Cold Weather Operation -> 32 degrees and below

[DonSchap]

Lately I have been offered two or three cold weather (sub-freezing) venues to photograph various items (dog sled races, snowmachine races, ice-boating etc.) ...

43867
(courtesy of Wikipedia)

and have usually found that left out in the cold, long enough, the DSLR and lenses begin to malfunction or fails to operate entirely. There is a range of operation that just flat-out forbids "cold weather" use.

I was wondering if there was anyone, this year, using their DSLR in these god-forsaken weather conditions (sub-freezing temperatures) and having any success with prolonged "exposure" (pardon the pun). Where are you keeping your big rig to allow it to stay warm and toasty?

Are there "camera warmers" out there? I was thinking of throwing a couple electric socks in the Sling Bag and keeping the chill out, that way.

[raven15]

Testing weather-proofness of my E-410 (http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42604)

I have used my E-410 in very cold conditions several times this year, I have had spray freeze on my polarizer etc. I'm not concerned about anything over 20 F, that's "normal conditions." 10-20 F is probably OK, just keep your batteries in an inside jacket pocket. There is a downward slide in my confidence below 10 F, but that could be lack of experience in those conditions, I haven't been out for more than an hour or so with a camera. Below zero I might be taking actions to ensure my camera stayed warm (can't speculate what, I've never tried).

Wear nice gloves, your hands will stop working long before your camera. I now have thin gloves that will keep my hands warm for around 15 minutes, inside warmer gloves that I use when not shooting.

Also, my experience during day-long ski trips through Yellowstone in winter indicates a DSLR in a cold backpack should be working after 6-7 hours, even if the water bottle next to it freezes solid. That was a Canon Xt (not mine).

[raven15]

Course, if that doesn't work you could follow this guys lead and switch to the "little dark side." Don't worry, all your Minolta lenses will still work and have IS with an adapter, you'd just have to manually focus :D.

http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/g/wk-spitsbergen.html

[Rooz]

i've never been in below zero temperatures in my life thank God.

[DonSchap]

Well, there are various electric socks and electric gloves, providing 12-hours of warmth, which can offset some of the raw weather experience. 12-hours, in the cold, is a long time, no matter who you are ... Photographer or some other hobbiest. The human body can undergo a lot, but the question that always seems to haunt me is ... WHY? Unless you really enjoy personal abuse, ducking the exposure to the more extreme elements, as best you can, seems to just be, dare I say it ... prudent.

I guess what surprises me is that after all this time ... no one has really developed a "sure-fire", cost-effective method of cold weather operation for general use cameras. When I think about it, half of this winter has already been spent under the freezing mark, here in Chicago. That's a lot of lost imaging, in my estimation, because the camera just cannot take it ... and condensate on equipment elements is usually troublesome and hazardous.

Admittedly, freezing your tookus off is not my idea of fun (I've done the hypothermic-thing and it's really not quite the blast they make of it)... and interesting winter images are far fewer and more difficult to be found. No matter what it is that I have read, the bottom line in almost every suggestion ... #1 -> keep WARM!

So, maybe we need a "warm-up suit" for the camera and lens.

[raven15]

I believe my point was, I don't think you need special equipment in those conditions. At least that has not been my experience. It's possible I operate in lower-humidity conditions than you though.

[Prospero]

I have used my camera during my wintersport vacation last month. I have used my camera at temperatures of up to -12 degrees Celcius (10 F) without any problems.

I stored my camera in a regular bagpack, without any equipment to keep it warm. Even at the end of the day, my camera worked fine.
The battery didn't give any problems. I expected this would give more trouble as I had used my point and shoot at low temperatures, and the batteries would always run out very quickly. It seems the Lithium Ion batteries can stand low temperatures a lot better than the NiMH batteries my point and shoot used.

The only thing I noticed that the focussing didn't go as smooth as I was used to. There was a strange noise coming from the lens during parts of the focussing. The problem seemed to be limited to the noise, though, as it still found focus quickly.

When I was back in the warm appartment, condensation formed on the surfaces of the camera. It might be better to pack your camera in a closed plastic bag before going back inside to avoid damage caused by condensation. I don't know how big the risk really is, and it didn't cause damage on my camera, but it may be better not to take the risk.

