the effects of cold on my camera and film

<p>i was wondering what the effect of cold might be on my mamiya645 super and the film i use. i was out recently in 20 degree F weather and my cameras mirror was stuck, im just curious if this maybe the cold or equipment failure/problem, and if the cold may also effect the film.</p>

<p>Cold wont affect the film. You will know if it is a camera malfunction or the cold as the camera warms up. I have photographed in some pretty cold weather, but prolonged exposure can cause operational issues, like the one you may have here. If you photograph in these sorts of conditions a lot, you need to have your camera and lenses re-lubed with proper lubricants--and then switch back when it gets warmer! $$$$$</p>

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<p>If you have an electronic camera, the cold can effect battery life.Causing the shutter to not fire, meter not to work etc. In very dry cold weather you can get lighting bolts running down you images if advancing the film fast, static discharges. As stated you can have lubricant problems in the cold also.Also the lens and mirrors and any other surface can fog or get wet with quick temperature changes.<br>

Mechanical cameras (no batteries) and allowing it to acclimate to the weather, advancing the film slowly I think is your best bet. A rangefinder or any other non slr in extreme conditions would have an advantage.<br>

Other than that, why go out in the cold?</p>

<p>Yes it's a lubrication thing. However, I've been out for an hour or two at a time in -20C with both an old 500C Hasselblad, and a Minolta MD. In slow shutter speeds only, there was lag with one Hasselblad lens and not another. No problem with the Minolta's focal plane shutter.<br>

Just make sure you don't walk straight inside with them. To protect them from frosting up, whilst outside I close everything into Ziplock bags, then into the camera bag and close it. On the way in, leave them in a cool room, usually the entrance, and allow it to warm up gradually. Then bringing into the warmer room after an hour or so, but still let the bag warm up before opening again at room temp.<br>

The rangefinder on my Leica M3 is sluggish in all but warm weather, telling me it's well overdue for a complete clean and lube.</p>

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<p>Sounds like the cold sucked the life out of your battery. Not sure Mamiya makes a remote battery thingie that puts the battery somewhere warm connected via wire to the camera. The little 6v SR44 silver oxides seems to wilt quickly in severe cold. I was out today along the Lake Ontario shore with my mechanical RB 67 ProS and watched digital shooters fumbling with dead or dying batteries in the cold and wind. Cold won't affect film apart from making it sufficiently brittle(happened to me in VERY cold conditions)that a motorized advance tore the crap out of the sprocket holes--an unusal accident. Just watch out for condensation.</p>

<p>Living in the Canadian Rockies I shoot a lot in extreme cold. I tend not to use MF bodies below about -15C to -20 C but this is more due to cold hands playing with tripods etc... As Kevin says the big issue is going from cold into warm as you get condensation which can cause a lot of damage. I leave the camera overnight in my (slightly) heated garage which is about +1C before I bring it indoors. Film works bets in extreme cold I and I have used my "New F1" bodies lots of times in conditions as cold as -45C (approx -50 F). While canon suggests special winter lubricants none of my bodies have them and both F1s have done a lot of duty in these conditions over many years. An MF body is obviously not as strong but my Mamiyas are frequently used to just below 0F - even my Fuji GX680 has been out in these conditions. Battery life will degrade faster in extreme cold but this tends to be related to battery age. A new battery will hold up very well, whereas an old one will lose charge quickly. Disposable cells work fine. Despite all the warnings and suggestions people make, apart from condensation the camera generally functions better than the operator in extreme cold. the real issue with MF bodies is that they tend to be a gloves off operation and after a few minutes your hands get too cold to function properly. Despite Gary's experience a good digital body will work fine (although I do not risk mine below -25C). A freind of mine shoots for the local paper and he regularly shoots below -35 with his 1dIIN and has done so for about 4 years without issue. Digital compacts are a diffferent story as they fail very quickly in the cold - but some consumer DSLRs work much better than you would expect. Someone else i know shoots ski racing with a D80 (before that he used a D50) and he has spent probably 20-30 days a year shooting in sub zero weather - as low as -30C!.</p>

<p>thanks for the tips, im going to be a little more vigilant when it comes to going to shoot in the cold, definitely make sure i dont bring the camera right back into the warmth as i don't want any serious problems. I will also buy an extra battery or two just in case. when i came back in the camera seemed to be working well so i think the battery may have be iffy. Thanks again. </p>

<p>thanks for the tips, im going to be a little more vigilant when it comes to going to shoot in the cold, definitely make sure i dont bring the camera right back into the warmth as i don't want any serious problems. I will also buy an extra battery or two just in case. when i came back in the camera seemed to be working well so i think the battery may have be iffy. Thanks again. </p>

<p>An older Kodak publication (#C-9, <em>Photography under Arctic Conditions</em>) says you may lose film speed and observe a shift in color balance in extreme cold weather, and cautions that the effects may not be predictable in advance. This is not something I've ever observed, and it may be more of a theoretical concern than a real one.</p>

