We’ll, after more than a year of abuse we finally found a Canon A620 weakness. It was cold the other day in the backcountry, and my new Black Diamond Covert pack didn’t have external camera storage so I stuck the A620 in the vest pocket of my soft shell. It appears freezing water vapor condensation from my torso kept the lens cover from opening all the way. I could make it open by gently pushing with a finger, but kept forgetting. And since the viewfinder doesn’t look through the lens nothing reminded me that the shot would be wrecked (I wasn’t using the LCD to check the shots, though I could have). I wish the built-in lens cover things were removable and you could just use a simple lens cap. Perhaps a camera technician could remove them… At any rate, we missed some good shots — lesson learned.
Note: this camera doesn’t have any unusual problem with moisture. We left an A620 (not this one) buried in the snow on a mountainside for six months and w’ere still using it. Key with all cameras is storage away from water vapor.
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| Shot ruined by Canon A620 malfunction. Focus and exposure were off as well, presumably because of the blocked lens. With any camera in the winter backcountry it’s good to use some sort of storage that keeps it away from body moisture. For small point-and-shoots I simply mount a tiny camera case somewhere on the pack shoulder straps or waist belt. Gotta get that done on the new pack. So much snow — so little time… |
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
