OK quick question about very cold weather shooting.

TJ K

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Ok so I am going to Colorado for a snowboarding trip and plan on taking my d90 with me but I figure the temperatures should be between 0-25 degrees when I go and is there anything special I need to do with my camera or prep it? And has anyone traveled with photography equipment via plane? If so any tips or rules you learned would be greatly appreciated! Thank You
 
Ya i just need specific help on when taking it from the cold weather back to inside without getting condensation and ruining the internals.
 
Have an extra battery. Keep it in your front pocket or near your body anyway.....we're not going with where the sunshine doesn't shine.....

Have a gallon size ziplock bag to place the camera in before going in to a heated room.

Do a search, as this has been discussed extensively on TPF. Keywords: condensation, -30, cold, battery, canada (jk), ... etc.
 
I'll be going to Mt. Lutsen in northern MN in February and have asked some questions about cold. Apparently what you really want to look out for is very quick, drastic temperature changes which causes condensation to build on the inside of your lens. The tip I got was to leave your camera in your bag after youre out in the cold and let your camera gradually get back to room temp... not sure if it goes the other way around though :no smile: ( going from warm to cold ).
 
Ya I think I really need to invest in a bag haha
 
The instruction booklet for my Sony a200 states that, if condensation occurs due to bringing a camera into a warm area after it's been in the cold for an extended period, to remove the battery and memory card, and to leave both access doors open until the condensation dries out.
This may not be the exact setup of a D90, but I would imagine the same procedures would apply.
 
I've read in my canons manual to do the plastic bag trick going out into the cold and back into the warm. That way it will acclimate. I'm curious to know if anyone has done this with their photo bags?
 
Do you have any lenses with ED glass? I'd use those out in the cold over any cheaper lens, ironically. ED glass does not expand and contract as much as regular glass does in varying temperatures, so it's not as hard on your lens. As for general tips for cold weather shooting: make sure your camera changes temperature as slowly as possible. Let your camera get very cold before you let falling snow land on it, or else the snow will melt and run into the camera. After bringing it inside after shooting, dry it off as best you can, but keep it in the closed bag for about an hour so that it heats up very slowly. If you have silica gel baggies, toss them in the bag with the camera to absorb as much moisture as possible. Dry, uncooked rice also has the same effect, but only use that if you can find a way to safely surround your camera with dry rice. :D
 
Have a gallon size ziplock bag to place the camera in before going in to a heated room.

I haven't heard of doing that before, but I imagine it would work well. I'll have to try it next time I'm out. Thanks for the tip.
 
Anyone have any specific silica gel baggies in mind that they have used and found successful?
 
Silica gel is silica gel. I don't think there are different kinds. But even if there are different kinds, they would all probably absorb water pretty well.

Ask your local camera shop if you can grab the little silica bags out of new camera bags; they're really only needed during shipping. In the store they aren't likely to get wet and need them.

That's where I got a few baggies for myself.
 
I haven't heard of doing that before, but I imagine it would work well. I'll have to try it next time I'm out. Thanks for the tip.
Yes, it is so simple it is ridiculous. All you are doing is sealing in the same dry cold air from outside along with your camera when you put it in the ziploc bag and seal it.

The condensation comes from the warm humid air of indoors hitting the cold equipment. It's very likely with the ziploc bag that you will get condensation on the outside of the bag, but it will never get to your camera because the air inside the bag is the same dry air that was outside. Once the equipment warms up, the humidity of indoors won't condense on it and it's safe to open the bag.
 

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