I've been using Olympus equipment since switching to digital capture 6 years ago. The remote mountain and high altitude environments in which many of my pictures are taken, place great demands on a camera system. The combination of the peerless ergonomics, weather sealing and unfailing reliability of the Olympus E1, and the weather proof Zuiko professional lenses, has proved to be a superb mountain camera system - easy to use and capable of capturing the highest quality images. The Olympus Supersonic Wave Filter means that in all the time that I have used Olympus digital SLRs in the mountains, including changing lenses in and around helicopters, I have never been troubled by dust on the sensor.

I've recently acquired both an E3 and E420. The E3 maintains the build quality and weather proofing of the E1, with the very useful additions of Live View and image stabilisation. The tiny E420 offers the prospect of unprecedented mobility with a digital SLR. I am excited at the prospect of using both of these cameras on forthcoming trips to the mountains of Britain, France, Morocco and Nepal in the months ahead.”

In addition to photography, Nick works as a Specialist in Intensive Care Medicine and has spent over a decade researching the effects of the lack of oxygen at high altitude on the human body. This work has taken him to the mountains of Nepal, Central Asia, North America and the European Alps. In recent years he has become increasingly involved with the International Porter Protection Group (IPPG), which works to improve the well being of mountain porters throughout the world and particularly in Nepal. Nick is undertaking a major project to photograph the lives of the mountain porters of Nepal and to highlight the appalling conditions under which these proud but vulnerable people struggle to earn a living. 

Visit Nick Mason's online gallery: www.summitphotographs.com