[AislinP]

Hi, everyone! As much as I hate to admit it, winter will be coming. I'd love to go out and take photos of the town when the snow hits, but a constant worry of mine (and a reason for a lot of missed shots) is I've been concerned about going outside, then coming back indoors and my lens fogging up. I'm worried that eventually it will cause mold/fungus in the camera. Not to mention the temperature. I've been worrying about the cold messing with my camera. The most obvious solution would be to just not take my Pentax outdoors, but I wanted to see if there was any way to make holiday shots possible. Thanks for all the help!

[lytrytyr]

When it's cold, I keep my camera and lens under my coat,
except when actually taking photographs,
so they are staying at around room temperature.

[flugfiske]

I have K-x K-50 and K-3. All of them function perfectly in -20 Celsius. I usually keep spare battery under coat, because when battery gets cold, capasity goes down too. Swapping backwords from warm to cold to warm can cause condensing inside the camera, so that I would not recommend. When I go back inside, I usually take batteries out, and leave whole backpack CLOSED to warm slowly, so condensing would be minimal. This way I have done after 4 hours of -20 celcius northernlight photosessions, without problems

[TER-OR]

Keep the lens on the camera if it's weather sealed. If you have a mud room or someplace half-heated that might help it equilibrate. I generally haven't seen any issues with the moisture in winter, but if I know I'm going in and out of the house with it I will leave it in the mud room. If it's really bad you can get a sealed container and a bag/tin of dessicant - which can be dried in the oven when its color changes. Just place the camera in the container to allow it to warm without drawing moisture.

It's as bad in summer with air conditioning and humidity outdoors. Plenty of times I've had to wait for the lens to de-fog to get pictures.

[dsingley100]

Before coming in from the cold, remove the battery and memory card. Then, still outside, put the camera and lens in a gallon Zip Loc bag (with or without desiccant - although probably better with it). Come inside and let the whole thing warm up to room temperature - likely a couple hours process. The reason to take the memory card and battery out before coming in is so that you can charge the batter (after it warms up a bit) and load the pictures on your computer - after the card warms up. Battery and card will take significantly less time to warm up than will camera and lens.

[BrianR]

When it's cold, I keep my camera and lens under my coat,
except when actually taking photographs,
so they are staying at around room temperature.

What temperatures are you defining as 'cold'? When it's -20C or lower, the camera cools down very fast when shooting, if it goes back under my coat it's instant condensation. Even worse, it's armpit humidity condensation. I keep everything out in the cold air except a spare battery (this especially includes lens caps). When done, the memory card goes indoors, camera goes in a plastic ziplock in a mudroom for a few hours, then indoors. If I plan to go out shooting again, I sometimes leave everything in the car except memory cards and batteries.

The ziplock bag isn't always necessary, it really depends on how rapid the temperature change is. Nor does it have to be frighteningly cold to have an issue. I definitely use a ziplock in the spring when going from outside (about 0C) to inside one of our greenhouses (25C or so and massive humidity). I'll also look for a cooler spot in the greenhouse to ease the transition. It can take some planning, but it's nothing to be afraid of.

[alamo5000]

Hi, everyone! As much as I hate to admit it, winter will be coming. I'd love to go out and take photos of the town when the snow hits, but a constant worry of mine (and a reason for a lot of missed shots) is I've been concerned about going outside, then coming back indoors and my lens fogging up. I'm worried that eventually it will cause mold/fungus in the camera. Not to mention the temperature. I've been worrying about the cold messing with my camera. The most obvious solution would be to just not take my Pentax outdoors, but I wanted to see if there was any way to make holiday shots possible. Thanks for all the help!

You don't need to worry about the cold itself. Foggy lens can happen in summer or winter either one. If you leave the nice cool AC and go out into the muggy humid heat you will get foggy lens too. It's the rapid temperature change either up or down that causes that. Just operating your camera on a cold day isn't a problem.

The real trick is figuring out how to get your camera to ambient temperature. Many hunters have this same problem with their hunting scopes. The fix is simple. They just put their guns in the truck the night before and let them normalize to the outside temperature.

[honey bo bo]

Keeping Pentax K-5 Safe During Colder Weather?

I have lived all my life in the True North Strong and Free. Winter is bad boating season ; the Family Yacht gets kind of frosty; the lake gets very lumpy but I still have managed to take my cameras out and take some pics for over forty years. Not a smidgeon of fungus, no mushrooms not even will-nots have infested my Gear over this time. How come? Not really sure but here is what I have done faithfully during this time. I buy Silica-Gel sacs from the Orient in various sizes. I keep every Silica Sac that comes with Electronics and I put them in every Lens Pouch , Camera Bag and storage area that I have gear. I don't seal anything in plastic bags and all pouches and bags are Breathable material. And when I come in from outdoors I make sure my camera and lenses that I have used out of their containers are left out until they reach Room Temperature. And Most Important is The fact that in this Part of World; Winter is very DRY indoors. Unhealthy Dry. A lot of people have humidifiers going 6 months of the year. And if it isn't bad enough -30 draws what little moisture is in the Air and paints pretty designs on your kitchen & bathroom Windows. I added the colour in the 2nd picture to warm it up so your tongue doesn't stick to it.

P.S. It works also for taking pictures in the Summer @ 100*F going back and forth to an Air Conditioned Vehicle & House

[Wingincamera]

Before coming in from the cold, remove the battery and memory card. Then, still outside, put the camera and lens in a gallon Zip Loc bag (with or without desiccant - although probably better with it). Come inside and let the whole thing warm up to room temperature - likely a couple hours process. The reason to take the memory card and battery out before coming in is so that you can charge the batter (after it warms up a bit) and load the pictures on your computer - after the card warms up. Battery and card will take significantly less time to warm up than will camera and lens.

This is what I do. I don't always remove the battery since I have three of them.

[pakinjapan]

I take my camera with me in both snow and rain. Even in summer, get on and off a cool a/c train here in Tokyo (very high humidity) can cause instant condensation to the lens and camera view finder. During winter, when you back from or before go out for a photo shooting, leave your gears in a room with no heater on for a haft an hour or more. that is what I do. Don't worry too much.

[lytrytyr]

What temperatures are you defining as 'cold'? When it's -20C or lower, the camera cools down very fast when shooting

What are you defining as "very fast"?

If it's way below freezing, keep the camera set, pop it out of the coat for the shot, then put it back.

it's armpit humidity condensation.

Camera down by the waist, not up at the armpit. Or are you talking about Windsor?

[BrianR]

What are you defining as "very fast"?

That's an easy definition - "very fast" here means it chills to below the dew point of my jacket interior in less time than it takes for me to take the camera out, take the photo, and return it to my jacket.

The actual temperature at which this occurs varies according to a complex formula depending on the bulk of my gloves (decreases camera operation speed), whether my eyelids are frozen shut (ditto), the particular coat I'm wearing (affects interior temperature), physical exertion prior to the photo attempt (ditt), and how much hot sauce I had on my lunch (hot curries increase perspiration and thus the RH% of my jacket interior). Below -15C is usually my danger zone, but it really depends. I'm waiting for an app to do the calculation on the fly, I think it would be a popular one.

Camera down by the waist, not up at the armpit. Or are you talking about Windsor?

Ooh, Windsor might actually be harder on a camera than my armpit