Shooting In Cold Weather (-17ish Celcius)

CyberSteak

Well this weekend my children finally get their last Christmas gift. We're going dogsledding for the day. Should be a GREAT experience and something we're going to want to take pictures of to remember the day.

We could be out as long as 6 hours or so. Just wanted to check in to see if anyone has had experience shooting pictures in this kinda weather (hopefully it won't be snowing...but it might). And to see if anyone had any tips or things I should be aware of while doing so.

Thanks in advance!

ziggy53

Cold weather can be tough on cameras for a number of reasons.

Any battery system will have reduced output and capacity in cold weather. A good strategy is to keep a spare battery, or two, inside a warmer environment (like inside your coat) until ready to use.

Be sure to enclose the camera and lenses inside either a camera bag or plastic bag when going from cold to warm, especially if the warm environment has some humidity, like most houses. If you ever had your glasses fog over coming in from the cold, you know the mechanism. If the condensation gets inside a camera body or internal to a lens, it can be difficult to remove.

If condensation should occur, treat it before going into the cold again. Generally using a very moderate heat and moving air should do the trick, but avoid drastic temperature differences.

Cold temperatures make both plastic and metal more brittle, so be especially careful of knocks and drops when the camera and lens are cold. If the lens should bind for any reason, discontinue using in the cold immediately.

CyberSteak

Ziggy thanks for the reply. Kinda has me all paranoid about bringing my DSLR. Maybe I should just bring the P&S? Certainly lots to consider. The condensation hopefully will be minimal. I'll definately have my gear in the bag (lowpro flipside 300). And there'll likely only be 3 opportunities to use the camera (before, during a lunch campfire, and after) as get to drive one of the sleds . Guess I'll just have to be really careful because this definately isnt an easy photo op.

pathfinder

Once your camera is in the cold, not to worry really. The batteries need to be kept warmer, but otherwise the camera will be fine as long as it is not dropped, or does not get wet. When you bring it back inside, just keep it in your closed camera bag, until the temperature of the camera has warmed up enough that it will not get condensation.

I have shot for hours in single digit temps without any issues this way.

You can/will get condensation when it is in the mid 30s outside ( Fahrenheit ) and you go into a Butterfly pavillion where is it 85 degrees and very humid -- DAMHIK

I have had lenses so cold that when I brought them back into my parked truck, that the condensation on the front element of the lens froze into solid ice immediately. When it warmed up and dried off, all was well again. This is when it is nice to have sealed L glass rather than open lenses with condensation inside them, rather than just on the surface.

Be careful breathing on your lenses in the extreme cold, your breath can freeze on the front surface of the front element also - it won't evaporate off until it melts first. D not try to wipe it off when it is frozen either.

CyberSteak

Cool thanks for the additional advice. Now I'm just trying to figure out what kind of shots to take and with which lens and, and, and... My heads going to spin at the possibilities. Hopefully I can get some quality shots worth showing off.

CyberSteak

Ok so I'm thinking now. Should I be concerned with switching lenses in this kind of weather? Any risks in exposing the inside of the camera to -17 celcius?

Dogdots

I take my camera's and lenses out in the cold all the time. Been out when it's been below -30+. Never had a problem. What ziggy said was correct...bag your gear up. I use the large ziplocs. I bag my camera, lenses, etc. and then put them in my camera bag before I even get into the car to head home. My camera doesn't come out of the bags till the next day. *****Make sure you take your cards out tho so you can download and enjoy them while your camera is packed away for awhile

One important things...have a lint free towel (I use a bar towel) to wipe down your gear before bagging if you've gotten moisture on it like snow, etc. If my lenses were extended to take photos and it got wet I'll keep it extended in the bag. Maybe I go alittle overboard on this, but I've never had a problem doing what I do.

Have fun

Sam

Maybe this will help.

Sam

http://canonfieldreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/MG_0075c.jpg

DeeCajun

Sam wrote:

Maybe this will help.

Sam

http://canonfieldreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/MG_0075c.jpg

Ohhh my.

Dogdots

Sam wrote:

Maybe this will help.

Sam

http://canonfieldreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/MG_0075c.jpg

Glad that hasn't happend to me yet.

CyberSteak

Sam wrote:

Maybe this will help.

Sam

http://canonfieldreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/MG_0075c.jpg

<----has neither an 7D or L lens. Something tells me the quality will be better then the equiptment I've got.

Sam

CyberSteak wrote:

<----has neither an 7D or L lens. Something tells me the quality will be better then the equiptment I've got.

While the 7D is obviously better sealed than the older 40D it does show that the equipment will take a little more than we may think. So if you follow the advice here you should be good.

You could also buy or make a rain coat for the camera and lens so if you did drop it in the snow or snow fell from a tree, etc it wouldn't hit the camera directly.

Sam