Use of camera in extreme cold

[Delia]

Please help. I have a Canon 1000D and am off to Lapland 300km's north of the Artic circle. Will I be able to take the camera with me and use it? Some people have said that the lense will crack. Any suggestions?

[Sterling]

No, your lens won't crack. With cold weather your two main enemies are much reduced battery life and condensation that can form when you bring a cold camera inside where it is warm and relatively humid. For the first one, carrying extra batteries is the cure. For the second, some people advocate sealing the camera in a zip lock plastic bag before coming in and then opening it once it has warmed to room temperature. When I've been out in the cold I just leave my camera in the bag for a few hours before taking it out. My bag seems to insulate pretty well and lets the camera warm up slowly. I also leave a silica gel pack in the bag to hopefully absorb and moisture in there.

[BCampbell]

Apparently the average tempreture in Lapland in Jan/Feb is -13.5C (that's about 7F for us here in the U.S).

That's just an average, and that's pretty cold. You can probably expect temperatures close to -20C and wind chills even lower than that.

This is a pretty extreme environment for entry-level consumer cameras. Canon doesn't recommend you use it below 0C. I think we all know that it's okay to use a camera in freezing conditions for a short period of time, but it sounds like you'll be doing extensive work.

Really, I would probably not do this unless I had a way to constsnetly keep the camera warm... maybe fashioning some kind of pocket that I could slip those chemical heat packs into, to keep the camera in between shots. You will probably have to deal with condensation though. I don't know.

There is a reason manufacturers sell weatherproof gear, and why it's expensive.

Anyway, if you want to brave it, the advice above is good general cold shooting advice. Take at least one spare battery and keep extras in a pocket or somewhere close to you to keep them warm. You'll also get some reduced performace from your LCD while it's cold, so it'll be less useful. You might want to look around for good glove solutions, the kind that transform from gloves to mittens are excellent.

Good luck!

[TerryMC]

None of my p&s and DSLR + lenses crack below -30C yet.

The lubrication in the camera will get a bit stiff to, so you might have some parts seize. But they should free back up when it gets warm again.

LCD screens also tend to not function quite as well, but they won't freeze/crack.

I'll find out more this weekend...shooting a wedding and the bride wants outdoor photos...it's 10 degrees out!

[sk66]

AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS!!!

Brrrr.
The camera will probably be fine though.