Cold weather vs. camera

dreamcometrue

Hey everybody. I would like to take some photos outside, in the cold. I am kinda nervous to take my baby ( my olympus 510) outside though. I have read about how you have to let the camera get used to the cold before turning it on, but I am still unsure. Any tips? I am in MN, so it has been between 0 degrees and 15. Thanks in advance for the help.:scratch

pathfinder

Read your manual on allowed temperatures.

Most modern digital cameras survive just fine in the cold. Batteries die much quicker, so keep them warm or carry a spare or even two if you are shooting long exposures. The longer the shutter is open the heavier the drain on the battery.

Be aware that after the camera has been cold soaked out of doors, you must be very careful when bringing it back indoors, as moisture will condense on it in places you do not want moisture. Many folks put their camera bag inside a plastic garbage bag or dry bag to prevent the moisture from condensing on the camera while it is returning to room temperature. At the very least, leave it inside your camera bag until filly thawed.

If you just bring your camera indoors it will fog up inside and out just like a pair of glasses after skiing all afternoon and returning to the lodge. Fog inside your lens surfaces and inside the light box on your mirror and sensor are very bad things for cameras.

So get that camera out on the slopes and take some pictures...

dreamcometrue

Thanks for the help. Will I beter go shoot away:D

davev

Hi Amber.

I live in Minnesota also, probably the same city, looking at your site.

I've been in this discussion a few times, and although bagging your camera in the cold may help, I've never done it, and I've never had a problem because of it.

I will add that most of the time when I go out shooting, I'm normally in the vehicle for a have an hour, so maybe it warms up enough in the back seat before I bring it into the house.

There is a Minnesota photographers site that you can check out. It's http://www.cameratalk.org
Some good people there, every now and then there's a meet up. If you haven't been there, maybe take a look.

I have the same name there as I have here.

Later.

Scott_Quier

I've done this only a couple of times on a vacation trip to Alaska in December. I went shooting in the morning just after sunrise (9:45AM) and was out in the 5F to 10F weather for more than 4 hours. Didn't have any problems. Upon returning to the house, I had all my gear in a camera bag and let it "defrost" for a couple of hours before opening it up. No problems.

jfriend

dreamcometrue wrote:

Hey everybody. I would like to take some photos outside, in the cold. I am kinda nervous to take my baby ( my olympus 510) outside though. I have read about how you have to let the camera get used to the cold before turning it on, but I am still unsure. Any tips? I am in MN, so it has been between 0 degrees and 15. Thanks in advance for the help.

When shooting outside in the cold, what do you all do for your hands? I live in California, which is nothing for cold compared to Minnesota, but I was out shooting birds at dawn this morning and it was 34 degrees and I had a heck of a time with my hands. I brought some glove liners (thin, but at least some protection) hoping I could shoot with them on, but I had to take them off my trigger hand in order to deftly operate the shutter and AF-ON button while tracking birds in flight. I could try real gloves on my left hand, but I still need to be able to operate the zoom.

So, what is the best idea for keeping your fingers warm on your shooting hand, yet still maintaining fine dexterity for shutter and AF-ON button? I only have to deal with temps around freezing, not as bad as it can get elsewhere. And, I'm looking for something that would work for 2+ hours as that's how long I'm out when I go to shoot birds at sunrise.

Here's one from this morning's shoot:

NateW

jfriend wrote:

... So, what is the best idea for keeping your fingers warm on your shooting hand, yet still maintaining fine dexterity for shutter and AF-ON button? ...

Well, I'm not sure what other photographers are using, but when I used to regularly shoot small bore target rifles at sub-freezing temps in Michigan, I found the finger tip gloves worked great. (For that type of activity, you mainly need the pointer finger free, but you need more sensitivity, if anything.)

Gloves I had were nothing special (neoprene, leading to sweat problems), but I'm sure there are better ones available.

davev

I wear regular winter gloves and leave the AF with the shutter button.

pathfinder

Me too. Or use a cable release in my pocket if I am shooting from a tripod.

