Shooting in Winter?

[Hippophile]

Hi

I live in Canada, which means it can get very, very cold in winter. Summer, fall, and spring are acceptable temperatures for most of the year, but late fall is similar to winter. How cold is too cold to bring your camera out? Is there an inexpensive way to keep it at a reasonable temperature in very cold conditions, or do you have to have special weather-proofing and the like in order to shoot in -40 C conditions? I want to be able to bring my camera out and shoot the mystical wintery scenes, but will I simply have to suck it up if the temperature happens to be -35 C with falling snow and wind?

 

[John Crowe]

Wow, how far north are you? I am in Central Ontario and have shot in Algonquin Park at -22 C with a Canon 5D II, 5DSR, Nikon D2X, D3300, and Kodak SLRn with no trouble.

Once the camera and lenses are cold, keep them cold. Between locations I keep the batteries in my pocket.

When I arrive home I take the card out of the camera and I keep everything in my camera bag and place it in the front hall where it is a bit cooler. It takes several hours for it to reach room temperature.

I personally would not shoot in -40 C but perhaps someone else has experience with that.

 

[Hippophile]

Wow, how far north are you? I am in Central Ontario and have shot in Algonquin Park at -22 C with a Canon 5D II, 5DSR, Nikon D2X, D3300, and Kodak SLRn with no trouble.

Once the camera and lenses are cold, keep them cold. Between locations I keep the batteries in my pocket.

When I arrive home I take the card out of the camera and I keep everything in my camera bag and place it in the front hall where it is a bit cooler. It takes several hours for it to reach room temperature.

I personally would not shoot in -40 C but perhaps someone else has experience with that.

I am quite close to the American border actually, so the -40 C temperatures don't frequently appear. Usually, cold snaps occur and we get very cold temperatures for a week or two. It wouldn't be overly difficult to simply stay indoors and photograph indoor subjects during such a period.

Our basement is quite cool, especially in winter. When my sister sleeps down there, she has multiple blankets, even in summer. I could use the basement, then, as a location to gradually bring my camera's temperature back up to room temp.

I've actually been outside shooting with a compact camera (This was a few years ago) and my lens froze open. I don't remember what the temperature was, but it was most likely around -30 C.

I am excited to photograph snow. Even though I have had my camera during winter periods, I never did much with it. Summer, spring, and fall have always been my preferred shooting seasons. However, when the snow hardens on the tree branches, it looks like a winter wonderland, quite literally. I should try to capture that.

 

[JasonTheBirder]

I live in Canada also. I just don't shoot when it's colder than -10C.

 

[alcelc]

I admire you living in such wonderful region. I am living in coastal region currently at 30+°C from 10am, could reach 35°C in shade in mid day... I have to paid to enjoy the cold...

Had traveled to various snow region and the coldest was a 8 days trip to North Eastern China, had experienced the -25°C living.

Wearing warm enough outfit is a must. I originally expected wearing thick gloves would need to use stylist pen for touch control of my cameras, but eventually found chemical hand warmer inserted into thin insulated gloves was enough and allowed me to operate my cameras as usual.

That trip I carried an entry class and an upper entry ~ mid range class MILC with me, bodies and lenses were not climate proof. Luckily they all performed well. I had to carry a lot more spare batteries (4 batteries for each camera to be excact). Those usually 3~3.5 hours life batteries had much shorter life in the cold (around 50%?)...

Shooting in snow is always wonderful to me.

 

[Hippophile]

I admire you living in such wonderful region. I am living in coastal region currently at 30+°C from 10am, could reach 35°C in shade in mid day... I have to paid to enjoy the cold...

Had traveled to various snow region and the coldest was a 8 days trip to North Eastern China, had experienced the -25°C living.

Wearing warm enough outfit is a must. I originally expected wearing thick gloves would need to use stylist pen for touch control of my cameras, but eventually found chemical hand warmer inserted into thin insulated gloves was enough and allowed me to operate my cameras as usual.

That trip I carried an entry class and an upper entry ~ mid range class MILC with me, bodies and lenses were not climate proof. Luckily they all performed well. I had to carry a lot more spare batteries (4 batteries for each camera to be excact). Those usually 3~3.5 hours life batteries had much shorter life in the cold (around 50%?)...

Shooting in snow is always wonderful to me.

Yes, where I live, we get very hot summers and very cold winters. Fall and spring are, of course, in between temp-wise. I've been taking the fact that I get to experience the best of both worlds for granted until I read your post. Hmmmm...

So it seems like moderately cold temperatures will be okay as long as I gradually return my camera to room temp and be aware of shortened battery life..

Thanks, guys!

 

[ken_in_nh]

I live in SW New Hampshire, where we get some decent cold weather, well below 0 c. some of my favorite shooting is in winter, especially a series of streamside trails near my house. The streams are a series of rapids and small waterfalls, so they never really freeze, and the ice formations are fascinating.

I tend to keep my camera inside a jacket when I'm not shooting, mostly to keep it from swinging and bouncing about, since I need microspikes and poles on these streamside trails, which are icy. Never had any problems shooting, whether fogging or battery. I do carry an extra battery in an inside pocket too.

 

[Ontarian]

Good idea to keep the battery or a backup battery in an inside pocket. However, I keep the camera in an outside pocket or backpack when not in use. Think about when you step inside the house in winter wearing glasses. They immediately steam up. A camera lens will do the same when cold and them placed under your warm and often humid coat.

 

[ken_in_nh]

Good idea to keep the battery or a backup battery in an inside pocket. However, I keep the camera in an outside pocket or backpack when not in use. Think about when you step inside the house in winter wearing glasses. They immediately steam up. A camera lens will do the same when cold and them placed under your warm and often humid coat.

