Will Temperature Affect The Camera?


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youngblood

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Oct 17, 2007
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Hi,

My first post :)

I am a newbie looking to buy a Canon/Nikon DSLR. I'll also be travelling to Europe this coming winter with this camera. So I went to Sim Lim Square and check out some shops and asked their advice about the temperature affecting the camera.

The reason for my question is because I had a bad experience with a Canon Ixus during my last trip to Japan. It was quite cold up on the mountains maybe abt 12 or so degrees. Camera was working fine there. But the next day when I was in the city, where temperature is about 24 degrees, I took out the camera for some snaps and it failed. I could on it, but I can't take or view any pics at all!!! It showed some weird colour screen and hung there. Couldn't take any pics for the remaining trip and worst of all, the thought of losing all the precious memories...2 days later, back in Singapore, I thought I'll try again before sending it for repair. and lo and behold it is working. What a relief!!!! Not sure what happen here maybe some bros can advise.

Anyway, back to Sim Lim Square. Went to 3 shops and popped the question, and 3 shops all gave me different answers :

Shop 1 - "Cold weather confirm cannot la. 10 degrees? I don't think so. Olympus has this model which is ALL WEATHER model. This one can no problem."

I thought to myself this is really bizarre, this dude recommended me a point n shoot camera (got pink model got blue model etc) when I wanted a DSLR to dabble into some serious photography.

Shop 2 - "Aiya, this kind of thing I cannot guarantee one la. Check with your friends also no use one. I tell you what la, I give you good price no one can match."

Steady sales tactic, deviate from my question.

Shop 3 - "No problem don't worry. How can have problem where we can see winters pictures all the time? No worry brudder."

At this point, I am confused already. But the last shop was nice, even though he can guarantee no problems, he wasn't pushy at all. He did make sense though. So I told him I'll check out the forums.


So my fellow friends, I hope you can help and advise me on this. Thanks.
 

Bro, I am currently using a d40 dslr in Uk, the tempreture is around 4 - 10 degree. No issue, can still shoot and view. I think issue will arise when you are talking abt sub-zero type of tempreture,which I know to some extent will affect the lifespan of the battery, not sure what else it would affect though.
 

Shop 1 - "Cold weather confirm cannot la. 10 degrees? I don't think so. Olympus has this model which is ALL WEATHER model. This one can no problem."

Shop 2 - "Aiya, this kind of thing I cannot guarantee one la. Check with your friends also no use one. I tell you what la, I give you good price no one can match."

Shop 3 - "No problem don't worry. How can have problem where we can see winters pictures all the time? No worry brudder."
hurhurhur i am extremely amused by the replies from each shop

ALL WEATHER MODEL INDEED HURHURHUR

anyhow, working temperature is often stated in your camera manual, as shop 3 has mentioned, definitely there are ways around it

check out this link here - it claims that at extreme sub zero it is best not to use it, your sensor might "crack", also many people are sharing experiences where no problem, though battery life is recordedly shorter at low temperatures

however, 10 degrees, definitely should be no problem, i don't know what the temperature where i am is currently, but last i remembered before i came (to london) it should be in the region of your questioned range at night? (~10 degrees C)

your experience with ixus is probably due to battery failure problem - in cold weather batteries do not work as well, so try to keep them warm, i.e. close to body, or using a warmer to "heat it up". reasoning being something to do with chemical reactions, that's all you have to know really.
 

12 degrees C is not very cold. I'm surprised that yr camera didn't work under those conditions. Perhaps there were already existing problems with the camera that you were not aware of? I was in Vancouver in winter and was up at Mt Whistler where the temperature was minus 4 deg C. My Canon A520 was working fine.

I am also surprised (or rather shocked) at the kind of responses those salesmen gave you. We are not talking about climbing Mt Everest in winter where temperature can be extreme. Otherwise, low temperature shouldn't adversely affect the camera. Then again, a fully manual film camera is always handy when digital camera fails! :D
 

12 degrees C is not very cold. I'm surprised that yr camera didn't work under those conditions. Perhaps there were already existing problems with the camera that you were not aware of? I was in Vancouver in winter and was up at Mt Whistler where the temperature was minus 4 deg C. My Canon A520 was working fine.

I am also surprised (or rather shocked) at the kind of responses those salesmen gave you. We are not talking about climbing Mt Everest in winter where temperature can be extreme. Otherwise, low temperature shouldn't adversely affect the camera. Then again, a fully manual film camera is always handy when digital camera fails! :D

due to extreme boredom, i shall resort to shameless brand advertising?

everest? no problemo:

link 1
link 2
 

I'm no pro at this, but for me, my Canon 400D worked at temperatures around -5 degrees Celsius, though I also found that the battery was used up faster.
 

hey guys,

thanks a lot for your advice. i know it is probably common sense but i rather be an ass and asked stupid questions here than be a bigger ass later if i believe the sales staff and bought the ALL WEATHER model...hahaha.. i found the answers they gave me really hilarious.
thanks again guys.