BeachBill

I stumbled upon this thread after returning from my weekend trip to Bryce Canyon where it was rather COLD. On Sunday morning at sunrise it was -4 with a nice strong breeze (wind chill of a billion minus zero, or at least it felt like it). The other days were warmer with temps between 10 and 32 while I was shooting. I had about a 15 minute drive back to the hotel room during which the camera sat on the back seat (on the -4 morning I did stop at the visitor center for about 20 minutes as well). No plastic or camera bags protecting it. After the drive, the camera went straight to the WARM hotel room to charge the battery and dump the pix. I didn't notice any moisture on the lens at anytime.

As for gloves, I always wear Lowepro photographers gloves whether at the beach shooting tall ships in the wind or in the below zero temps of Bryce in the winter and everywhere in between. You do not need to take these gloves off to access any controls on the camera (shooting with a 30D and now a 5D).

jfriend

BeachBill wrote:

I stumbled upon this thread after returning from my weekend trip to Bryce Canyon where it was rather COLD. On Sunday morning at sunrise it was -4 with a nice strong breeze (wind chill of a billion minus zero, or at least it felt like it). The other days were warmer with temps between 10 and 32 while I was shooting. I had about a 15 minute drive back to the hotel room during which the camera sat on the back seat (on the -4 morning I did stop at the visitor center for about 20 minutes as well). No plastic or camera bags protecting it. After the drive, the camera went straight to the WARM hotel room to charge the battery and dump the pix. I didn't notice any moisture on the lens at anytime.

As for gloves, I always wear Lowepro photographers gloves whether at the beach shooting tall ships in the wind or in the below zero temps of Bryce in the winter and everywhere in between. You do not need to take these gloves off to access any controls on the camera (shooting with a 30D and now a 5D).

Do those photographer's gloves have fingertips in them? Are you able to feel the shutter through the gloves OK?

BeachBill

jfriend wrote:

Do those photographer's gloves have fingertips in them? Are you able to feel the shutter through the gloves OK?

Yes, they do have fingertips and I am able to access all buttons on my camera. For example, I've changed ISO and other settings while wearing them without accidentally pressing other buttons.

I purchased mine at Calumet Santa Ana so I could try them out with my camera and find the correct size for my hands. (I think I have large.)

They are real easy to find online, just type "Lowepro photographer gloves" into your favorite search engine.

Here is the Lowepro product page...
http://products.lowepro.com/product/Photo-Gloves,1990.htm

Art Scott

as for gloves I wear neoprene gloves....I try to buy 1 size smaller than I should wear for tightest fit......this keeps my hands warm....as for the camera I have never had a prob dloing as Scott suggested...just leaving the camera in its camera bag for a couple of hours to warm to house temp...as for batteries....I have found taht even new batts die quickly in the cold...so I stock up on hot hands hand warmers......I buy the 99cent 2 pack from Gander MTN or Wally world....each one is good for 10 hours and I just put one in my field jacket pocket with 3 or 4 extra batts and I am ready for a day of shooting or a day of looking for something to shoot.....the handwarmers do not get real hot but will sustain the battery charge.....I have also rubber banded one to my camera near the batt holder to keep shooting longer and not changing batts so often..............

dreamcometrue

davev wrote:

Hi Amber.

I live in Minnesota also, probably the same city, looking at your site.

I've been in this discussion a few times, and although bagging your camera in the cold may help, I've never done it, and I've never had a problem because of it.

I will add that most of the time when I go out shooting, I'm normally in the vehicle for a have an hour, so maybe it warms up enough in the back seat before I bring it into the house.

There is a Minnesota photographers site that you can check out. It's http://www.cameratalk.org
Some good people there, every now and then there's a meet up. If you haven't been there, maybe take a look.

I have the same name there as I have here.

Later.

