Cold Weather Shooting

[Rae]

It is really cold here; 0 with a wind chill of -12. My question is are there any precautions for shooting in cold weather. I have not due to the fear of harming my camera or lens. Am I being over-protective? Are there procedures for moving the camera from warm to cold and vice-versa?

TIA for your much appreciated help.

[jiminyClickit]

Rae,

Central New York is 4 degrees, feels like -8. But the moon was going away after 8 AM, so I set what I needed on camera, camera on tripod, out the door for about 10 minutes of clicking, putting lamb's wool jacket over camera while moving place to place. No problems, no cranky zoom, no condensation. Adventure out, I'd say!

[Nicole]

It is really cold here; 0 with a wind chill of -12. My question is are there any precautions for shooting in cold weather. I have not due to the fear of harming my camera or lens. Am I being over-protective? Are there procedures for moving the camera from warm to cold and vice-versa?


There are two main things to consider when you're shooting outside in really cold temperatures. The first, is decreased battery life. The second, is condensation when you move between two temperature extremes.

When you're outside shooting in really cold weather, a good option is to keep your camera wrapped in a scarf, or put it between layers in your jacket. The reason I say layers is because if you put it right next to your body, you know how moist things get in a warm jacket, and that would create more condensation which could freeze on the camera. It also serves the dual purpose of keeping your battery warm, which keeps it going. It's very possible that the camera will become sluggish, but that's ok. Electronics can do some strange stuff in the cold. It should be ok when the camera warms up again.

Now, the part that it sounds like you're really worried about is moving the camera between extreme temperatures. The best way to do this is to acclimatize your camera by letting it slowly reach the temperature rather than just doing it suddenly. A bit hard to do that if you're just heading outside, but keeping it in your jacket or otherwise wrapped up helps there. When you're taking your camera back inside though is where there's a high risk of condensation. The best tips I've found for this came from the d50 group on Flickr. Their suggestion is to put the camera in a large ziplock bag with a few of those packets of silica (you know, the things you get in your shoes, etc) and don't use the camera until it's fully warmed up. The ziplock collects the condensation instead of the camera, the silica absorbs any extra moisture in the bag, and not using the camera ensures that you don't get water into the electronics and fry it ;)

This info came from a whole bunch of threads on Flickr:
Cold Weather, Snow, and a D50 (http://flickr.com/groups/nikond50/discuss/72157594408755739/?search=cold+weather)
Condensation and Night Shooting (http://www.flickr.com/groups/11947580@N00/discuss/137966/)
My 350D in the cold weather all day long? (http://www.flickr.com/groups/97497703@N00/discuss/137209/)

Now that you've got the info, have fun shooting! :)

[googlit]

Definitely agree with everything above.

A couple things I'd recommend:
- warm gloves that allow enough dexterity to change controls, etc.
- get those chemical hand-warmers to put in your bag with the camera when you're not using it to keep the battery warm
- try to keep snow off the camera!

I tried taking shots while we were dog-sledding, and the camera got covered in snow, which then started to melt... I haven't noticed any adverse effects yet, but water is horrible for electronics!

one thing I ran into while taking shots in northern Norway is that my auto-focus would freeze up. That can get interesting. So keep an eye on whether or not your shots are still in focus.

[Rae]

Great tips everyone! Just the advise I was seeking. However, believe I will wait until it warms up a bit 'cause I can't handle it when it's this cold.

[Saralonde]

My tip for shooting in cold weather? Experiment with a lightbox indoors!:)

[mdwsta4]

My tip for shooting in cold weather? Experiment with a lightbox indoors!:)

LOL! huge second! my car read -11 over the weekend and i have yet to see anything above zero for almost a week (that's not even with the windchill!). as pretty as some things are looking right now, it is just too cold. i've been doing more lightbox and other indoor pictures as well.

with that said, when i do go out in the cold, i use the ziplock technique as Nicole mentioned. i also have an enclosed porch where i put my camera for about 10 minutes before/after i go out so it adjusts to a different temperature. haven't had a problem with condensation yet.

[omega]

A nice cold water bottle next to your camera on a hot day is a real problem.