Nikon D200 in low temperature / snow conditions

<p>Hello,<br>

In a few weeks I will go to the northern part of Sweden for a holiday and some photo-shoots. There will be -of course- a lot of snow and low temperatures down to -25C. I will use my Nikon D200 with MB-D200 battery grip and a Nikkor AF-S 18-70 G. <br>

While searching in the forums about this subject I found some interesting discussions (<a href="../nikon-camera-forum/00NH85">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00NH85</a>). Additional to the answers I already found in this discussion, I have some more questions.<br>

- Is it safe to use the MB-D200 in low temperature and weather conditions with snow, or better use the D200 without it so there is only the weather-seal of the camera?<br>

- What to do if camera or lens is wet? Dry it slowly or warm/dry it 'actively' near to a heat source?<br>

- What camera functions will be affected by the cold? Will cold influence functioning of the sensor, AF? (I know battery life shortens).<br>

- Other tips for using my gear in the cold/snow?<br>

Thank you in advance!<br>

Best wishes for 2009! Regards, Pim</p>

<p>A couple of weeks back, I spent a ten hour day shooting with a D200 and MDB200 in temps ranging from 10F to 28F. So, not quite as cold as what you're planning - but close, that morning.<br /><br />Batteries seemed to go downhill very quickly... but if they spent a few minutes in a pocket close to my body, they quickly recovered much of their performance. So, I always kept one warming, and two in the grip - and just rotated them.<br /><br />AF on several lenses was just fine. Image quality was great - the cold temps actually improved high ISO noise levels, which is to be expected.<br /><br />The only concern: be careful taking your cold equipment into a warm interior area, where moisture will quickly condense on (and in) it. Just let it come up to room temperature while closed up in a plastic bag.<br /><br />As for moisture from snow ... remember that the 18-70 isn't weather sealed, so you'll want to be fairly cautious. Once the camera is cold enough, snow that falls or sprays onto it won't easily melt. You should be able to use a smallish micro-fiber towel to keep the camera and lens barrel cleaned off.</p>

<p>A cold morning for man and beast. Shot all day in below-freezing temps, and had no trouble.</p><div></div>

<p>I know the D2X is quite different, but I used mine last week in -20 C with no problems. The battery did not even go low in 2 hours of use. Keep a spare battery on the inside of your jacket and you can alternate between batteries.</p>

<p>My D200 performed absolutely flawless during 3 extremely cold days (-15 to -25 celsius) up in arctic Svalbard, Norway. My battery held up well for about 200 shots before we returned back to the hotel in the evenings. Always had my spare battery close to my body. In fact, I was quite amazed by how flawless it performed. Everything worked beautifully. Awesome camera body.</p>

<p>Ugh: this editing system is not working properly yet...</p>

<p>I have used my lowly D40 in the conditions you speak of here in central Canada. It has survived without injury, although my 18-55 DX II seized up. Oddly, the 18-55 DX (earlier version) has had no problems at all, but I've had other problems with this II model in the past as well.<br /> Your D200, with it's more rugged construction and weather sealing, should have no problem.</p>

<p><em><strong>Is it safe to use the MB-D200 in low temperature and weather conditions with snow, or better use the D200 without it so there is only the weather-seal of the camera?</strong> </em><br>

