Gaping Hill – In a Hole with the Sony RX1

Gaping Gill | Sony RX1 | www.richardjwalls.com

Gaping Gill | Sony RX1 | http://www.richardjwalls.com

With a trip to the Lofoten penciled in for this winter, I’ve been reluctantly (but increasingly) tempted by the “see in the dark” Sony A7s. The problem is that a new purchase would mean the sale of my beloved Sony RX1.

Before I could bring myself to draft the eBay listing I needed to test the RX1’s low light capability one more time, and where better than 330 feet down a hole in Yorkshire.

Once a year the Bradford Potholing Club (http://www.bpc-cave.org.uk/gaping_gill.htm) set up camp for the week and winch slightly mad people down Gaping Gill, a very large hole on the flank of Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales. With the RX1 stuffed safely in the pocket of my down coat (try doing this with an SLR!) I climbed into the cage, was bolted in, and headed in the general direction of down.

Gaping Gill | Sony RX1 | http://www.richardjwalls.com

The decent is mainly lit by natural light from the top of the shaft. The cavern itself is lit by two yellow sodium lamps (UK street lights); not much lighting for a hole the size of York Minster!

Gaping Gill | Sony RX1 | http://www.richardjwalls.com

As we waited our turn to decend into darkness we climbed Little Ingleborough. The shots below showing the camp (right foreground) and (left, distance) Pen-y-gent, were taken using panoramic and manual mode respectively.