Great forum.
 

hey guys,

thanks a lot for your advice. i know it is probably common sense but i rather be an ass and asked stupid questions here than be a bigger ass later if i believe the sales staff and bought the ALL WEATHER model...hahaha.. i found the answers they gave me really hilarious.
thanks again guys.

Great forum.
all weather model do have their credit as well... at least you know that it will not be damaged by melted eyes on your camera/hands...
 

I hope you know what you are gettting into by shopping in SLS....if you are there just for the entertainment by the salespeoplethere, then I guess its ok.

I would not repeat what the other posts have mentioned regarding temperature, my advice is to be careful of condenstation within the camera when you move from inside/outside the house where there is a big difference in temperature.
 

I used a Nikon E5200 for my Switz trip back in 2004. Dropped it in the snow on top of Mt Titlis. No problem - the cam can still be used now. Just make sure you keep the batteries warm.
 

I hope you know what you are gettting into by shopping in SLS....if you are there just for the entertainment by the salespeoplethere, then I guess its ok.

I would not repeat what the other posts have mentioned regarding temperature, my advice is to be careful of condenstation within the camera when you move from inside/outside the house where there is a big difference in temperature.

oh but I don't know where else to go except SLS. Seems to have the most options there. Any suggestions?
 

I think that one thing to be carefull of is temperature difference.... Condensation.

If your camera is cold, don't use it where the temperature is a lot warmer.

When in Singapore (as you know is hot outside) the camera was in my room (about 22* overnight).

When I went outside in the morning it would smog up (condensation).

Not good for the camera and lens :cry:
 

u might want to try exposing the camera to the ambient temperature of yr end point. this is to avoid sudden changes in temperatures.


i am not sure whether the following will work or not but apart from letter it acclimatise, open the lens caps, covers to allow for the air to 'move' the idea is to avoid condensation issues.
 

very useful tips. thanks guys.
 

Ignore what the shops told you. i never had any problems with my camera in Europe. In fact none of my friends had problems too be in PnS or DSLR. We were always trigger happy. :) IF your camera acts up again,what i can suggest is you remove your battery, place it in your winter coat for a while to warm up the batt. 2nd suggestion is to bring a small P n S as a spare camera. How about giving your IXUS a 2nd chance? ;)

Eh, why Sim Lim for cameras? :thumbsd:
 

i read about 5D die before reaching -30degree today but the main problem is battery drain very fast.
I dont see any problem in cold weather for dslr, but a sudden change in temp. will hang some of the PnS camera for few hour. Happen to my tour group b4.
 

problem with low temperature is mainly battery drain, as already mentioned; but then there might be a limit where the camera would stop to work - I didn't yet explore that one, mind (was out last week with probably -3 to -5 degrees Celsius, no problem whatsoever with my DSLR, and I'm sure that there won't be any at least till -20 degrees)

as for condensation on the glass, if you're going from warm out to cold, no problem; if you go back in, don't lift the caps on the lenses because the warm indoors air contains much more humidity than the cold one outdoors and you get condensation on the lens immediately - well, this should'nt be a big problem if it doesn't happen daily (might be the case in the tropics if you have hot, humid weather outside and air conditioning inside - I've never experienced that one, too, as I've never been to the tropics), the lens will acclimatise to the warmer temperature eventually and the condensation will evaporate

BTW, whereabouts in Europe will you stay?
up to England/Scotland and over Germany, Poland, Czech and Slovak Republik, Austria (that's where I live), Hungary, Serbia and down the Balkans you won't have any problems with low temperatures at all, but further north and east you might just be stuck for a short while with temperatures of -20 to -30 degrees Celsius (or even below) which might cause problems
 

could be a problem with old compacts and their batteries. my previous KM compact also becomes short-lived in the cold (about -3C) and relived at 20+C.

but DSLR wise, so far no problems for almost all down to -5C in most winter urban places. for anything lower, failure rate differs... so you have nothing to worry about unless you are going to very very cold places where you see ice bergs.
 

Ignore what the shops told you. i never had any problems with my camera in Europe. In fact none of my friends had problems too be in PnS or DSLR. We were always trigger happy. :) IF your camera acts up again,what i can suggest is you remove your battery, place it in your winter coat for a while to warm up the batt. 2nd suggestion is to bring a small P n S as a spare camera. How about giving your IXUS a 2nd chance? ;)

Eh, why Sim Lim for cameras? :thumbsd:

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions and POV. Makes perfect sense. Obviously those guys have no clue.

I went to SLS as it is near my office. I hope there isn't any problems with buying goods from there as I bought the camera from the 3rd shop mentioned above!!!
 

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