Tips for Shooting in the Cold

[TehYoyo]

Hey everyone,

I live in Chicago, so it's a bit nippy here (sadly, not as it normally is).

I'm wondering about what precautions I should take to shoot outside in sub-25 degree weather (that's in Fahrenheit). I heard that I should keep my battery warm and then put the camera in a plastic bag when I go back in - any other suggestions?

Also, does anyone know the operating range for the Sony A57 (my camera)?

Thanks,
TehYoyo

 

[bigtwinky]

Keepnig the camera overall warmed up is a good idea (inside your jacket or something). Make sure you read the recommended temperatures for operation for your camera as well.

Bring a second battery and keep it inside your jacket. Your first will probably freeze on you, so switch it up and put the frozen one in your jacket, near your body to warm it up.

I've never had issues with cards. I've shot in -25C before, it gets pretty cold. Was -15C when I was shooting last night. Make sure you dress warm and walk a lot to keep the blood flowing. Cover up well, as when you are stationary, you can get cold very easily. If you don't have a plastic bag to put your camera in, once you go indoors, just leave it in your camera bag for an hour or two to let it warm up to room temp on its own.

Having those small silica gel packets (the ones that come with bags) is great when warming up your gear as it will absorb moisture. I always have a few in my bag. Rice can also work.

Be safe... it is easy to get frostbitten when you have a tendency to remove gloves to work the camera better.

That tripod can be really cold when you grab it, specially at night.

Take breaks.

Have fun.

 

[tirediron]

Keep the batteries warm; the best plan is to keep one next to your body and swap it out with the one in-camera as necessary. I'm not sure where the 'plastic bag' routine came from, but the best plan is put the camera in you nice padded (insulated) camera bag outside an hour or so before you're ready to leave to allow it time to cool down, and then when you come home, leave in the bag for an hour or two to warm up gradually. Your camera's operating specifications will be in the manual (You know, that thing you read when you first got the camera).

 

[tirediron]

Keepnig the camera overall warmed up is a good idea (inside your jacket or something).

I'm going to disagree with you there BT; constantly going from warm-ish to COLD is going to be much harder on the camera and potentially lead to more fogging and moisture-related problems than getting it to one operating temperature and leaving it there.

 

[bigtwinky]

Keepnig the camera overall warmed up is a good idea (inside your jacket or something).

I'm going to disagree with you there BT; constantly going from warm-ish to COLD is going to be much harder on the camera and potentially lead to more fogging and moisture-related problems than getting it to one operating temperature and leaving it there.

Would it make that much of a difference? Its not super warm in that jacket... but you might have a point.

 

[tirediron]

Keepnig the camera overall warmed up is a good idea (inside your jacket or something).

I'm going to disagree with you there BT; constantly going from warm-ish to COLD is going to be much harder on the camera and potentially lead to more fogging and moisture-related problems than getting it to one operating temperature and leaving it there.

Would it make that much of a difference? Its not super warm in that jacket... but you might have a point.

I suppose it would depend on how warm it was underneath (regardless, probably going to be humid), how long it's "in" and "out" and what the outside air temperature is, relative to the camera's lower operating limit. Personally, -25 is STUDIO weather!

 

[TehYoyo]

Keep the batteries warm; the best plan is to keep one next to your body and swap it out with the one in-camera as necessary. I'm not sure where the 'plastic bag' routine came from, but the best plan is put the camera in you nice padded (insulated) camera bag outside an hour or so before you're ready to leave to allow it time to cool down, and then when you come home, leave in the bag for an hour or two to warm up gradually. Your camera's operating specifications will be in the manual (You know, that thing you read when you first got the camera).

So sort of acclimate the camera to the temperature by putting it in an "intermediate" zone first?

Also, I did read the manual. It's 0-104.

 

[tirediron]

So sort of acclimate the camera to the temperature by putting it in an "intermediate" zone first?

Exactly!

 

[TehYoyo]

So sort of acclimate the camera to the temperature by putting it in an "intermediate" zone first?

Exactly!

Thanks for the advice.

If I don't do anything to prevent condensation, but take out the battery and don't turn it on for, say, (in the extreme) 24 hours, will it be ok?

 

[dbvirago]

01001110 01001111 0100000 1001001 0100000 1100100 1101001 1100100 1101110 0100111 1110100

 

[TehYoyo]

01001110 01001111 0100000 1001001 0100000 1100100 1101001 1100100 1101110 0100111 1110100

I think you're doing it wrong. Or I'm not getting you.

 

[TordFuglstad]

Norwegian as I am I have shot in lots of cold conditions. When you go outside, unless it's less than -20C, you should just keep your camera outside your jacket or in your bag. The bag will be a little bit warmer than the surroundings, but the difference will not be that much. The batteries will deflate faster but keeping them very warm will make then "foggy" when taking them out in the cold, taking something from warm to cold to warm to cold will make a layer of ice on them which is not very good. Keep your batteries in your bag or in a pocket on your jacket.

The camera can stay cold all the time, but the LCD screen will "slown down" a bit if it gets very cold (after taking my camera out alpine skiing in -15C yesterday i discovered this).
When you go outside you should put your camera in the camera bag and let it stand just inside the front door for an hour or more, that way it will go from very cold to a bit warm and then it won't be that big of a transition.

This has worked for me for years in the harsh and cold norwegian weather, mind you though that most of my cameras has had some degree of weather sealing.

 

[TehYoyo]

Thanks for the input, Tord.So just keep everything in the cold, but aclimate it to the warm when I go inside?Also, is it OK to just put it inside right away and just not touch it for like 6 hours?

 

[TordFuglstad]

Thanks for the input, Tord.So just keep everything in the cold, but aclimate it to the warm when I go inside?Also, is it OK to just put it inside right away and just not touch it for like 6 hours?

That's true. Yesterday I went out shooting in -20. Took out the camera, put it on the tripod. After I was done I just put it in the bag. When I came home it was probably in the bag for about 1,5 hours before i took it out. No condensation or nothing. But keep in mind this would be quite individual (humidity, difference in temperature, degree of weather sealing etc.)
You don't really need to have it inside the bag for like 6 hours, but if you want to be really sure you could.

 

[Kolia]

Yeah, don't worry about the cool down period.

Don't breath on the lens...

When I'm ready to go inside, I take the memory card out and put the camera in a freezer ziplock bag. The camera will warm up fine anywhere in the house if its in the air tight bag. Leave it there an hour or so.

The memory card will warm up in minutes (actually holding it in your hand will do most of the warm up, even outside) so you can download the pictures right away.