D700 in very cold weather

<p>Dear all,</p>

<p>I am going to Yakutsk, in Siberia, for work. This morning, the temperature there was -44C. Naturally, I am very keen to take my D700 along.... but I'm slightly concerned. Do you think I might damage it in this sort of weather?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>I would certainly bring the camera with you on the trip. It may not be a good idea to take the D700 outside and use it when it snowing heavily; gernally speaking, it is bad to get electronics wet.</p>

<p>Additionally, you might want to bring 1 or 2 extra EN-EL3e batteries, perferably new ones, as batteries will not last as long under cold weather.</p>

<p>Be careful when you bring your camera indoors, as condensation may form on the camera during a cold-to-warm transition.</p>

<p>you may want to google up the luminous landscape's 2009 antarctic expedition, where none of the nikons (mostly D700s) failed. but this is a fairly common topic on this forum, and if you use the search function you'll find many anecdotes as well as a bunch of good tips for keeping your gear going in extreme conditions. with a bit of preparation and care on your part, there's no reason not to take your camera.</p>

<p>Well, that Luminous Landscape's 2009 Antarctic trip generated a lot of sensational discussion mainly because a bunch of Canon 5D Mark II failed while apparently none of the D700 did. A few months later, I met a person who was on that trip; according to him, those Canon users totally mis-treated their 5D II and that was the main reason for those failures.</p>

<p>I have been to the Antarcitc twice. It really is not that cold during those trips, perhaps merely around freezing. As long as you use some common sense, your equipment should be fine. Keep in mind that the D700 is merely weather sealed; it is by no means waterproof.</p>

<p>The OP will likely encounter much colder conditions @ -40 degrees.</p>

<p>Hi Artyom,<br>

My elder brother went there 2 ears ago, and I remember him reporting that most equpment fails over there. He was carying a simple electronic calculater with e lcd-display lik on the top of nikon camera's, and that display froze and has refused to operate after that since...<br>

Also all pens containing ink did not work there, so all writing is was done with pencil ...<br>

The only camera that did not stop working was my old FM2a that he took with him ..... ( and its still going strong... :-) ).<br>

So maybe consult Nikon themselves on beforehand to make sure ?</p>

<p>At -44°C there is no "wet". However, there will be beaucoup condensation bringing a camera that cold indoors. Be sure to bag the cold equipment before taking it inside.</p>

<p>Hi Artyom,<br>

I would not advice to take outside your D700 when are -44°C.... This is an insane temperature, both for people and for any DSLR. You may take your camera with you but use it only indoor unless the outside temperatures comes down to -20°C or less. Even at -20°C I do not advice to keep it outside unprotected for a long time. It would be great if you can use any armor, even a DIY kind of... Do not forget UV and ND filters... You will need there! Also don't change lenses at a very low temperature....<br>

Good luck!</p>

<p>I use my Nikons in cold weather all the time (approx. 6 months a year). The biggest problem is if you breathe anywhere near the lens, as you will get ice on the front element. I always try to direct my breath away from the camera, and hold it while taking a picture. When I come inside I remove the battery and don't reinsert it for several hours. Never had a problem. As Shun mentions your batteries are going to drain extremely fast. At -20C my EN-EL3e's only give me a quarter of what they usually do. At -40C you'll likely get even less, but then you're probably not going to to be out for very long at a time at that temperatiure anyway. I was out cross country skiing in -42C last winter and after an hour and a half I felt it was time to get somewhere warm, but YMMV. Anyway, I always keep my batteries in a pocket close to my skin to keep some charge in them while they are not in use.</p>

<p>Artyom - I was in Yellowstone last winter and the temps were between -20 deg and -40 deg (C/F) with a D300s, camping for 9 days. The build is about the same between the D300s & the D700. The first tough part is the battery. Keep your batteries in your jacket/pocket until you're ready to shoot. Otherwise @ -30deg, they'll die very quickly. If you keep the battery warm, you'll get plenty of shooting. I brought 8 batteries and used up 5. It took me 2 quick dead batteries to figure out what to do. I also did a lot of time-lapse which eats up batteries no matter what. <br>

When you go from the cold outside to a warm inside, put the camera in a ziplock and let it warm up. That way the condensation will happen on the bag and not your nice camera.<br>

Don't breath on your viewfinder, lens or LCD - even to blow it off. You'll get an instant glaze of frost that's very difficult to deal with. I used a 12-24, 24mm, 50mm & 18-105, as I recall. All performed flawlessly.<br>

