Winter preparations for cam?

[baiyun]

Going to korea in december.
Decided to bring 300D, sigma 20mm and 50mm f1.8 lens and sigma ef500 dg super flash.

Now is the lowepro Orion trek sufficient to protect the cam from the cold?
Any cost effective way of protecting cam from the cold? heat warmer?

Anyone got experience using the cam in winter conditions..cos i got the battery grip, altogether i got 3 batteries, wondering need to get more batteries or not?
as i join tour so need the cam to last for 7-8 hrs per day...

 

[jsbn]

I'm not really sure abt the temperature of Korea during December. But my 300D survived 1 whole day with 1 single battery during winter in Sydney. Of cos, no flash. Flashing seems to gulp power faster.

If u're really worried, get those handwarmer, shake the packet and put it in ur camera bag. Put ur cam away when not in use. It'll keep the interior nice & warm.

 

[baiyun]

any idea where in singapore got sell those hand warmer?

 

[fude]

any idea where in singapore got sell those hand warmer?

Those winter ware shops.

 

[rebbot]

remember to bring ziplock bags. This is useful when you move from a cold to warm place, once your lenses fog up. you can forget about taking a pic for hours.

 

[Belano]

May i ask whats the ziplock for? How can it prevent digi cam from fogging up?

 

[rebbot]

May i ask whats the ziplock for? How can it prevent digi cam from fogging up?

when i move between places where temperature differs by quite a bit, I put the cam into the ziplock so when condensation occurs, it will not fog up your lenses and leave your cam in the bag to 'defrost' slowly back to the correct temperature.

 

[kit_fisto]

any idea where in singapore got sell those hand warmer?

u can try buying it at watsons, they have it there, quite cheap. for more variety, can go to marina square. there a shop that sells travelling stuff, not sure if its still there or not

 

[Isaiahfortythirtyone]

wahh im gg to korea in dec too! hmm. i think its gonna be near zero degrees leh. got skiing and snow. surely cold la. but as always, its not really the temp, but rather the wind. no wind shd be fine.

i think im just gonna bring a toploader with kit lens + 28-75 tamron.no flash. why would u need a flash? bulky leh.

anyway, ya...can anyone enlighten on the proper procedure to use ziplock bag? if forget to put inside bag and condensation forms, how?

 

[baiyun]

ehh...snowy..foggy weather....maybe not enough light to take photo. that's why thot shld bring flash.....or maybe can use higher iso...then no need bring flash...
i see how first....

i think if forget to put inside ziplock bag, got to go use hair dryer and try to dry up the lens lor....

 

[clarinet]

ehh...snowy..foggy weather....maybe not enough light to take photo. that's why thot shld bring flash.....or maybe can use higher iso...then no need bring flash...
i see how first....

i think if forget to put inside ziplock bag, got to go use hair dryer and try to dry up the lens lor....

err.. I thought snow reflect alot of light?

 

[baiyun]

snow reflect light but does not mean got a lot of light...rite?
thot snow usually means got to over expose +1.5 ?

so is it necessary to bring flash? hmmm...any recommendations?

 

[Stoned]

wahh im gg to korea in dec too! hmm. i think its gonna be near zero degrees leh. got skiing and snow. surely cold la. but as always, its not really the temp, but rather the wind. no wind shd be fine.

i think im just gonna bring a toploader with kit lens + 28-75 tamron.no flash. why would u need a flash? bulky leh.

anyway, ya...can anyone enlighten on the proper procedure to use ziplock bag? if forget to put inside bag and condensation forms, how?

This is important as the condensation may, under certain circumstances form on the insides of the camera(ouch). For this reason alone I prefer to use film bodies for cold climates. For lenses, it fogs up the elements, but it usually returns to normal after about 5-7 hours. However, I have seen some cases where the lens doesn't ever return to normal or there's some moisture left trapped inside.

Anyway, this is the procedure. When going from a cold area to a warm area, place equipment in the ziplock bag. Leave it inside until camera feels no longer cold to the touch. After this point, leave it inside for another 15-30 mins for safety's sake(or this is just me being kiasu). That being said, I didn't use ziplocs when I went to China last time where it was about -5 deg on the mountain top. I left it in the camera bag for about half an hour once I went indoors. It was perfectly fine(no fogging).

The main thing is do not use it or brandish it around the moment you step into a warm area. Moisture will form on your precious equipment right before your eyes. A rough estimate of how long it takes would be when your glasses unfog if you wear them.

 

[baiyun]

then if i use those hand warmer and put it in my cam bag, after i use the cam, say shoot around few pictures, i can just put it back into the bag? or still need to use ziplock bag?

 

[rebbot]

snow reflect light but does not mean got a lot of light...rite?
thot snow usually means got to over expose +1.5 ?

so is it necessary to bring flash? hmmm...any recommendations?

why do u need to over expose by +1.5? if you do that, you will get losta of blown highlights. At least for me, I always try to underexpose by a little to keep the details. Most importantly get the WB correct or you can take the pic first and rectify when you get home with photoshop.

 

[rebbot]

wahh im gg to korea in dec too! hmm. i think its gonna be near zero degrees leh. got skiing and snow. surely cold la. but as always, its not really the temp, but rather the wind. no wind shd be fine.

i think im just gonna bring a toploader with kit lens + 28-75 tamron.no flash. why would u need a flash? bulky leh.

anyway, ya...can anyone enlighten on the proper procedure to use ziplock bag? if forget to put inside bag and condensation forms, how?

if you forget and condensation sets in, it may take a while for it to clear. You can forget about taking photos for the rest of the day and worse if it affects the internals of your cam. If you are worried, bring a backup p&s along. no issues with my ixus v3 when I was in korea.

 

[Witness]

i tink u should worry about ya hands more than ya camera...i went in feb.... condensation wasnt much of an issue...the place is cold all over.....

 

[baiyun]

haha....that warmer thing is for my cam and hands...

this says usually must increase exposure, so i guess over expose by 0.5-1 stop shld be safe.
http://photography.about.com/cs/techniques/a/aa020204_4.htm

 

[eric69]

If u're really worried, get those handwarmer, shake the packet and put it in ur camera bag. Put ur cam away when not in use. It'll keep the interior nice & warm.

wooo... don't try this, your bag may be warm, but the moment your warm cam hit the cold, fogging on lens will happen often...

 

[eric69]

why do u need to over expose by +1.5? if you do that, you will get losta of blown highlights. At least for me, I always try to underexpose by a little to keep the details. Most importantly get the WB correct or you can take the pic first and rectify when you get home with photoshop.

Your cam will thought that the composition is too bright, and set your exposure lower automatically. Therefore you need to over-exposure your cam manually by at least +1EV.