Anyway, I think when shooting in cold temperatures, it's of more concern to keep your hands warm than to keep the camera warm. An advantage of shooting with a dSLR though, is that you can opperate the basic controls your gloves still on.

With my point and shoot I shot at even lower temperatures, once at -22 degrees celcius (-7,6 F). Here I had more problems. I had to warm the batteries and memory card before I could take a shot. I guess there was some frozen condens on my memory card that caused it to malfunction. Warming it with my breath and after that rubbing it with a piece of cloth seemed to solve the problem.

[Visual Reality]

i've never been in below zero temperatures in my life thank God.
I just did a paper route this morning.

It was -3F, "feels like" -13F.

Properly geared, it isn't that bad.

As for shooting in the cold...

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_nikon_d300_antartica.php

[BBPhoto]

Don,

I live in Montreal and shoot nature a lot. When I took the dog out this AM it was -23 Celsius or -9.4 Fahrenheit. Needless to say I see a lot of cold and so does my camera. Besides batteries I have never had a failure due to the cold. I was actually out steelhead fishing in NY last week in bitter cold and I had my camera in use for about 10 hours without any problems. The only thing that I am very cautious about is warming the camera very gradually to avoid condensation. I can't help but wonder if these mini failures you speak of are the result of repeated exposure to condensation. Are you taking precautions when moving the camera form one environment to the other?

[DonSchap]

All I am trying to ask about is whether or not anyone has prepared for the cold weather with some type of technological edge. Sure, keeping your camera's batteries warm, with "body-heat" is a pretty good idea, but I am talking about being out there, in the cold, away from shelter, allowing the camera to "stand alone" ... sitting off to the side and then using it, after an hour or two of being "untouched."

I fully appreciate condensate issues. My glasses usually are the first casualty of the cold, when I waltz back into the house from outdoor activity. The colder it is ... the longer I have to wait from them to adequately "defrost" to wear.

Just as obvious is the fact that if you do not uniformly heat your camera, during operation, parts of it actually can change dimensions, as some parts expand or contract with the temperature (some more than others), which may directly account for the increased lens noise during rotation and operation.

So, bearing this in mind, could a lightweight & heated neoprene-style "warm-up" suit solve these issues? Has anyone ever tried "sheltering" ol' Betsy from the storm? I mean, if it doesn't work, fine. I know the control operation would probably be the the real genie in the bottle ...

[kgosden]

How about starting with a relatively cheap bag designed to hold a DSLR with an attached lens (like the Tamrac Aero Zoom 30). Cut a hole in the bottom so the lens can stick out. Then drop some of those chemical hand warmers under the body and lens. Pop open the top flap to use the controls. Or if you want leave it closed sitting on a stump and use your remote trigger.

[BBPhoto]

Aaahh. I see what you mean a little more Don. Yes, I have rigged up a storm cover jacket with a few hand warmers inside. This had the dual effect of sheltering the camera in a pocket of warmth as well as keeping my hands from freezing and snapping off as well. I can't really say what effect if any this had on the camera but it is a good way to have your hands free of any bulk so that you can operate the camera easily.

[Csae]

From what i've experienced, the contrary would be true Don.

Instead of keeping heaters in my DSLR bag, i put those little packets to remove humidity and moisture. Heating the camera and then using it in the cold would cause condensation.

I usually let my Bag reach ambient temps before pulling out the camera to shoot, the most i've done was maybe -20C, -25C with windshield, the camera had reached something close to that way before being used though.

If i have to warm up my hands, i will not warm up the camera at the same time, i will try to keep the batteries warm and thats about it.

Most problems i've experienced with shooting in the cold have been because of condensation, even stuff like f/stops not being displayed properly or the viewfinder info not updating fast enough were all mostly because of condensation, after an hour in the field those problems dissapeared with the moisture that caused them.

I imagine the biggest danger would be to actually Cause condensation in your camera and then have THAT freeze.

That would worry me.

[Turo]

I took my D50 on a skii trip to upstate New York. Temperature ranged between 12 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and the camera worked perfectly the entire time.

[TenD]

I have worked in Deadhorse, AK in the spring(average daily temperature was between -40 and -20 and I have taken my camera with me, and my camera worked without flaw there. The LCD would grow a bit sluggish sometimes. The key was I kept it next to me and took it out only for short periods to shoot with. Humidity wasn't much of a problem, it's horribly dry there, only induced moisture from my emanations.