Email me if you need more info.</p>

<p>If you have the vertical battery grip for the D700, the Nikon MB-D10, your battery concerns are minimal to non-existent. Instead of installing Nikon’s Lithium-Ion (EN-EL3e) battery in the grip, use the 8-AA battery holder (MS-D10) and install Energizer Lithium batteries (Lithium Iron Disulfide (Li/FeS2), non-rechargeable). They’ll be fine at -40. If you don’t have the MB-D10, plan on rotating batteries from your warm pocket to the camera.</p>

<p>The D700 is sufficiently sealed to keep snow/ice from penetrating as moisture won’t be in a liquid state. Changing lenses at low temps poses no risk. As an aside I’ll strongly suggest getting your glove system sorted-out in advance.</p>

<p>Hi guys<br>

Thank you all for advice, really helps a lot.<br>

The reason I was getting concerned is that the cameraman I'm going with (I'm a TV producer) is freaking out big time - saying he cannot guarantee his huge pro video camera will work, buying all sorts of specialist heated sleeves for it, etc., etc. So I thought - if a $15000 Betacam is in danger of packing up, shouldn't I be thinking twice?<br>

Anyway, thank you for your contributions. Hopefully I'll be able to share some pix when we come back.</p>

<p>I now have a D700, but I already brought my old D90 outsite 24h/24h for 3 days with temperatures between -20 and -35, with the wind blowing cold and hard. Now problem what-so-ever, I guess electronical equipment is not so sensitive to temperature changes. For example, my graphics processor unit on my computer can go up to 105-110 Celcius before failing.<br>

Try bringing two batteries and keeping one warm(in your coat) while the other is in the camera. And avoid humidity near the camera if you can find any.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

<p>A check with Nikon wouldn't hurt. In past years, cameras could be CLA serviced with low-temp lubes for cold environments (especially shutter and lens diaphragms). With today's synthetic lubes it might not be necessary, but it couldn't hurt to phone or email and ask the question. You can carry small chemical heater packs to keep the batteries warm in an outside coat pocket. Otherwise, I'd carry them in an inner pocket. Maybe something similar in the bag...just enough to keep LCD displays on the camera body from freezing.</p>

<p>Is that -44C with or without the windchill?</p>

<p>Having used a D40 (yes, you read that correctly) through two Canadian winters, where temperatures regularly hit -35 or colder, without a single failure, I can't imagine a weather-sealed D700 will have any problems in such conditions.</p>

<p>In those conditions, the camera body will quickly cool the ambient temperature. Snow will not condense on the body and can be easily wiped away.</p>

<p>All of the usual rules of using an SLR in cold weather apply:<br>

1. Hold your breath when shooting and changing lenses so that it doesn't exhale and condense on year gear.<br>

2. Seal your gear in a bag before going inside and leave it in the bag overnight before opening.<br>

3. Bring at least one spare battery and keep it warm when not in use (you will need to change them every few minutes)</p>

<p>In the days of yore Nikon used to have cold battery packs where there would be a cable that went from your camera battery compartment into your pocket where the battery would remain warm. I'm surprised that Nikon doesn't make it for the D700.</p>

<p>I live in mongolia where it also gets very cold. I think that you will find that the -44C you have been told about is the extreme and that normality is much warmer than that, especially at this time of year. The really cold time is first half of Jan. When people talk about Mongolia they always make it out to be much colder than it really is. Sure it can go below -50C, but actually during the daytime it doesn't go below -30 very often. -44C is seriously cold and I would be more worried about my skin freezing etc rather than my camera. When it is cold, i.e -30C or so, keep your camera inside your jacket or whatever and only take it out to take pics. At these temperatures you can't do anything else - your fingers will freeze up (it is almost impossible to operate it with gloves on). What I am saying really is that your camera will not experience extreme cold for long periods of time, so don't worry. This part of the world is also incredibly dry so have no fear about wet electronics. Your cameraman on the other hand does have a lot to be concerned about because his equipment will be exposed for long periods of time and any moving parts may seize. I have a D70 by the way, which has been exposed to all kinds of brutal conditions in mongolia for 6 years and never once failed. I am sure that yours is better sealed than mine. Have fun!</p>

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<p>“In the days of yore Nikon used to have cold battery packs…”<br>

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My gosh, I had forgotten about those old cold battery packs.<br>

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I cannot remember if they provided power for just the motor drive or if they also provided power for the light meter? Either way, they were very useful for the yesterday’s mechanical cameras and something similar would be very useful for today’s electronic cameras.<br>

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<p>Yakutsk - the coldest city on earth. Sounds challenging :-)<br>

