Winter is coming. How is cold weather shooting different?

[TheKingInYellow]

I've recently joined the 'DSLR comes with me everywhere' club, so I have to start thinking ahead to winter and it's potential effects on my gear.

I have a good all weather backpack (Lowepro Primus AW) so I'm not too worried about snow, but when the camera comes out, will shooting at -30 celsius affect it? When it comes back inside, do I need to worry about condensation?

This is all new to me, so I need all the advice I can get!

[navcom]

Yes and no. Cold itself will not affect your camera itself too much. It will affect your batteries, which will lose some of their effectiveness when really cold, which means you will be changing them more often. I've heard on some cameras it will temporarily affect the LCD display when it's cold...but I've never experienced that so I can't vouch for it being a problem.

As for condensation...yes, you have to watch out for it. Just remember to let your gear acclimate to the warm indoors when coming in from the cold outdoors. Let your gear warm up before taking off lenses or removing memory cards. One time isn't going to hurt anything but exposing the inside of your camera to continuous cycles of humidity probably isn't good on it. Most cameras are designed to handle some condensation on the outside.

I've been shooting in Minnesota/Canada climate for years and have never had any ill effects to my gear.

[dcclark]

Navcom gave a good answer -- with good technical details.

Now, here is my own personal experience. I shoot a Nikon D40 with a variety of lenses, in northern Michigan. It gets fairly cold (usually 10 - 30 F range), but we get a LOT of snow.

I have done all sorts of ridiculous stuff. I've face-planted (on snowshoes) when the camera was on my chest, with no lens cap. No troubles that a microfiber cloth couldn't take care of.

I've gone in and out of heated buildings repeatedly -- no trouble with condensation as long as you keep the lens on and don't try to swap lenses until it's acclimatized.

You do get condensation on the outside of the lens, but that goes away quickly.

Battery life can decrease, but warming up a cold battery by keeping it near your body will get a LOT more life out of it.

So overall -- it's not as tough as you may have heard. Be a bit smart, but things aren't nearly as bad as all that.

[ressalg]

Besides what the other two posts mentioned, there is one positive side to using a DSLR in colder weather. It usually means less noise as the sensor doesn't heat up as much. Just my two cents worth.

[TheKingInYellow]

Okay, good to hear. I'm just worried about hot and cold cycles leading to condensation inside the lens, and then fungus/mold growth.

Basically it sounds like the same rules as a laptop: battery life will decrease, your LCD will slow and ghost a bit, and let it warm up before opening or turning it on. I can manage that at least

[OsmosisStudios]

I took pictures during a dog-sled ride last winter: it was -45C and the camera was a champ. My biggest problem was gloves: shooting with gloves on is a pain, but its not possible to shoot too long without them.

Get yourself some good warm but THIN gloves and put them inside a larger pair of gloves while your about, then pull just the first pair off to shoot.

navcom mentionned LCDs: From leaving my phone in the car a few times last winter (brutal -30C cold), the liquid in the LCD gets thicker. This makes transitions slower, but once it warms up again its fine. This was also when the phone was in those temperatures for 6+ hours, so I dont know how long it would take to set in.

[navcom]

Originally Posted by TheKingInYellow

Okay, good to hear. I'm just worried about hot and cold cycles leading to condensation inside the lens, and then fungus/mold growth.

No worries. As long as the lens stays on, condensation will only occur on the outer surfaces of the camera. It's only when you take off that lens (or remove the memory card) before it acclimates that you will get condensation on the inside.

...for the most part. Of course, if you have a camera that is not designed properly (poor tolerancing), it might be possible for condensation to get inside with the lens attached. I can't think of a camera that this would be the case though. My Pentax DSLR's are water proof. The newer lenses have o-rings that make a water-proof seal and all the body joints in the camera (where two pieces come together) are backed by a sealing layer. I've dropped it in the water (submerged) and in the mud and never had a problem. Can't imagine that a little condensation on the outside is going to do much else to it.

[OsmosisStudios]

If youre afraid of getting moisture in the lens, place it and the body (separate) in the oven with some of those silica gel packets that come in everything for several hours/a day. Just dont use the oven.

[TheKingInYellow]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

If youre afraid of getting moisture in the lens, place it and the body (separate) in the oven with some of those silica gel packets that come in everything for several hours/a day. Just dont use the oven.

The new Canon Rebel XtraCrispy!

[Jamfke]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

I took pictures during a dog-sled ride last winter: it was -45C and the camera was a champ. My biggest problem was gloves: shooting with gloves on is a pain, but its not possible to shoot too long without them.

Get yourself some good warm but THIN gloves and put them inside a larger pair of gloves while your about, then pull just the first pair off to shoot.

...

You could also invest in a pair of shooter's mittens. They're essentially fingerless gloves with a flip-top mitten to keep your fingers warm when not "shooting."

Image is a link to a surplus site:


For some reason, the link takes you to the next set of gloves they have for sale. Just click the "Previous Product" link to get to the ones displayed here.