Should I  carry DSLR to chadar trek?

Once I decided to do the chadar trek, after collecting all the things to carry I was wondering whether to carry my DSLR to chadar trek. Would the extreme cold have any impact on DSLR ?  Even if I do carry it how should I take proper care of DSLR.

After giving it a thought I decided to carry the DSLR as I knew this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I didn’t want to miss on those wonderful natural frames.

Battery Care

As you may have already read in my main chadar trek blog , before I took a photograph I followed a process, “Took out the batteries wrapped in the woollen socks kept inside my fleece, took a photograph, removed the batteries & packed it back again deep within the layers.”

At extreme cold at about -20 degrees and below, the battery life deteriorates drastically quick. In normal conditions if your battery can support 100 pics, during the chadar trek you can only get 30 pics by the same battery. Hence it is paramount to take proper care of batteries. Carry extra batteries ( I carried three) as there are no charging points for the entire trek unless you take some efforts to reach Lingshed village. Always keep the batteries wrapped in a woollen cloth ( i used a sock) and kept it deep within my inner layer to keep it warm- all the time. Only take it out when you have to take a pic & immediately keep it back once the picture is taken.

Some more battery saving tips:

• To reduce battery usage set the LCD display setting to least brightness.
• Switch off the flash
• Always use the viewfinder whenever possible to reduce battery consumption instead of Live View mode using the display screen.
• In case you have P&S use the zoom only when necessary
• Whatever pics you click don’t browse through them again & again to reduce battery consumption. Leave alone these memories to be enjoyed later from the comforts of your hotel

You can carry power bank to charge USB enabled cameras like most P&S. I am still in search for such portable chargers for DSLR. If you find one for DSLR do carry it & do let me know 🙂

Lens Care

I carried only one stock lens 18-55mm for the trek and it served me good. So reduce the weight of carrying multiple lens and just stick with your favourite lens. Morever opening the DSLR to change lens can expose the sensor to super cold conditions which wont do any good to your camera.

Since you are at 11,000 ft make sure your lens has proper UV filter attached to prevent any damage. This is the same reason you are to compulsorily have an anti-glare, UV protected shades for your eyes.

Should i carry tripod?

Tripod for night photography may not be the most useful decision. High exposure photographs do discharge your camera batteries extremely quick ( as happened with me- my batteries were completely discharged on the fourth day. But then it was a calculated risk as I was to reach Lingshed on fourth day where electricity was available. Not every one attempts this place). Morever the night photography results are same as you may get on other simpler treks. So I would suggest not to carry this dead weight tripods. (One of my friends did carry a tripod which i used to get some pics. Check it here ). You can carry a light weight gorillapod ( like this or this cheaper one) to reduce the weight of tripod

Bro Tips ( Extended)

• Chadar formed on the river keeps on changing every moment. So what you see on the forward journey will be completely changed when you return. That means you need to have enough battery life for the entire journey
• Inner woollen gloves & external water proof gloves are much required for handling the DSLR. Remove the external gloves to be able to access the tiny camera buttons quickly through the thin inner gloves
• If you like something just click it don’t wait for anything else. Dont set up a time /condition when you will take pics. Keep your camera ready. Whenever you feel like the moment is right just put your batteries & shoot away.
• In hindsight my pics of empty chadar appear lifeless, so make sure you have some human element in to add some reference & purpose.
• Also the magical water of zanskar will shine differently with different angles of sunlight. Capture that along with the different freezing styles of water.

Click here for my chadar trek blog, you might get some reference for chadar photography

 

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