The grip is just batteries and some circuitry, so I can't see why not.<strong><em> </em> </strong> <br /> <strong><em> </em> </strong> <br /> <strong><em> </em> </strong> <br /> <strong><em><strong><em>What to do if camera or lens is wet? </em> </strong> </em> </strong> <br /> Depends how and when it gets wet. <br /> If you drop it in an ice-fishing hole, well...the expression I'm thinking of involves a river of excrement and a native American water vessel without any means of propulsion ;) <br /> If your camera is near as cold as the outside temperature (which it should be after half-an-hour or so), the snow won't condense. Wipe off as much as you can with your glove and then blow whatever snow is left with a Giottos rocket blower or similar. <br /> The key to keeping your camera dry when you're outside is to keep it cold. You can put it inside your bag when you're not using it, the bag won't be warm enough to cause condensation. Don't, however, put it inside your coat near a warm area on your body.<br /> <br /> When you go inside, leave your all of your equipment in the bag zip it up outside before you bring it in . If your bag doesn't have zippers, get a better bag. Leave it in the bag for a few hours so it can warm up to the ambient temperature without being exposed to the humid indoor environment. If you're feeling extra cautious (or if it's extra cold), seal your equipment in zip-lock bags before bringing it in. <br /> On one or two occasions, I have accidentally removed my equipment from my bag too early, resulting in some condensation. I wiped it down with a clean, dry microfiber cloth and then placed it next to an external fan I have setup by my laptop. It blows air at approximately room temperature. Everything still worked fine after that. If this happens don't remove the lens / body cap, or condensation may occur on the internal components (not good). <br /> <br /> <br /> What camera functions will be affected by the cold? Will cold influence functioning of the sensor, AF? <br /> The LCDs and LEDs will become slow, but still usable; ie: when you're scrolling through images, they will crossfade instead of cut. The readout in your viewfinder will become slow and will fade between numbers, etc. <br /> I haven't noticed any problems with the sensor. In theory, the sensor should actually peform better because it will be less subject to heat build-up and, therefore, noise, especially with long exposures. <br /> The AF may slow down a bit. The AF on one of my lenses became very slow at one point. I figured that a small bit of moisture (possibly from my breath) must have become lodged inside and frozen. It just switched it to manual, jiggled the focus ring back and forth a few times and then it was fine. Real AF-S may be less subject to these problems as all of their AF components are sealed inside the lens. <br /> <strong><em><strong><em><em><em> </em> </em> </em> </strong> </em> </strong> <br /> <strong><em><strong><em><em><em> </em> </em> </em> </strong> </em> </strong> <br /> <strong><em><strong><em><em><em><em><strong>Other tips for using my gear in the cold/snow?</strong> </em> </em> </em> </em> </strong> </em> </strong> <br /> It will probably become tiresome, but, when you're holding the camera to your face to look through the viewfinder, hold your breath. Your breath will condense onto the LCD screen and the viewfinder. When you remove your face, it will freeze very quickly. It shouldn't cause any damage, but a fogged screen and finder will become annoying. If you do fog it up, wipe it away as quickly as possible to prevent it from freezing. <br /> I'd suggest to take spare batteries, but you should probably be OK with a battery grip for an hour or so of constant shooting without flash. You can be the judge of whether or not to bring extras depending on the temperature and the length of time you'll be out shooting. <br /> When it's cold, I always have my camera in the bag when I'm not shooting in order to keep out spindrift, snow, etc.</p>

<p>I `m just arrived from an unsuccessfully mountaneering trip. Not as cold as you (we were up to -10ºC) but with very bad weather, snow and heavy frozen wind. I didn`t expected the camera to work, and it did it flawlessly. As mentioned above, battery goes down soon. It has been my first DSLR on a "hardcore" mountain trip.<br /> I missed to have (I usually take it but forget it!!!) a soft synthetic towel to use as an envelop for the camera or to clean it from all ice or snow that easily turns into water inside the backpack. I prefer a bit wider one to cover all camera+lens. The thinner the wowen (not the towel) the better to me. Cheap home cleaning ones works great.<br /> I simply let the camera to warm up in the ski room or whatever indoors room for a few minutes before taking it to the heated area (if so) of the shelter or housing. Paper tissue cleaning works better here.<br /> I wonder if cold makes glass more fragile... I considerably scratched my 24-85 front element easily just with a slight brush with the cap. Never experienced it after years of use. Never with an AiS lens on worst conditions. Perhaps there was a little sand particle between the glass and the cap, but it sounds to me too much coincidence. I must have heared those who advice the use of filters. Silly of me...</p>

<p>Here's a photo in -20C weather...</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>10 F is -12 C, this is quite manageable. -25 C ... well, I start to freeze at this point. I can only shoot for 30 min or so in -25 C after which my hands have probably frozen stuck to the tripod or something ;-)</p>

<p>I haven't had difficulties shooting in -10ish temps with the D200 but never used it at -25 C (only my film cameras have been subjected to that). The battery does die quickly (so have spares). Be thankful that your camera doesn't have live view. ;-) Live view in sub-zero temperatures sucks batteries empty in a few minutes. (I use LV for macro. Or at least I did, in the summer.)</p>

<p>To avoid condensation keep your camera outdoors at all times, in a bag. If you must bring it indoors, keep it for <em>several hours</em> in its unopened bag before doing anything with it (but it's better to keep it outside, so its ready to shoot and it is not subjected to rapid temperature and humidity changes). Disclaimer: I won't accept responsibility for any stolen camera bags. ;-)</p>

 

<p>There are many good advices given above. I posted the following in the dpreview D3 forum, cited here for convenience:<br>

"Do not worry.. as long as you have spare batteries to swap out when the one in the camera gets too cold (we are talking about severe cold below the range Bjorn tested) and avoid condensation problems.<br>

I have used my D200 at -40C for hours without other problems than the frame rate getting a slightly lower and of course the need to swap batteries out batteries every 20 min or so (the spare is kept in a shirt pocket and revives once warmed up).<br>

