Photography in freezing conditions (via Chat)

During Chat the other evening there was a discussion about care of camera equipment in sub zero temperatures.

Since it is rather topical at the moment with all this snow and ice, I thought it would be helpful to copy some of the chat here.

Please do add to the discussion with any questions or hints and tips you may have. :-)

Any tips for camera care in freezing temps?

Let the camera cool down gradually and try not to change the temperature too quickly or you will get condensation which will then freeze!!!

Would you leave it in the bag when you go indoors?

I always found a small duvet with a couple of hot packs worked well wrapped around the lens since it's the lens that's the problem when moving from inside (hot) to outside (cold). If you can, keep your camera outside!

One of the things I found good in Norway was that we couldn't shoot for a good hour once we were in the hides, and this meant it let the cameras settle temperature wise. - And when it's -27 outside that's a good thing!!!

I never used the mini duvet trick, just put it in the bag for transport and left it there for at least an hour. Sometimes I just took out batteries and cards and left cameras and lenses in the bag all the time.

What about batteries? Should you keep them warm and then put them in just before a shoot?

Yes - keep them close to your body inside clothing to keep them warm - in an outside pocket they get too cold

How long do they last in the cold?

1d Mk3 batteries lasted 7 or 8 hours at those temperatures. Although I left my batteries in the camera all day and they were fine, I was in a hide and so sheltered to some degree

That's ok if you can charge them later.

Yes if you have electric in the evening it's fine.

I use video batteries and they are hung on the rear of the camera. I have known them to last only half the time expected.

We should be capturing some of this for the site..........

Many thanks to Ric, Ian and Paul for their contributions:-)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Gaina on December 2, 2010 at 22:09

I have Neoprene 'skins' on my still cameras this year so I'll be interested to see if that has any effect on temperature or not.

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Permalink Reply by Gill on December 2, 2010 at 22:35

Hadn't thought of Neoprene but it makes sense. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts too Gaina. Thanks :-)

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Permalink Reply by Ian Cook on December 4, 2010 at 16:55

another thing to remember is wrap yourself up too! its all good making yourself warm if you are moving about, as you generate heat, but if you are going to be sat in a hide for hours, you really need to prepare for it ! lots of layers, top and bottom, decent gloves and glove liners, decent hat and boots !

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Permalink Reply by Michael Hartup on December 6, 2010 at 13:49

I'm testing cameras at work today to go into ski poles in Canada, in a freezer, next to my bench...
...which is about as close to Canada as I'll be going.

I've moulded latex skins to sit over the front to keep the snow out- bit like neoprene.

Otherwise the biggest problem we've had is shutters sticking when they've been off for a while, so I'm spending most of today playing with the current limiting resistor into the shutter solenoid.

More practically... I would add thermal base layers to Ian's list, extra batteries, and if you have a polaroid back- develop them under you armpit.

(and, if you're on a snowboard, don't store your new panasonic lumix camera in your backpack as you may find it is not economical to repair it when you land on it.)