<p>Having said that, 20F (-7C) is not cold. It is a balmy spring day.</p>

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<p>Having said that, 20F (-7C) is not cold. It is a balmy spring day.</p>

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<p>Ha! yes ... last week it was too cold to snow where I am @ -25C, then a few days ago, clouds moved in and so it 'warmed up' enough to begin snowing again. Folk in Australia couldn't make sense of what I was talking about. However, I still manage it on a bicycle.... <em>just</em></p>

<p>Camera thought: One trip to the far North of Norway, I needed to use the Hasselblad 500EL. I kept the battery in a jacket pocket, popping it in the camera only when needed. Wished at the time I had a separate battery pack with cable to the camera, because I had to keep taking the gloves off for the battery thing. Wind-chill off the icy North Sea was no fun. But it worked.<em><br /> </em></p>

<p>I have used my Nikon N80 film camera with Fuji Provia and Ilford HP5 in -45F (-43C) temperatures without a problem. Batteries drained a touch faster, but it's really not a battery draining camera to begin with. Film advancing was fine and the film held up with absolutely no damage. Metering was perfect and everything worked just fine. I put the camera in a plastic ziploc bag before coming into a warm environment so condensation formed on the bag rather than the camera/lens. Takes a while for the camera to come to temperature.</p>

<p>... "last week it was too cold to snow where I am @ -25C"<br>

Just to be clear, it is never too cold to snow!<br>

Hearing all this talk of cold at -20C makes me chuckle. As one who has spent considerable time in Canada's Arctic and experienced -57; 20 below just isn't that cold.<br>

During these years I was shooting with a Leicaflex SL and the only caveat was to wind on the film very slowly so as to avoid static electricity marks on the film, and to ensure the camera was in a plastic bag before entering a warmer environment. If you're running on batteries, then a remote cord with the battery in your pocket is a good idea.<br>

It seems that Philip has "enjoyed" similar experiences.</p>

 

<p>As someone who ski races I spend a lot of time enjoying extreme cold (although some hills shut the lifts at -35C). With MF you should be fine with new(ish) batteries as the camera does not use a lot. If you are out for a long period of time and use a DSLR (especially with IS lenses) then a remote battery cord becomes a good idea as changing batteries in -40C is not a lot of fun. That said I left a 7D in my car (parked outside) during the Lake Louise ladies downhill week when the temperature did not get above about -23C and when I used the camera the battery indicator was showing 93% but this was a new battery. The real killer is condensation - especially with more electronic cameras. As Colin says I can confirm that it is never too cold to snow although in extreme cold snowfall is less common.</p>

<p>The Lithium 6V batts are said to better in the cold than silver oxides.</p>

<p>That said. I once placed my Pentax 6x7 atop my car's roof in temps around 5`F for about 2 minutes. The relatively new, silver oxide battery.Located in the very bottom of the camera, was drained stone cold dead in 2 minutes! The metal on metal contact sucked the heat right out of the camera.</p>

<p>i had a really hard time with battery drain when i was shooting time exposures of ice sculptures in fairbanks... around minus 10 F with a slight breeze. various cameras, rolleiflex, canon AT-1, pentax P3, one other that i can't recall. the canon has the battery on the front of the camera behind a little hinged cover. and even though i carried it inside my coat and got right down to business after mounting it on the tripod, i could only get off one shot before the shutter wouldn't fire again [whether because of battery drain or frozen lubricants i'm not certain]. back to the warmup building, remove the battery and hold it in my hand next to a cup of hot apple cider for awhile. good thing i had all day.</p>

<p>The NiMH AAs (loose individual cells) I started out using with in my Pentax 645N and my F5 Nikons do not work well in cold weather (starting as warm as 55˚F) as the voltages too quickly dip below the minimum thresholds these cameras require. One solution that's worked well so far with the P645N has been Lithium AA non-rechargeables. My D200 and D300 Nikon DSLRs which use rechargeable Li-ON rechargeable batteries seem to perform well. My LF leaf shutters can be balky but this I expect is due to needing a CLA.<br>

Besides the aforementioned brittleness and static-discharge issues, MF film itself shouldn't be such a problem. I find rapidly interchanged backs/pre-loaded inserts and the roller transport instead of sprocket transport of MF offer real advantages over 35mm in snow and cold. Can't speak to wintertime conditions in the Arctic or Antarctic, but I've never noted film speed changes down in 30 years of winter shooting down to below-zero F temps.<br>

The condensation issue, however, is one to pay attention to not just when taking gear inside. It can happen with cold-soaked equipment left O/N in a bag in the car or backpack. It's happened to me at altitude when I've been hiking or driving down a mountain and have dropped below the snowline that I've taken a cold camera out of the bag just as the sun is warming and melting things only to have the lens dew up immediately and resist attempts to wipe it dry. (Same thing can happen to freezer-cold film in a warm moist air environ.)</p>