LCD's do not contain water and are not damaged by cold, they might just temporarily slow down. That they freeze and get damaged is a myth.<br>

Condensation problems might be more severe when coming outside from air conditioned rooms in tropical areas than getting in from midwinter cold here in interior Alaska. The air inside just does not contain much humidity to condensate. Common sense asks for keeping the camera inside the bag until warmed up, however I often document work with my D200 where I have to ignore that.<br>

The only common problem is your breath getting onto the viewfinder eyepiece and sometimes making foggy images in front of your lens.<br>

You do need to worry about your own specifications with respect to cold at those temperatures.<br>

Caribou digging in the snow at -40C north of Brooks Range in Alaska: "<br>

<img src="http://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p483391206-3.jpg" alt="" /></p>

 

<p>I forgot to mention that mine is a D700, not so different than a D200 about this topic, I suppose.</p>

<p>Thank you all so much for your responses on my questions! I'm more confident now to use my D200 out there. <br>

Here in The Netherlands we didn't have temps like -20C since I was born, occasionally the temperature lowers to -10C at night. So I think it's more likely I have problems at -20C - -25C than my D200 does ;).</p>

<p>I will buy a rain-sleeve to cover my D200 and lens in case of snow, hope that will be enough protection for my 'cheap' 18-70 lens. I'm afraid I can't leave my camera and bag outside as we will stay in a youth-hostel over there. <br>

I will shop for a zip-bag, a rain-sleeve and some very warm clothes! Really looking forward for the cold and snow!!</p>

<p>Matt: It's interesting that the CCD will possibly work even better in the cold. I will not be able to test it, but for the D200 it would be great if it gives less noise in the cold at higher ISO. ;)</p>

<p>Epp: thank you for your comment! You gave me some very good tips!</p>

<p>Jose: I never heard glass is more breakable at low temps or get scratched more easily. But I wouldn't be surprised if it is.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your time!<br>

Regards, Pim</p>

 

<p>Pim: a couple of follow-up thoughts...<br /><br />Don't expect high ISO miracles in the cold - but if you're fussy, you will see the difference (especially on long exposures, where things inside the camera's sensor chain heat up and contribute to noise... higher ISO settings make that worse).<br /><br />About things being more breakable in the cold... sure, everything is more brittle when it's really cold out. Glass, too. But what you have to actually worry about is PLASTIC. Specifically, the little white battery-retaining clips in your MB-D200. Mine finally died (the clips, that is - you can still use the grip with just the battery door holding things in, but that's not ideal). Those white clips are notorious, and eventually fail. It took mine three years, but they eventually did. It will happen faster if they're stressed in very cold weather. <br /><br />The good news: I bought replacement parts from Nikon for just a few dollars, and spent an hour swapping them out. While I was at it, I replaced my D200's rubber grips for another few dollars. Should have done that a year ago!<br /><br />But do watch all of your plastic parts in extreme cold. Lens hoods, CF card port doors, camera bag strap clips, lens caps... all of them can fail more easily in the cold. Just be gentle and aware of the issue.</p>

<p>This problem might be unique to my D 200, but I will mention it in case it might apply. I was at Bosque del Apache in 24 F degree dry weather about two weeks ago and the "shutter or mirror?" in my D 200 froze and I got the dreaded Errr message. Once I got the camera warmer, inside or outside, the problem resolved itself. It was not battery related or battery pack related as I changed out all of that and still had the problem. I also was using a D 300 and I had no problems with it. Both had battery packs on them. <br>

I have no idea what caused the problem. If anyone has any ideas, let me know as I would like to know what to do about it even though I live in TX.<br>

Joe Smith </p>

<p>I've had that once or twice with the D200, Joseph - it was the MB-D200 not being well seated into the body. Removed, re-aligned, tightened down... better.</p>

<p>-25 C will be fine, the battery just doesn't last that long and updating LCD displays slows to a crawl. I wouldn't worry about condensations, I've never had problems with that, but I do recommend letting the camera warm slowly in the bag when taken inside. How do you plan to get your stuff wet? Keep in mind that at -25 C, if something drips from your nose on the camera, it will freeze instanteneously. If you, however, drop the camera in some hole in the ice on a lake, good luck in retrieving it.<br>

Snow is a bigger problem in warmer temperatures when it has a tendency to melt. It's basically like rain photography, only colder for the photographer and you get a bit of reaction time before the snow melts.<br>

Oh yeah, remember to wear gloves ;-) I padded my tripod's legs long ago since bare metal is too cold to touch, even with gloves.</p>