Thanks Dave!! It is nice to see there are some experienced dgrinners near me....I'm still wet behind the ears in the photoworld:D I'll check out the site along with yours
Amber

dreamcometrue

Art Scott wrote:

as for gloves I wear neoprene gloves....I try to buy 1 size smaller than I should wear for tightest fit......this keeps my hands warm....as for the camera I have never had a prob dloing as Scott suggested...just leaving the camera in its camera bag for a couple of hours to warm to house temp...as for batteries....I have found taht even new batts die quickly in the cold...so I stock up on hot hands hand warmers......I buy the 99cent 2 pack from Gander MTN or Wally world....each one is good for 10 hours and I just put one in my field jacket pocket with 3 or 4 extra batts and I am ready for a day of shooting or a day of looking for something to shoot.....the handwarmers do not get real hot but will sustain the battery charge.....I have also rubber banded one to my camera near the batt holder to keep shooting longer and not changing batts so often..............

Nice suggestion with keeping the batteries warm. Thanks for all the help.

Robinivich

I've gone around playing with astrophotography and landscapes in the canadian winter, even been on a snowshoe trip with my canon dslrs, and all the advice mentioned here is solid. I haven't found the condensation here (BC interior) to be much of an issue, even down to -20 and -30 C, but then it's a dry climate. Try not to breathe on your optics and it shouldn't be an issue.

Cold batteries you can avoid by having two, one in your pocket (has to be a pocket your body's keeping warm though ), and one in your camera, and swapping when you see the low battery indicator. In this instance the battery indicator is just showing the voltage drop due to the cold, not actually a drained battery, so when warmed up, it'll usually be good to go again.

The only other issue I've ever found is that once in a while the aperture blades on my sigma 70-300 got sticky. They'd stop down just fine, but wouldn't open back up without me changing aperture setting in camera and hitting the DOF preview button a few times. I noticed this when the autofocus couldn't lock on and the viewfinder stayed dark (blades were stuck at f8-11). This could be a one off thing with this lens .

redleash

What about lighting in snow?
I'm very glad to see this thread, as I was going to start one myself. I'm headed to Maine to visit in Feb and would like to shoot some snow pictures. All the advice on gear and gloves has been great, but does anyone have tips on when and how to shoot snow scenes? I know the snow can sometimes cause problems with exposure, I guess because of reflections off the snow? I'd appreciate any tips or lessons learned on winter shooting!

Thanks,
Lauren

pathfinder

Lauren,

For correct exposure in the snow, start here - http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=30235&highlight=color+snow

Tiziano

Another Minnesotan here.
The coldest I've shot in is -13F, although during the morning on the day before yesterday my car read -23F. I was so tempted just for the bragging rights.

Anyway, the only troubles I've had so far is my fingers getting cold enough that I have difficulty getting the lens cap back on. My cam, etc work fine.

redleash

Thanks, Pathfinder! I figured there's be a thread someplace on snow shots!

theinlawjosie

jfriend wrote:

Do those photographer's gloves have fingertips in them? Are you able to feel the shutter through the gloves OK?

I ran across these in the latest issue of pop photo, they are pretty expensive but I thought it was a neat idea!

http://cozycamerabag.com/

Art Scott

Was out all day in the nice spring, with snow, day we were having...it was a warm 11*F..........neoprene gloves on and Heat FActory glove warmers inside my battery pocket on the bag I was using and all batts stayed nice and toasty.....no low batts today.......tomorrows forcast....a high of 38....gonna sweat all day tomorrow.........oh my batts have a hard time in my house also.....I haven't used a furnace (or heater) in 15 yrs and no colds or flu's either (germs can't live in the cold)..................:D

Patti

I emptied a DriAid jar of silica pellets into an air tight container. I pop my camera into the container and close it whenever it's gotten wet or cold. You can get DriAid jars from any hearing aid dispenser. They're used for storing hearing aids at night to prevent condensation on the chip and other components inside.

Ann McRae

Patti wrote:

I emptied a DriAid jar of silica pellets into an air tight container. I pop my camera into the container and close it whenever it's gotten wet or cold. You can get DriAid jars from any hearing aid dispenser. They're used for storing hearing aids at night to prevent condensation on the chip and other components inside.

