k10d in snow

[jadoo.dost]

Can I take my k 10d out in snow? there is tons of snow out there but i am scared for now. plz help. also the manual says min temp is 0C and right now it is -8 here. what do you suggest?

[Pentaxian]

I think it would be fine. It's sealed up pretty tight. I'd recommend bringing it outside in a plastic bag at first (condensation will form on the bag not the camera as the temp adjusts). Then when you bring it back inside leave it in an unheated room for a half hour or so before bringing it into the full heat of the house. That way it can more slowly adjust to the temperature change and you'll get less condensation.

If you do get some condensation take out the battery and memory card and let the camera dry out all the way.

[mattdm]

Watch out for your non weather-sealed lenses, though.

The trick I've heard with the plastic bag is to put the camera in the bag when coming back inside, since as glasses-wearers know, that's when condensation appears. Going from warm to cold shouldn't be a problem.

The cold temperature will kill your battery life (temporarily), but I don't think will be a problem in itself. The 0C rating has got to have some safety margin built in. I don't think I'd stay out in that for hours, but I think that's true even without a camera along. :)

[GEli]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I've shot with mine in -30°C for extended periods with no trouble, aside from terrible battery life. As long as you're extra careful about banging your camera around (plastic gets brittle when very cold), you should be fine. Carry extra batteries in your pockets, and continually swap out the warm one for the cold one. Really, though, at 0°C you won't notice that much of a difference in battery life.

When you come inside - the plastic bag is an excellent idea. I use one with silica gel packets inside as well to suck up any extra moisture that might escape into the bag. Be sure to yank your memory cards before sealing the camera up, unless you feel like waiting hours to be able to review your photos. Supposedly with DA lenses the weather sealing is good enough to make the bagging an unnecessary step, but I'd rather not be the one to prove that untrue.

[samr]

I was out yesterday with my K10 in -25 C shooting mountains, lakes and lots of snow. I was dressed for the weather and remained outside for a couple of hours straight. The fresh snow was about knee to hip deep, and with a tripod plus a shoulder bag of accessories, my K10 took quite a beating hanging around my neck, shoulder, or attached to the tripod. Once back indoors, I left the camera (and myself) to defrost for a couple hours before removing the memory card. All photos turned out well, the cold had no effect on exposure, colour or quality (I use RAW+JPG files). I used to wear a big bulky jacket and keep my camera warmed up inside the jacket between shots. Lately I seem to have filled up the extra space, so the camera is out in the cold. So far so good.
Have fun and enjoy ....
SamR

[mrodgers]

So then, it's ok to go out in semi-extreme temperatures with your camera, but how long is too long? I am asking because I wanted to grab a shot this morning, then take the camera to work with me. It's not a dSLR, but I would rather just lock it up in the car than to take it into work. It was -5 F this morning, which would be fine going out to take a shot, but what about leaving it in the car for an 8-9 hour day just sitting when it's 10 F out all day?

It's only another piece of electronics. Car stereos are pieces of electronics too, and they sit in the car 24/7 in all temperatures. I imagine it would be ok. Oh, and my car sound systems probably cost twice to 5 times what most folks dSLRs cost, so a "camera is a precision instrument compared to a car stereo" comment wouldn't work. So, is it ok for a camera to sit in a car at very cold temps all day? Would there be a problem turning it on and using it after sitting that long at these kind of temps?

[GEli]

I would be tentative to leave my camera out in the cold for that long. Your comparison between it and your car stereo is not a valid point. Your car stereo , regardless of how big and expensive it is, would be designed to handle extreme temperatures, as they're designed to sit in cars that go through wild heat fluctuations on an hourly basis. Allowances would have been made in the design for thermal compression and expansion, and even if they had not, most car audio systems are almost completely solid state anyways(unless you've got a tube amp in your car - you brave, rich man:p).

Your camera, on the other hand, specifies a suggested operating temperature of 0-~40°C in the manual. This seems to suggest that the allowances discussed above have not been built into the camera. It is a very precise instrument with lots of moving parts and lots of metal rods, plates and sprockets inside it. They would not take well to any sort of thermal compression. And even if such allowances had been made, I would still not want to put the camera into such wild temperature fluctuations too often. Every time any component of the camera freezes and then warms up, it grows weaker. The body itself is very rugged, but the internals not quite so much - and your camera is going to get very cold sitting in your car for 8 hours in sub zero temperatures, followed by very warm when it gets home and crawls into bed with you.

Not to mention theft. I'm afraid of my camera leaving my sight when I go to the washroom. I'd have to take up smoking as an excuse to check my car every 30 minutes if I left my camera in there!

[mrodgers]

Thank you for the details, GEli. I didn't think of moving parts and such as I have no idea what is inside a camera. Note, I don't have a dSLR. Going by your signature, my camera is probably 0.28% of the cost of yours (exageration of course). :D Though, the worth of mine to me is probably comparable to the worth of yours to you, hehe.

followed by very warm when it gets home and crawls into bed with you.
:eek:Seems we have a difference of opinions when it comes to sharing a bed! :eek:

:D

[GEli]

Oops! I read your previous post, but for some reason I had it stuck in my head that you had a K10D (a DSLR). If it's only a P+S, there's much less to worry about and I would go ahead and leave it in the car if it makes things more convenient. There are far fewer moving parts in a P+S, and while it won't be great for the camera body I doubt it'll do any major harm. Just be extra wary of whacking the thin plastic body when it's well chilled - the splinters might get in your eyes.

My mistake!

Oh, and while my K10D doesn't technically sleep with me, it is usually mounted on a tripod a few feet from my bed and draped with a blanket to prevent thieves from seeing it.