<p>You don't want to move the camera between cold and room-temperature too fast, leave it inside a bag when bringing it inside... same for CF card. You don't want condensation building up on lenses and inside the camera.<br>

The more batteries the better, one warming up on your body, and another inside the camera.<br>

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/cities06/images/2006-12-21-high-snowcave01.jpg" alt="" width="747" height="500" /></p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>Matt: it's good to keep in mind that plastics (and other materials) are more fragile in low temps. Didn't realize that. Fingers crossed for the white clips in the MB-D200. I have mine for a year now, still without problems, but I mentioned they are fragile for this kind of gear. Didn't know that its possible to buy spare parts of Nikon gear. Do they sell it worldwide or only in USA?</p>

<p>Oskar: I think you're right. The odds getting a wet D200 are low. I shall be aware of snow/ice on the body/lens when going inside and wipe them of. Unfortunately, no tripod on this holiday for me :(. I cannot take it with me in the aircaft as it is too large for handluggage and I cannot check it in. </p>

<p>Robert: thanks for the nice photo :)!</p>

<p>Thank you all guys! Your responses are very welcome! Best wishes to all!<br>

Regards, Pim</p>

<p>Just came in from shooting in -10 C, that without any problems regarding the gear. The air is quite dry, so condensation does not seem to be a serious problem.<br>

Note that it is quite dark this time of the year, if the sun shines you can shoot handheld unless in deep shade, but if it's cloud you're easily into ISO 800-1600 territory and when the sun is not up, it's dark (and most of the time, the sun is not up). Just make sure to bring at least a fast lens with you.</p>

<p>a few days ago i went to high hills near by ,there was a lot of cold,moisture and fogging, and i took my d200 with af-s 18-70 dx in it. i took some shots and o put it again in the bag inside the car. passed a few days i pick up the camera at home and go to take some shots, and the autofucus was totally crazy, focusing from infinite to close range and dont stop focused. the uv filter at the front of the lenses was totally ful of condensation(sorry my english),i take it off,but the autofucus continue crazy and dont work at all. just manual focus work.i ear some cranks insite of the lenses like the motor is workink hard forced.any ideias what is this?</p>

<p>Just came back from my holiday in the Northern part of Sweden. Had a really great time there :). The landscape is amazing and did some cool things. (Un)fortunately we had only very low temps (-25C) at night. During daytime we experienced temps like -10C to -15C.</p>

<p>My D200 functioned very well. No problems with staggering shutters or real performance problems. As mentioned here some things tend to slow down like the LCD and the LCD in the viewer. Also autofocus worked little slower but still worked fine.<br>

Using a plastic bag when going inside worked fine, had no problems with condensation.<br>

A problem up North is the low light conditions. Even around noon there is still less light and sun won't come over the horizon. So using high ISO was a must as I didn't take my tripod with me. <br>

We've also seen some Northern Light (Aurora) in the nights. It's quite interesting to see that we see the light as white while digital cameras capture it as green. There is also much difference between DSLRs in capturing the light. With my D200 it took 30" at ISO 1000 to catch it at nice brightness and color while a friend of mine with a Canon 350D could do it with 15" at ISO 400-800. Strange.</p>

<p>Thank you again for your tips, they have been very helpful to me! </p>

<p>Show us some pictures Pim, show us what you got :-)<br>

It was +26 Celsius a week ago here, and it's +18 Celsius here today in Arizona...... so show us.</p>

<p>Here you go :)! I didn't use a tripod on these photos as I wasn't allowed to take it with me in the hand baggage.</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/8558719-md.jpg" alt="" width="679" height="455" /><br>

(<a href="../photo/8558719">http://www.photo.net/photo/8558719</a>)</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/8558720-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="408" /><br /><br>

(<a href="../photo/8558720">http://www.photo.net/photo/8558720</a>)<br>

<br /></p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/8558717-md.jpg" alt="" width="679" height="454" /><br>

(<a href="../photo/8558717">http://www.photo.net/photo/8558717</a>)<br>

<br /></p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/8558718-md.jpg" alt="" width="679" height="448" /><br>

(<a href="../photo/8558718">http://www.photo.net/photo/8558718</a>)</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/8560264-md.jpg" alt="" width="679" height="454" /><br>

(<a href="../photo/8560264">http://www.photo.net/photo/8560264</a>)<br>

<br /></p>

<p>Very nice, thanks for posting the pictures.<br>

Here is one of mine, from 4 years ago:<br>

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/people00/images/2004-04-loveland-lost.jpg" alt="" width="880" height="435" /></p>