avoided condensation upon returning the
camera to room temperature.
I did mess this up on the first day, and suffered condensation. But I let
the camera sit and dry for a while, and it operated perfectly, with no error
message.
Out in the cold, I also accidentally stepped inside the warmer interior of
a Tundra Buggy. = Instant fog on the lens.
Like an idiot, I jumped quickly back outside -- and of course, instant freezing
of the fog. However, I simply took off the protective UV filter, gently removed
the ice crystals, and everything was fine.
Lesson learned: once it's cold, let it stay cold; once it's warm, let it
stay warm.