How cold is too cold...

[Barheeway]

for my "new" D50?

It's been between 20 and minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit since I got the camera, and I've only taken it outside for brief periods - maybe 10 minutes - max - sticking it under my jacket between shots.

But I do see lots of winter pictures on this site.

Learning to deal with white balance with all that snow would be a good thing to learn, but not at the expense of ruining my new toys.

So...how cold is too cold?

Are there different issues involved between too cold for the camera and too cold for an autofocus lens?

What are the signs that you're doing your equipment in? (Short of actually having ice crystals fall out of the lens when it focuses?)

Thanks!

 

[Tibia]

So...how cold is too cold?

Generally when it’s too cold for you… That’s my experience, used my camera a lot during -10 to -20 Celsius over Christmas, my fingers where the limiting factor.

The main things you will notice is that the batteries will drain faster and that the auto focus might be a bit slower if it is really cold.

Take the battery of your camera and keep the battery close to your body when not shooting, keeps them going for longer.

Be careful and prevent internal condensation of camera body and lens when coming back in to the warm house. This is very easily done by putting the camera/lens in a plastic bag, suck the air out of the bag and seal it at airtight as possible before leaving the freezing weather outside.

Leave the camera in the sealed plastic until it has warmed up to room temperature.

Have fun with your new camera!

 

[devnull]

for my "new" D50?

It's been between 20 and minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit since I got the
camera, and I've only taken it outside for brief periods - maybe 10
minutes - max - sticking it under my jacket between shots.

Worst thing you can do. Under your jacket it's warm and wet, outside it's cold. Guess what happens when you bring the cold camera in the warm, moist environment?

The right way is to leave the camera outside. It will cool and remain cold - no problems. The problems come when you bring it into a warm environment - so do what the other poster suggested: put the camera in a plastic bag and close the bag airtight until the camera has warmed up.

But I do see lots of winter pictures on this site.

Sure

Learning to deal with white balance with all that snow would be a
good thing to learn, but not at the expense of ruining my new toys.

So...how cold is too cold?

Basically, when the camera stops working, something froze It will unfreeze.

Are there different issues involved between too cold for the camera
and too cold for an autofocus lens?

Maybe. More contact between the "things" that move the focus - motors, cogs, whatever. That means more grease, which can freeze.

What are the signs that you're doing your equipment in? (Short of
actually having ice crystals fall out of the lens when it focuses?)

Well, if something stops working or there are strange noises, or it feels really lazy, maybe it's time to stop shooting.

Some advice: don't breathe on the viewfinder. And it's a good ideea to use an UV filter in these conditions, it's easier to scrape ice from.

Thanks!

You're wellcome

 

[santa]

IF you have enough spare batteries, cold is not an issue to your camera as long as you don't do something silly like keep it inside your coat. I've shot at -50F (no windchill). Once cold, keep the camera cold till you are done, then put in ziplock baggy or in your zipped up camera bag before you come inside and let it get warm slowly for a few hours if it was really cold. you don't want condensation inside.

 

[LM2]

for my "new" D50?

Learning to deal with white balance with all that snow would be a
good thing to learn, but not at the expense of ruining my new toys.

The snow tends to look blue, and that's because it reflects the mostly blue sky on sunny days. Not sure how the WB menu works on a D50 but on my Oly you have the choice of a little building with a shadow. Things in shadow are predominately illuminated by the blue sky so the same setting works ok for snow.

The obvious way is to shoot in raw and fix it later when you develop the raw picture.

The other issue with snow is that you fool the meter on the camera and so the picture typically is underexposed giving the snow a grey appearance. With lots of snow in the picture you'll typically need anywhere from +1EV to +2EV exposure compensation. Take a shot and check the histogram. You'll need a strong peak over on the far right or your underexposed.

What are the signs that you're doing your equipment in? (Short of
actually having ice crystals fall out of the lens when it focuses?)

When the autofocus stops working....it's too cold. The lubricants in the lens have become too viscous for the AF motor to overcome.

I've had mine out at -20F without that happening, so I'm guessing it would have to be colder than that.

Oh and the LCD stops working somewhere in there....just goes to white. No worries, it'll start working again when it warms up.

Thanks!

--
A member of the rabble in good standing

 

[Glen Barrington]

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