On-Mountain cold-weather photography question.

[john_smith163]

I live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and this winter I plan

to take a lot of pictures up at the local ski mountain. I am shooting

a Canon Rebel XT and am wondering what sort of precautions I should

take with the cold (anywhere from 20*F to -20*f) weather and my

camera. Would it be a good idea to put hand warmers in my camera bag

so that while I'm not using the camera it can stay warm, or will the

change in temperture going in and out of the bag cause the camera or

lense to collect condensation? Any help or suggestions would be

appreciated!

 

PS I apologize if this is the wrong place for this question, but it

seemed appropriate.

[bob_peters]

The biggest problem I've ever had is batteries stopping working in the cold. Take a fully manual film camera (a Nikon FM for example) as a backup. You can pick one up cheaply and it has a few advantages over your rebel for this kind of work:

 

- built like a brick so you don't need to baby it

- cheap so relatively disposable compared to your Rebel

- won't stop working when the battery runs out / gets too cold

 

A Fikon FM with 50mm f1.8 won't set you back too much. Load it with Velvia (50 if you can get it, otherwise 100) and get some great images to remember your day by. Get them put on CD when you get them processed too - that way you get the digital file to work with after and all your problems are solved.

[ilkka_nissila]

You definitely don't want warmers inside the bag. The idea is to let the bag warm/cool to the outside temperature before opening the bag and taking the camera out.

[jakob_norstedt_moberg]

The biggest problem I have photographing in the cold winter is how to keep my hands from freezing. At least for me, the cold is a much more severe problem for my hands and fingers than for my digital cameras (Nikon D70, Kodak SLR/n).

 

Jakob Norstedt-Moberg

ֲnsk�ldsvik, Sweden (Latitude 63)

[ilkka_nissila]

Yeah, that's true: the cameras are usually more resistent of the cold than the photographer. :-) This is especially true when it gets seriously cold.

 

However, alkaline batteries used in some film cameras can be dead after a few shots ... F5 brings to mind. Even I can outlast them.

[matt_calardo]

Keep a spare battery inside of your jacket, close to your body to keep it warm. After your first battery starts to loose power swap the batteries, now put the first battery in your jacket. As the first battery warms up it may regain some power. Repeat swap if necessary. Avoid taking your camera out of the case if you go into the lodge or another warm area, as soon as you introduce the cold camera into warm air condensation will form. At the end of the day bring your camera bag inside and allow the gear to acclimate to the room temp, usually several hours. Some photogs suggest keeping the whole kit in a plastic bag when brought inside to avoid the condensation problem. I have never found this to be necessary, but you might because of the humid NH air. After your kit has acclimated to room temp. take everything out of the bag and set it out in a safe warm place. Allow it to dry overnight, charge batteries, pack it up the next morning and go out and shoot.

For everyone with cold fingers try a two glove system. I wear a snug fitting wind stopper glove and then wear a larger glove over this. When I go to shot I remove the over glove and keep the wind stopper on.

[john_smith163]

Thanks for the help so far!

 

As long as I keep the camera in the bag when I go inside I should be fine right? Should I have it in a plastic bag as well even for the short time I'll be in the lodge just for precaution?

 

And another thought, as far as batteries go, if I'm not going to use the camera for a while, should I take the battery out and put it in a pocket to warm it up as well? Keep it as warm as possible whenever possible?

 

Thanks!

[scottm]

Agree that you should keep the batteries as warm as possible as long as possible, and keep the camera at ambient temp to prevent condensation. In the field, this is always a balance between being ready to shoot, and having to fumble with battery door latches etc in the cold with gloves on. You'll have to see what works for you.

 

You could probably rig a remote battery by hacking the Canon ACK-E2 AC Adapter - I don't actually own one of these, but it looks like the cable detaches from the AC transformer, so you could replace the transformer with your own remote battery pack, loaded with akalines or rechargeables. You'd have to get the voltage right, of course. Then the batteries stay inside your coat pocket, tethered by a cable to the camera. This still isn't ideal for handling - the cable will snag etc. I haven't done this with a digital camera (I go with an old manual Nikon film SLR for cold weather mountaineering) but have a headlamp that uses this setup, and it goes forever in cold weather.

 

best wishes.

[andrew robertson]

Or just keep a spare or two in the inside pocket of your coat, and switch as necessary. The

cold batteries will come back to life to a large degree as they warm.

 

You are you own battery heater!

[peter_white2]

I usually cross country ski at Jackson and Great Glen with a Rollei 35S in my pack. This winter I'll be trying the 5D. But I think I'll still carry the Rollei along, just in case. We don't need no steenkeen batteries!

[uk]

My son has just returned from the Himalayas with a fine set of pictures taken with an

Olympus zoom camera. At 22,000 ft, and highs of -10 deg C, the only way to protect the

camera from freezing was by storing it inside his jacket and sleeping bag.

 

Others had cameras freeze and digital camera were less reliable.

 

See:

[uk]

and another ...

[serdarsari]

It says that Canon 350D works in 0-40 degrees Centigrad range in the camera manual. So you must keep the camera a little warm. You can do it by placing the camera in your coat. (I used this method 1 year ago and it worked) I dont recommend going in a warm indoor place with a cold camera. You had better keep the camera outside, maybe in your car's back if you want to drink a cup of hot coffee. Warm packs in your camera bag will not last so long I think. And they may cause condensations behind the lens.

[ilkka_nissila]

You <b>do not</b> want to have the camera at any temperature but the air temperature where you will be shooting. "Warming it" while it is not being used and then shooting in the cold is just not the way to do it. Keeping warm batteries in your pocket may be useful, but the camera and lens should be in the same temperature as the air.

[s_bintner]

You defiantly want to keep the camera above 32 degrees Fahrenheit for operation. I have taken precautions for condensation with my D300 by letting it warm in my camera bag, but just today I got off the phone with canon because of letting is cool too much during use. To make a long story short, I was shooting this morning, and suddenly my camera quit working--the shutter would no longer release. After letting it warm up, the camera works fine--as long as I don�t use the autofocus. If the lens is set to auto, pressing the shutter release down fully will try to focus, but not release the shutter.

 

I have used manual film cameras for years, and never with a problem due to cold, and was a little disappointed to find out that canon's whole line of digital slr's are not recommended for use under 32 degrees Fahrenheit, making it difficult for use in sustained cold temperatures. The tech I talked with at canon suggested keeping it somewhere warm until use, and not letting the camera body cool completely, as I guess it can wreak havoc on the electronics (CF card included). I'm guessing this would ring true for all digital cameras of all makes, but if anyone has information otherwise, please indulge.

 

Luckily my camera is still under warranty (as long as the cold didn't void it), as it will probably need to be sent in. Even though I would love to have an excuse to get a D20, this is not the way I want to do it, as I just got the lenses paid for, and don't want to go into debt so soon again.

 

If anyone has any suggestions for keeping the camera warm for near-continuous cold weather use, other than taking more breaks more often, I would love to hear them.

 

Thanks!

[john_smith163]

I went into the cold with it for the first time today. I went to my friends hockey match, it was an indoor rink and probably about 20*F or so inside the building. After an hour and a half or so of use the camera certainly got cold, and I encountered no problems whatsoever. This may just be because it wasnt exremely cold, but we'll see. Worst case scenario if the shutter issues do happen up on the mountain I'll just use my Rebel GII instead.

 

And if you keep the camera warm and bring it into the cold and back into the warm that certainly cant be good for it either, with condensation and all. Then again a Canon tech would probably know more then meee ^_^