Maybe in theory, but not my experience. No doubt this is because I layer (heck, it's cold outside) so it's not probably that much warmer under the jacket. Keep in mind too that going from warmer to colder is the opposite of going inside a warm humid house from the cold outside.

Suggestions for winter shooting: Since exposure is trick, given the wide range of subject brightness, shooting in raw is pretty important. Scenes tend to b e monochromatic, so a smidgen of color goes a long way. Finally, note that snow can be lacking in any detail, so don't rely on snow as the key element in your pictures. It will look like a white blob.

 

[Christi Dee]

Hi

I live in Canada, which means it can get very, very cold in winter. Summer, fall, and spring are acceptable temperatures for most of the year, but late fall is similar to winter. How cold is too cold to bring your camera out? Is there an inexpensive way to keep it at a reasonable temperature in very cold conditions, or do you have to have special weather-proofing and the like in order to shoot in -40 C conditions? I want to be able to bring my camera out and shoot the mystical wintery scenes, but will I simply have to suck it up if the temperature happens to be -35 C with falling snow and wind?

Make sure your battery is completely charged. The cold can commonly drain pipes batteries of any kind of kind, so you wish to have at the very least a totally charged battery in the camera. If you will be out shooting for hrs or will be photographing nature or wild animals, for instance, as well as will certainly be trekking to your location, you'll want to bring an additional battery or more with you. Maintain them inside your layer, in an inner pocket preferably.

In a similar way to exactly how you would change batteries, media cards, or a lens when shooting at the beach or anywhere that may be dusty, you intend to shield the camera from the components. If you can do it inside your home, that's fantastic. Otherwise, a minimum of try to block any wind, rainfall declines, or snows from getting inside the cam. This is crucial if you're going to be transforming lenses-- do so outdoors if you absolutely must!

Utilize your lens hood (f your lens featured one)-- it's offered a factor. The lens hood keeps raindrops or snowflakes from dropping straight onto the exposed front lens aspect.

When snowflakes are very near the video camera as well as you use a flash, the flash will certainly brighten the snows, as well as you'll see those as hotspots in your picture. As a result of this, attempt not to utilize your flash if in any way possible while it's really snowing.

Location it in a backpack or electronic camera bag when you go outside right into the cold with your cam. By doing this, if you're going indoors to heat up, put the camera in the bag, zip, shut it as well, as enable it to heat up progressively. It will certainly fog up if it also warms promptly. When you go from a cool structure outside right into humid and hot temperatures in the summer season), (This additionally takes place. You might have to wait on it to adapt to the temperature level before taking much more photos.

 

[BBbuilder467]

Hi

I live in Canada, which means it can get very, very cold in winter. Summer, fall, and spring are acceptable temperatures for most of the year, but late fall is similar to winter. How cold is too cold to bring your camera out? Is there an inexpensive way to keep it at a reasonable temperature in very cold conditions, or do you have to have special weather-proofing and the like in order to shoot in -40 C conditions? I want to be able to bring my camera out and shoot the mystical wintery scenes, but will I simply have to suck it up if the temperature happens to be -35 C with falling snow and wind?

I hike with my Samoyed and Elkhounds in the extreme cold. They don't notice -38F.

My gear has survived years of use in the cold, but I'm careful to protect it more when the temperature is more than 10 degrees below freezing. All my Lowepro bags are well insulated and I don't leave the gear exposed for any length of time.

The main thing is to zip everything closed when returning indoors and let it stabilize before opening it. I keep spare batteries in an inner pocket, mostly to preserve battery life. I only expect about half in the severe cold.

it seems like the gear can handle all I can take, as long as you use a little common sense. When you live in a cold climate, it's not hard to adjust. It's the tourists from warm climates that have problems.

 

[Ontarian]

It was forecast to go down to zero F overnight so we didn't bother setting up the backpacking tent. Shot with an Olympus P&S. DSLR too heavy to take on three day treks.




Breakfast by the fire

 

[GlennRiney8]

Hi

I live in Canada, which means it can get very, very cold in winter. Summer, fall, and spring are acceptable temperatures for most of the year, but late fall is similar to winter. How cold is too cold to bring your camera out? Is there an inexpensive way to keep it at a reasonable temperature in very cold conditions, or do you have to have special weather-proofing and the like in order to shoot in -40 C conditions? I want to be able to bring my camera out and shoot the mystical wintery scenes, but will I simply have to suck it up if the temperature happens to be -35 C with falling snow and wind?

Sure you can shoot with a temperature like -40, but your camera probably is gonna be slower than usual, I mean the menu part and etc. Also it`s not that great overall for your camera. I used to bring my cam with me, from +40 to -40 everywhere, it`1s still alive, but dying faster than it should.

 

[ken_in_nh]

Hi

I live in Canada, which means it can get very, very cold in winter. Summer, fall, and spring are acceptable temperatures for most of the year, but late fall is similar to winter. How cold is too cold to bring your camera out? Is there an inexpensive way to keep it at a reasonable temperature in very cold conditions, or do you have to have special weather-proofing and the like in order to shoot in -40 C conditions? I want to be able to bring my camera out and shoot the mystical wintery scenes, but will I simply have to suck it up if the temperature happens to be -35 C with falling snow and wind?

Sure you can shoot with a temperature like -40, but your camera probably is gonna be slower than usual, I mean the menu part and etc. Also it`s not that great overall for your camera. I used to bring my cam with me, from +40 to -40 everywhere, it`1s still alive, but dying faster than it should.

Isn't everything slower in the winter? I know I am! Especially on the trail, especially on snow and ice. But that's part of the beauty of winter, too.