LCDs get very slow to update even around -20. I'm not sure how cold you can go before they start to suffer damage. I'm sure though that Nikon's warranty doesn't cover damage at the extreme temperatures that the Siberian winter can result in :-)<br>

Note that when going below -40, some metals start to get brittle. This may or may not be a problem with the D700. It should be ok if there's no mechanical stress on the equipment, but I don't know how the circuit boards will fare if they actually reach those temperatures. Better not to stay out too long if the temps drop below -40...</p>

<p>Have you thought about bringing an all mechanical film backup? Just a thought.</p>

<p>Something else to try, is if you are using a gear back is keeping one of those hand warmer pouches in there by the spare battery(s). You might also be able to set one up next to the battery compartment on the camera itself. I have heard other people reccomend this, never tried it. I haven't shot below -10F to my knowledge. But at that temp, I didn't even notice battery issues with a D200 (same battery). I did have a Sigma stop functioning, but that is another matter entirely.</p>

<p>And at that temp, I did not have condensation issues going back indoors. Came right inside an offloaded the cards from the shoot right onto the computer.</p>

<p>Thanks for all your replies guys!<br>

I e-mailed Nikon last night, and here is what they sent me:</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Thank you for your email.<br /><br />Regrettably, our cameras are not tested and therefore not guaranteed to work properly in sub-zero temperatures. On the other hand, we have heard numerous reports about our cameras being successfully used in arctic conditions. <br /><br />The biggest threat to any electronic equipment in very low temperatures seems to be water vapour condensation and the shortened battery life. To prevent the first, I would recommend to store the camera in a sealed container (ie. zip-lock bag or plastic food box) with some silica-gel packets when not in use. Also, it is recommended to protect the camera from the air exchange during temperature changes - by locking in the container - during first 15-20 minutes of an outdoor trip and the same time when you return indoors. It is also important not to keep your equipment under clothing when walking in the cold due to different temperature and humidity. <br /><br />Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent shorter battery life caused by the low temperature. The best solution would be to carry a spare one at all times, kept in a warm place - i.e the inner jacket pocket (there is no problem with condensation, as all batteries are sealed), and replace when needed. Please note that "frozen" lithium battery will return to normal charge level when warmed up.<br /><br />Unfortunately we are not able to predict if any other issue may develop due to such extreme temperatures. Hopefully your equipment will withstand them with no problem.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>So I suppose I'll just be sensible and follow their advice. </p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>Apart from batteries that you will need to be kept warm, the biggest problem will be human. -44C is about the temp at the top of Everest, and skin will freeze in a few minutes. So if you have not experienced the delights of frostbite, you better be well prepared.<br>

Hopefully the temp will be a more reasonable -20C or so. Anyone who has watched episodes of Ice Road Truckers will see what -30C is like at Prudoe Bay in winter. At that temperature the trucks can never be turned off as the fluids in the motor and gearbox will solidify, splitting them apart, the diesel will turn to jelly and the suspension springs will crack, not bend when they are flexed.<br>

If you are going to Siberia as part of a commercial photography venture, make sure that the company's liability insurers know about it and have you covered for those extremes...it could become a serious OH&S issue if your video cameramans face froze off. <br>

(-44C...Fair dinkum. Thats cold!) Here in Sydney, we nearly die if it drops to +5C in winter. But we are stupid and try to wear our summer shorts and T shirts all year long!)</p>

<p>To the OP, thanks for forwarding the info from Nikon. In a way it is the typical "cover their back side" type answer (they cannot guarantee performance for their cameras under such extreme cold), but they do have a few common-sense tips; I am glad those tips are generally the same as the other answers in this thread. So we are not out of line.</p>

<p>Yeah, generally speaking, if you can tolerate the cold, so can the camera. If you cannot, both you and the camera should go back indoors.</p>

<p>Have a great trip.</p>

<p>http://www.luminous-landscape.com/locations/alaska-winterscapes.shtml</p>

<p>D700.</p>

<p>-40F encountered. Battery 25 exposures duration. Failure to bag the camera going from cold to warm resulted in condensation under the sensor filter, and a visit to a repair facility.</p>

<p>Have fun.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Some of the older manual Nikons had a separate battery pack that you could attach to your camera and stick in your pocket.  <br>

What a great idea.  It's a shame  no does anything like that any more, especially with today's cameras which are <em><strong>utterly reliant</strong></em> on batteries.</p>

<p>Whoops.</p>

<p>I re-read the article too quickly. The D700 did not suffer the moisture problem; n.b., thoroughly bagged regularly. It was a Hasselblad H3D that ended up in the shop after getting sensor condensation. </p>