[mills]

So, lets say I was going to go camping for a few days, but it was going to be like -20 to -30 C before windchill outside. If I cool the lenses and camera off in a sealed plastic bag (I think I saw that some people think that helps in another thread) are lenses and the camera OK to be outside with me for a few days? Or is that just wishful thinking to hope they'd survive outside that long when its that cold?

I assume WR isnt going to make a difference since it wont be wet, but is my best bet to just bring the cheapest kit lens I can find used and see if it dies?

[joe.penn]

So you are talking -4 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit, that's some pretty cold weather to be camping in. Not sure about the camera body, the lenses however may struggle most notably the operation of the aperture blades on your automatic lenses due to lubrication getting cold and stiff/thick. I personally do not have any experience with equipment in that cold of weather, I am interested in this topic though.

Is this something you have planned? Would be great to hear how your equipment holds up in this weather.


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[Wheatfield]

Last winter, I left my K5 in the truck for a week at -30C to -40C temperatures with no ill effect. I used the camera periodically during that time. Everything worked.
Be prepared to manual focus if that gets stiff, but otherwise it should be fine.
Do yourself a favour and keep the battery warm, but don't worry about the camera.
Leave it exposed to the cold (no plastic bag) until you are going to take it into a warm environment, then a plastic bag is useful to let the equipment warm up in.
I've also used a towel when I haven't had plastic available, and that works too.

[dms]

I camp in late fall/winter in the Catskills and Adirondacks, and have used mechanical camera and non AF lenses without problems in probably -20C. I go couple times a year for past 2-3 decades and have never had a camera problem with mechanical camera and non-AF lens. The one time I used DSLR (Pentax K20D) the screen popped out--and it was likely only -5C.
Backpacking/canoeing in general--and in particular in cold-dry/cool-wet weather--my kit is very simple. I don't trust electrical shutters, etc. I use either a Nikonos III (w/ 35mm f2.5) or a Nikon FM2 and one AI lens.

I suggest you at least stick the camera and lens in your freezer to see if the screen doesn't pop out, the lens lubricant doesn't harden, etc.

[dms]

As far as a plastic bag--I don't use but if you bring the camera into a heated area, then yes--to avoid condensation/freezing.

[fisheye freak]

Pentax cameras are probably the best at handling the cold. May pay to tweak the aperture ring a few times before shooting to make sure the lubricant has not congealed. definately taking an icy cold lens back in to a warm room will invoke condensation, with long term implications in the fungal area. The freezer bag or zip-lock is a good idea. The old 35mm film cameras developed problems in very cold conditions- the shutters slowed down causing overexposure and the lenses did not stop down fully, also leading to overexposure. Luckily, not too many of the photos were ruined this way.

[mills]

Thanks for the comments, especially the K5 and lens surviving a week at 30 below. I've taken my k10d and a sigma 10-20 out in the cold for short periods, but nothing too prolonged before now. I guess a backup battery and keeping them in an internal pocket should help.

I can mess around with exposure if I need too, so thats not as much of an issue. Not using AF isnt a problem, but manually focusing an AF lense should be about the same? If there's no apeture ring to tweak, hittin the green button a couple times oughta do the same? I was more worried about permanent damage to the lens than the body... I'd rather it survived, but an upgrade is probably in the near future anyway so it wouldnt be quite as heartbreaking as one of my lenses dyin.

Nothin in particular planned, just gets about that cold here and I still like to camp, snowshoe, icefish and whatnot. Cant stay inside just because its a little chilly.

[bdery]

Cooling the lens won't be a problem. WARMING the lenses will be a problem. My advice is to warm the gear slowly, ideally by putting them in a well-padded (thus correctly insulated) camera bag or backpack.

The worse that will happen is condensation, though, and that will evaporate afterr a while.

[reeftool]

I've never had an issue in the cold. I take my camera on xc-ski trips, snow shoe hikes, and sometimes a full day of shooting half pipe competitions and also motorcycle ice racing. At the end of the day, the camera usually has held up better than I have. Going in and out constantly can cause problems. If you wear glasses then you know the drill as the same thing is happening to your lenses. Ski lodges are probably the worse places. You walk through a door from arctic conditions to a tropical rain forest.

[Ratmagiclady]

Pentax cameras are probably the best at handling the cold. May pay to tweak the aperture ring a few times before shooting to make sure the lubricant has not congealed. definately taking an icy cold lens back in to a warm room will invoke condensation, with long term implications in the fungal area. The freezer bag or zip-lock is a good idea. The old 35mm film cameras developed problems in very cold conditions- the shutters slowed down causing overexposure and the lenses did not stop down fully, also leading to overexposure. Luckily, not too many of the photos were ruined this way.

We happen to know that K10ds work darn near naked in *space,* actually.


One thing, though, OP, is that in frigid temperatures, your worry for condensation/damage, is usually about *temperature changes...* Even an ordinary nylon-on-padding camera bag will prevent undue condensation issues as you enter a *warmer* space: they seem to do just enough to slow down the temperature changes as long as you put the rig *in* there* before entering a warm space, and just leave the rig in there for a while, the colder you think your camera has gotten. As long as you slow down the temperature *changes,* you're probably OK.

As for actually *being* in the cold, you will want to be keeping some batteries warm next to your body: they *will* lose power and efficiency if they get cold.

Also remember the plastics will be more brittle in deep freeze, so don't go knocking stuff around.


As a rule of thumb: *any* time you are worried about your gear, moderate the extremes, don't try to hermetically seal against them.