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G2 battery life

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Cal69710

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i will go for a trip (Beijing in China) this christmas..
temperature there may go down to -8 to -5 degree celcius..

i would like to know if the battery life would be greatly decreased.....or even not work ?

thanks!!
--Cal
 
It will certainly work fine, I anticipate the life will be a bit shorter, but it is relatively long lived already. they do seem to discharge over some period of time as well.
Cal said:
i will go for a trip (Beijing in China) this christmas..
temperature there may go down to -8 to -5 degree celcius..
i would like to know if the battery life would be greatly
decreased.....or even not work ?

thanks!!

--
Cal
Click to expand...
 
Cal said:
i will go for a trip (Beijing in China) this christmas..
temperature there may go down to -8 to -5 degree celcius..
i would like to know if the battery life would be greatly
decreased.....or even not work ?

thanks!!

--
Cal
Click to expand...
Cal,

You could always take a second (2nd) battery and keep it warm in an
inside pocket of your coat/jacket and use it when and if your first(1st)
battery dies.

Yes, the battery life will be lower in cold weather but I seem to recall
another thread with the same concern so you might want to try the
"search" aspect of DPReview.

Hope this helps.

Cameras & Cocktails......(from the Hot & Sour Bar & Grill)

JRS
 
WOW ! I'll be surprised if a digital camera will work in subfreezing temperature. According to Canon, the G2 will operate from 0-40 degrees celcius (32-104 degrees F).

If you really want to test it, stick your G2 in the freezer for 10 minutes and see if it'll work properly. (I'm just kidding. You don't want to damage your camera)

Your best bet is to buy a bunch of chemical hand warmers and tape one to the battery compartment. Keep the camera in a pocket close to your body in between shoots. Outdoor film photographers have been doing this for decades. Lastly, I don't think microdrives will spin too well in -8 celcius.
Cal said:
i will go for a trip (Beijing in China) this christmas..
temperature there may go down to -8 to -5 degree celcius..
i would like to know if the battery life would be greatly
decreased.....or even not work ?

thanks!!

--
Cal
Click to expand...
 
thank you very much!!!
i have no spare battery for my G2 yet!
...it's too expensive...
 
Grablife said:
WOW ! I'll be surprised if a digital camera will work in
subfreezing temperature. According to Canon, the G2 will operate
from 0-40 degrees celcius (32-104 degrees F).
Click to expand...
There have been many posts regarding this. Many report their cameras working just fine at even lower temperatures. Like -20C/-4F(?). Some reported that the LCD may "malfunction" but I haven't read anything definitive.

One does need to absolutely do one thing though: put the camera in a air-tight bag before bringing it from the cold into the house (or putting it into an inside pocket of your coat, I suppose). Ziplock bags work just fine. This is to avoid condensation. You have to then wait till the camera warms up to room temperature before opening the bag.
grablife said:
Your best bet is to buy a bunch of chemical hand warmers and tape
one to the battery compartment.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't do this. It's not likely to warm the battery, but may warm something else you don't want warmed up.
grablife said:
Keep the camera in a pocket close
to your body in between shoots. Outdoor film photographers have
been doing this for decades.
Click to expand...
Maybe. But do consider that if you take it out for a few minutes and then put it back next to your body, you may get condensation.
grablife said:
Lastly, I don't think microdrives will
spin too well in -8 celcius.
Click to expand...
I think they should be fine. I don't know if they use any lubrication at all or any that would freeze, but even if it doesn't spin up, it shouldn't (hopefully) damage it. That said, I would use solid state memory cards rather than microdrives.

Have a nice trip, Cal!

Michael Shannon
 
My dad has used his Olympus 3040z at the South Pole quite a bit without any trouble. He just keeps it in his jacket when he is not using it. It's typically about -40 C or so there, so Beijing shouldn't be a problem.

---Paul Stokstad
Grablife said:
WOW ! I'll be surprised if a digital camera will work in
subfreezing temperature. According to Canon, the G2 will operate
from 0-40 degrees celcius (32-104 degrees F).
Click to expand...
 
Paul Stokstad said:
My dad has used his Olympus 3040z at the South Pole quite a bit
without any trouble. He just keeps it in his jacket when he is not
using it. It's typically about -40 C or so there, so Beijing
shouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...
I bet he took noiseless images when he was at the pole. You know scientists uses liquid nitrogen to cool cameras to reduce noise.
 
i am going to get a camera bag for my G2 and accessories..
do i need to put something inside the bag to keep it warm or..?

thanks!

Cal
 
Cal said:
i am going to get a camera bag for my G2 and accessories..
do i need to put something inside the bag to keep it warm or..?
Click to expand...
I don't think so. Firstly, I doubt you can keep the inside warm efficiently. Especally if you are planning on ever opening the bag. ;-)

Secondly, I think the consensus is that it's perfectly all right for the camera to be cold. The only concern being condensation when bringing it from the cold to room/body temperature. I haven't had a chance to really use my G2 in cold weather yet, but I have used it at around -2C about 2 weeks ago. Worked absolutely fine in all respects. Before returning home, I put G2 in a sizeable Ziplock bag and left it on my desk for 2 hours.

