Camera Froze

[stroker]

My minolta 400si 35mm froze up on me today for no aparent reason? I was outside takeing some pictures of the ice and when I hit the button it didnt take. Also when I tried to turn the camera off nothing happened. The digital readout stayed on, it would not focus or do anything. What happened??

 

[Stradawhovious]

What happened??

Sounds to me like your camera froze.

 

[knightracersi]

Was the camera inside a warm house before going into the cold? If so it could have been you just need to bring it out for a bit before you take pictures. If you get fog or condensation on the lens it could have froze inside causing the camera to stop working. Try putting the camera in a warm Dry place to thaw out and see what happens.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Just a word on acclimation....... make sure the camera is allowed to climate slowly, in a sealed and preferably insulated case. Just like any sensitive piece of equipment, if t gets warm or cold too quickly bad things can happen.

 

[tirediron]

Take the battery out, and leave it alone for 24 hours, then, replace the battery, and try it. If it is still frozen, try a full reset if you can. If not, off to the shop it goes.

 

[KmH]

Was the camera inside a warm house before going into the cold?

Condensation always occurs when going from cold to warm and humid, not from warm to cold. However, if a warm camera already has condensation in it, the condensation will freeze if it's cold enough outside.

Just a word on acclimation....... make sure the camera is allowed to climate slowly, in a sealed and preferably insulated case. Just like any sensitive piece of equipment, if t gets warm or cold too quickly bad things can happen.

Could you link us to some insulated camera bags/cases, please. I don't recall ever seeing an insulated one.

I take my cameras from the house, into sub-zero and/or below freezing temperatures all winter long with no problems, save a shortened usable battery charge time, and then the batteries usually start working again after being warmed up inside my jacket.

 

[Ken Rockwell Fan]

The battery probably got cold and went to sleep.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Could you link us to some insulated camera bags/cases, please. I don't recall ever seeing an insulated one.

I use a LowePro Compu-Day pack. Perhaps I mis-spoke when I said insulated, since it is not specifically insualted for weather conditions, but it is, however, heavily padded. The padding acts as a very good insulator...... enough so that the change in extremes from cold to warm happen slowly and controlled enough to not have any issues.

At least not yet for me anyways, and I have taken my gear from 4 hours in temperatures as low as -10 F to a 70 fdegree house more than a large handfull of times, letting it both cool and warm to ambient temperatures inside the case. Not even a hint of condensation.

In the event that someone is not familiar with the brand, here is a link to the bag I use. Lowepro - CompuDaypack Laptop and Camera Bag - Slate Gray - 34954

The trick is to have the camera acclimate slowly (such as enclosed the padded case), rather than quickly (such as in the open air). Some people go as far as putting their camera in a ziplock in the case, I don't go to that extreme.

 

[Derrel]

How is the battery situation?

 

[tirediron]

...Could you link us to some insulated camera bags/cases, please. I don't recall ever seeing an insulated one...

Almost every bag is insulated; you might call it padding, but it works just like insulation. When I was working in the Middle East a couple of years ago, I could take my big LowePro shoulder bag outside at 8.00am; if I opened it at 9.00am, the lenses would still be cool to the touch. Ambient temperature... ~135 - 140F. That's insulation!

 

[stroker]

I had never thought of letting it adjust to the temp change. After a few hours inside with the battery out it worked fine and I was back out in the snow. The battery is pretty much new, it only has four film changes on it. The temp change was from 72f to about 30f