Any of the little bags of silica that get shipped with things like shoes (or, remarkably, in the camera bag I bought) are good for this. Just put these into your kit bag.

Our climate is very dry, so I don't worry lots about condensation. keep batteries warm - inside pockets. Keep fingers warm - gloves with something warmer over top. I have yet to find a perfect photography glove, tho glove liners are pretty good. Latest pair I bought are silk ski glove liners (silk is an amazing lightweight insulator), but haven't tried them yet.

And btw, I know cold:

ann

leadZERO

Yet another Minnesotan here...

I don't bother with the plastic bag. Like others I just leave the camera in the camera bag for an hour or two to let it warm up. And even then I won't take the lens off until it gets to room temp. Never had any problems with stuck shutters or apertures. Batteries die pretty fast. The only problem I have is frost from breathing on the back of the camera. I've learned to hold my breath, but every once in awhile I'll forget. Not a big deal, just point it toward the sun and it will sublimate off in a few seconds.

I'm impressed people can use gloves. Frankly, anything below 0F and it's mittens for me with glove liners. It makes manipulating buttons difficult, but doable. I generally remove the lens cap at the car when I have the mittens off and then leave it off until I get back.

pathfinder

I am going to be using all I have learned here in a few weeks in Yellowstone National Park.

I did buy the Lowepro gloves for me and Nightingale, we'll see how they perform.

David_S85

Ann, interesting that -40ºC converts to -40ºF.

When I know I'll be returning a cold camera and lens back home, I'll leave a spare (empty) camera bag on the back porch. When I return, the gear goes into the bag, I zip it closed and take it all inside and don't open it for several hours.

I also keep several ziploc bags in my main camera bag, so if I need to bring the camera temporarily inside somewhere warm (a shop, museum, bathroom) while shooting outside I can quickly stow it so it doesn't rapidly condense up.

Additionally, when I return, I've learned to remove the CF card outside first and stick it in my pocket so I don't have to wait several hours to view the pics while the camera is recovering.

firedancing4life

sweet. I was hoping to find this info....off to Yosemite tomorrow.

Hopefully we get a bit of snow! brrrr! tent cabins are going to own me for sure. But I think we've got enough booze to keep us warm!

Robinivich

firedancing4life wrote:

sweet. I was hoping to find this info....off to Yosemite tomorrow.

Hopefully we get a bit of snow! brrrr! tent cabins are going to own me for sure. But I think we've got enough booze to keep us warm!

I've got two words for you: Wood Stove

--take it from a canuck

Nickerjo

Same with heat.

dreamcometrue wrote:

Hey everybody. I would like to take some photos outside, in the cold. I am kinda nervous to take my baby ( my olympus 510) outside though. I have read about how you have to let the camera get used to the cold before turning it on, but I am still unsure. Any tips? I am in MN, so it has been between 0 degrees and 15. Thanks in advance for the help.

I have the same problem but in reverse - Summers in South Carolina get quite hot - so going from an air conditioned enviornment (72) to 98-100+ causes condensation.

I have a large Zero aluminum suitcase that holds most of my gear. (not flaunting expensive toys here - I found it on Ebay for $80.00). At a local department store I found an indoor outdoor weather station on sale for $10.00. It has a sending unit (to go outdoors) and a receiving/display unit
that is supposed to be placed in the house. I cut a slot in the foam in my case to fit the sender and attached the receiver/display to the outside with velcro.

On days I plan to shoot, I place the case on the porch in the morning - The display unit then shows the Actual temperature as well as the temperature inside the case - when they get close I know it is safe to open the case.

jn

BeachBill

Was walking down an aisle in Wal-Mart today and noticed they have gloves similar to the Lowepro photo gloves with the little grip dots. Best of all they are priced at under $2 a pair.

They also had fingerless gloves (fingertips cut off) for under $5 a pair.

I didn't buy either so I can't say if they would keep your hands warm in the cold. Since they are so cheap I just might buy a pair in the near future just to have as backup.