travel to winter/cold weather tips and experiences

[cmk77ph]

hi

im planning to possibly travel to zero degrees area in china/asia, nothing final yet, so am both excited and curious

ive read few articles on photographing in cold weather
but also wanted to hear some first hand experience for anyone who has travelled/photographed in such cold places to know what are the experienced challenges and tips or maybe things experienced directly or related to photography/camera not usually mentioned in articles that you can share, would appreciate very much

(i primarily plan to get silica gel and plastic bags as protection)

also for anyone who has exposed their cameras to the cold, any short term and long term problems you may have noticed? most feedbacks ive seen say their cameras survived so am just curious if any occurences like spots or rusts or other problems were encountered following cold weather photography (i mainly use nikon dslr & currently fuji x100s.. in case anyone wanted to know for comparison).. and actually havent decided which one would be best for my travel plan


thanks, appreciate your time!!
-c

p.s. since im posting already, anyone has suggestion where best to buy silica gel.. im planning to travel for around 7 days, so not really super long..

 

[Dan]

Generally, most pro camera can survive cold weather no a issue.
You need heat pad rather than silicon gel. Winter is already quite dry. The battery will drop quite fast during cold weather, do keep it warm.
You may experience lens blur if you are moving from indoor to outdoor.. if the temperature difference is big..
A good advise is travel light... you will enjoy your holiday.

hi

im planning to possibly travel to zero degrees area in china/asia, nothing final yet, so am both excited and curious

ive read few articles on photographing in cold weather
but also wanted to hear some first hand experience for anyone who has travelled/photographed in such cold places to know what are the experienced challenges and tips or maybe things experienced directly or related to photography/camera not usually mentioned in articles that you can share, would appreciate very much

(i primarily plan to get silica gel and plastic bags as protection)

also for anyone who has exposed their cameras to the cold, any short term and long term problems you may have noticed? most feedbacks ive seen say their cameras survived so am just curious if any occurences like spots or rusts or other problems were encountered following cold weather photography (i mainly use nikon dslr & currently fuji x100s.. in case anyone wanted to know for comparison).. and actually havent decided which one would be best for my travel plan


thanks, appreciate your time!!
-c

p.s. since im posting already, anyone has suggestion where best to buy silica gel.. im planning to travel for around 7 days, so not really super long..

 

[Octarine]

Please read the sticky thread: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=615253
People have collected already their experiences and tips.
The same applies for any non-Asian country in Winter time.

 

[m1ketan]

For most cameras, 0ºC is nothing to worry about. Most camera systems (lenses, flashes etc) should still work down to 0ºC, no problems. Probably what may happen is that your battery life is somewhat shortened.

The only thing you want to worry about is when your gear gets cold, then you bring the cold gear into a heated place with higher humidity, which causes condensation onto your cold gear. This water will be all over the camera, wherever warm moist air can get in. This includes your circuit boards, which means fried circuits, if the condensation is bad.

Plastic bags and silica gel will be a good idea. But you may want to get ziploc bags instead, and make sure that the air in the bags is cold dry air from outside before you enter warm places. Then wait for the gear to warm up completely before taking it out of the bag.

 

[giantcanopy]

My current 6 yr old beaten up antiquated non weathersealed non professional DSLR survived several wintering holidays, lowest ever being -34 deg with no issues, and it will soon be going for another one in a few days time.

The more frustrating consequence of having condensation in warm humidifed room is that if you do not wipe off the moisture well it forms a coating of ice over the lens if you bring it out in the cold again. Thankfully I haven't had mechanical failure from that (yet). Ziplock method sounds tedious. I have never brought along silica for any holidays.

After buying and trying several types of gloves, I find those convertible hunting gloves ( semi exposed fingers with mitten cover ) offer best dexterity for outdoor photography in cold climates.

Ryan

 

[Ah Keong]

Hi everyone,

I was shopping around and saw Orient Photo selling this Matin Finger Shooting Gloves.
Is it good?
http-//edslrs.com/finger-glove.html

:lovegrin:

 

[cmk77ph]

yey, thanks everyone for the advise and suggestions.. worst thing is i havent decided which camera i'll be bringing.. lets see how it goes

happy holidays to all

 

[alancwr]

I am at haneda airport waiting for flight back.
Brought a7 and rx100mk3 I have no problem w shooting here

Temp is probably abt 7-8 degrees bah
I did not encounter any problem at all

 

[giantcanopy]

Hi everyone,

I was shopping around and saw Orient Photo selling this Matin Finger Shooting Gloves.
Is it good?
http-//edslrs.com/finger-glove.html

:lovegrin:

Index finger and thumb exposure usually gives me enough feel to handle the dials etc for snappy adjustments.

Mine looks something like this ( link just for illustration ) http://www.amazon.com/Manzella-Productions-Hunter-Convertible-Thinsulate/dp/B00JGH9K2C

Depending on weather you could even put on an inner ultra thin glove thermal liner first ( Almost like a 'Triclimate' glove but much more convenient when it comes to needing fine touch )

Ryan

 

[eggie87]

Most dslrs can handle good amount of coldness...Most important is to bring a zip lock bag..before entering a warm building put the camera in the zip lock n seal it up..let it come to temperatures same as the building before taking it out..this method prevents condensation if sealed properly

 

[Alpc]

I think you should worry more about yourself than the camera. Most camera will do fine - ok, some may not survive -34degC, especially the P&S. After traveling to a lot of place during the winter period with 2 trips of temp below -10 degC (including wind chill factor), i would say your camera will survive better than you do.

Only issue is condensation, but i have not encountered that issue (yet) - i don't immediately open my bag to get my camera out once i am indoor. In fact most of the time I get myself comfortably warm first before worry about my cameras and photos! By then it would have adapted to the room temp, so I guess that's why I had no issue.

 

[unclejosh]

I haven't exactly encounter the condensation as mentioned. Brought the ziplocs and silica gel packs but didn't bother with it. The batteries also lasted longer than expected as well.

I was out at about -15c and of similar, got into the car with heater on and people. then out again. repeated a couple of times through the night. Just try to avoid handling the camera (magnesium bodies) and lens with more metal construction after prolong exposure to the cold with bare hands. It gets REALLY cold. As for tripods, DO NOT try to hold the metal part with bare hands if it has been out in the cold.

p/s: cold weather = dry air = minimal moisture = lesser rust or similar. also, you won't be out in the wild for few days at a time--I would assume your cameras would survive. I had my dslr sling on my shoulder while i hike around the snow covered hills. It was freezing cold when I tried to hold it. GLOVES are recommended. as mentioned by some of the other guys here, have your cameras in the bag and not take out straight once you get in. You would spend time, taking off your outer shell, jackets, boots, gloves and hat. Though I personally didn't have any bags to begin with, had both my cameras on both my shoulders most of the time.

 

[DarkWingDoug]

Just came back from Korea, and I'd like to add that I didn't do the zip-lock bag thing. I basically had my EPL6 slung on my shoulders going up snow mountains, entering warm places and there was no condensation at all. Temperatures ranged from 3 to sub 11.

Batteries lasted way longer than I expected, 3 days a charge, granted I didn't use it a lot. 560 shots for a 8 day trip.