P.S. I read in someone's post that there is a potential of in-camera lubrication freezing at very low temperatures, but I don't know how serious this danger is, nor whether it applies to Canon's cameras. With that wobbly lens, it doesn't feel like there's a ton of lubricant in there...

Cheers,

Michael Shannon
 
Hi Cal,

I just got back from a 2 week vacation in China. I have a G2 and use a 1G and 340MB microdrives. The weather was fairly moderate most of the places I went (30-55 degrees Fahrenheit), but I was in Beijing for the 1st couple of snowfalls this year (temperature dropped to the mid 20s), and I went to Datong to see the Yungang Grottos and an older section of the Great Wall.

The temperature in Datong was easily in the teens, plus there was a nice brisk breeze, bringing the wind chill temp down even further. My hands were so cold (I had only very light gloves on so that I could easily operate the camera) when I was in the shade that it was difficult to press down the shutter release!

The camera worked fine through the snow in Beijing and the colder weather in Datong. When not in use, I would generally tuck it inside the outer layer of my coat to keep it out of the wind (and snow). Concerning battery life - I took about 80 to 100 pictures per day, using the lcd for most, and only had to use my 2nd battery once. This was a noticable improvement over my G1 which I used on a similar vacation earlier in the year - with the G1 I needed the 2nd battery fairly often by late afternoon or evening.

Hope this helps,
  • Rich
P.S. - I also went to Lhasa, Tibet for a few days, and had no problems with either the camera or my microdrives at the high altitudes... It was also in the high teens, low twenties there in the evenings.
Cal said:
i will go for a trip (Beijing in China) this christmas..
temperature there may go down to -8 to -5 degree celcius..
i would like to know if the battery life would be greatly
decreased.....or even not work ?

thanks!!

--
Cal
Click to expand...
 
Rich -

What kind of altitudes did you use the microdrive at in Tibet?

Thanks,
Dave

ps Post some pics from your trip!
Rich Strong said:
I just got back from a 2 week vacation in China. I have a G2 and
use a 1G and 340MB microdrives. The weather was fairly moderate
most of the places I went (30-55 degrees Fahrenheit), but I was in
Beijing for the 1st couple of snowfalls this year (temperature
dropped to the mid 20s), and I went to Datong to see the Yungang
Grottos and an older section of the Great Wall.

The temperature in Datong was easily in the teens, plus there was a
nice brisk breeze, bringing the wind chill temp down even further.
My hands were so cold (I had only very light gloves on so that I
could easily operate the camera) when I was in the shade that it
was difficult to press down the shutter release!

The camera worked fine through the snow in Beijing and the colder
weather in Datong. When not in use, I would generally tuck it
inside the outer layer of my coat to keep it out of the wind (and
snow). Concerning battery life - I took about 80 to 100 pictures
per day, using the lcd for most, and only had to use my 2nd battery
once. This was a noticable improvement over my G1 which I used on
a similar vacation earlier in the year - with the G1 I needed the
2nd battery fairly often by late afternoon or evening.

Hope this helps,
  • Rich
P.S. - I also went to Lhasa, Tibet for a few days, and had no
problems with either the camera or my microdrives at the high
altitudes... It was also in the high teens, low twenties there in
the evenings.
Cal said:
i will go for a trip (Beijing in China) this christmas..
temperature there may go down to -8 to -5 degree celcius..
i would like to know if the battery life would be greatly
decreased.....or even not work ?

thanks!!

--
Cal
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
From IBM's sight:
http://www.storage.ibm.com/hdd/micro/datasheet.htm

"IBM Microdrive operating temperature range:
Ambient temperature 0 to 65ºC (measured at unit)

Nonoperating temperature:
-40 to 65ºC

The term "Non-Operating" refers to the storage temperature of a microdrive. For example, sitting in the trunk of the car on a cold Minnesota morning or warmed by the rays of the Caribbean sun. The drive will begin to run once the temperature has risen to the operating specification value."

Jeff K.
Grablife said:
If you really want to test it, stick your G2 in the freezer for 10
minutes and see if it'll work properly. (I'm just kidding. You
don't want to damage your camera)

Your best bet is to buy a bunch of chemical hand warmers and tape
one to the battery compartment. Keep the camera in a pocket close
to your body in between shoots. Outdoor film photographers have
been doing this for decades. Lastly, I don't think microdrives will
spin too well in -8 celcius.
Cal said:
i will go for a trip (Beijing in China) this christmas..
temperature there may go down to -8 to -5 degree celcius..
i would like to know if the battery life would be greatly
decreased.....or even not work ?

thanks!!

--
Cal
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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