From: bugbear on
Floyd L. Davidson wrote:
> bugbear <bugbear(a)trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote:
>> Michael Black wrote:
>>
>>> What about the mechanical parts? If they are lubricated, the lubrication
>>> may freeze, and the camera won't work.
>> One of the possible "preps" for super cold is to remove
>> all lubricant, for exactly that reason.
>
> That was indeed the way it was done... *decades* ago, but
> not today. We have synthetic oils that are still functional
> at -60F.
>
>> Some mechanisms don't work at their BEST with no lubricant,
>> but they work BETTER than they would glued together with frozen lubricant!
>
> That hasn't really been a problem for maybe 3 decades now.
>

I guess my reference material is old :-)

BugBear
From: Wolfgang Weisselberg on
Michael Black <et472(a)ncf.ca> wrote:

> Don't forget the time Shackleton's Endurance got trapped in the ice. They
> used photographic plates,

Among other things like film.

> and somehow managed to keep all or most of them
> throughout the ordeal,

They *smashed* all but the best 100 or so plates on abandoning
the sinking Endurance (fetching the plates out of a meter of
seawater first).

> The photos are actually
> terribly interesting in themselves, but it's amazing they bothered
> to keep them along under such circumstances.

The photogapher was a dedicated professional and photos mean
income.

-Wolfgang