[charlestm]

Tomorrow, here in Pittsburgh, the high for the day will be 1 degree with wind chills around 30 below zero. Around here, this is big news ... I want to photograph this event ie. frozen rivers, etc.

What do I have to know about taking my equipment out in these types of temperatures?

Ctm

[jatrax]

Battery life will be dramatically shorter. There should not be any problems going out and remember windchill does not apply.

I would be more concerned coming back in if the house is humid you can get condensation. Try to keep the gear in the bag until it has warmed up or even in a big plastic bag until it returns to room temp.

[c.a.m]

Several suggestions are presented here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/38-photographic-technique/247130-photogra...ml#post2634124

- Craig

[yygomez]

Use some hand warmers on your pockets along with the batteries, I did use it when I was in New York last Year, they sell it at the Outdoors Stores : Hand Warmers by GRABBER - Hand Warmers by Zoro Tools Industrial Supplies

[jamarley]

And, when your battery is depleted (and your supposedly newly charged replacement is as well), as it most certainly will be before you return home, just smile to yourself. You can always use your eyes to imprint upon your brain the scenes you're now unable to capture electronically.

"SERENITY NOW"

Frank Costanza, Oct. 9, 1997

[waterfall]

Tomorrow, here in Pittsburgh, the high for the day will be 1 degree with wind chills around 30 below zero. Around here, this is big news ... I want to photograph this event ie. frozen rivers, etc.

What do I have to know about taking my equipment out in these types of temperatures?

Ctm

I agree with Jatrax. Going outside is not the challenge. Returning to the inside is the challenge that requires preventing condensation on and inside your camera. I routinely bag my camera in a ziplock gallon freezer bag and then hide it inside my shoulder bag until it warms up. Your gear will chill to the outside temperature only, not the wind chill. Wind chill only speeds heat loss. But, at 70 degrees F inside, with a relative humidity of 30%, the dew point of that air is in the range of 32 to 40 degrees, depending on actual RH. Your gear is colder than the dew point. Much like a glass of Scotchmon ice in the summer. Water will condense on the gear and, worse, inside the camera if you mounted your lens choice inside before venturing out. The freezer bag works by holding the camera in very dry Arctic air with a dew point of maybe -15F. Then your stuff warms up slowly above the dew point if the interior air. It will be safe to remove the camera from the ziplock freezer bag when the outside of the bag is warm, the dew has evaporated from the plastic, and your touch of the camera and lens through the plastic confirms they have warmed to the temperature of English beer (45 to 50F), not Budweiser which is chilled to less than 39 degrees to make it palatable.

These methods work for me in northern Minnesota. Zooms can be cranky at -20F but primes perform well. Just do not carry spare lenses outside in your bag unless you give them their own ziplock freezer tent. And always open the ziplock outside to let the Arctic desert air fill the bag.

Hand warmer packs inside your camera bag can keep spare batteries strong.

Last tip: do not carry spare lenses inside your parka. The relative humidity inside will approach body temp (think "sweat") and when the lens is removed, a film of water will form and freeze on the chilling surface.

Good luck with rivers freezing. The Mississippi only freezes over completely briefly after a cold snap. The Kanawha and Monongahela may flow too swiftly. I apologize for forgetting the name of Pittsburg's third major river--is it the Allegheny?

[TenZ.NL]

Tomorrow, here in Pittsburgh, the high for the day will be 1 degree with wind chills around 30 below zero. Around here, this is big news ... I want to photograph this event ie. frozen rivers, etc.

What do I have to know about taking my equipment out in these types of temperatures?

Ctm

Battery life will be dramatically shorter. There should not be any problems going out and remember windchill does not apply.

I would be more concerned coming back in if the house is humid you can get condensation. Try to keep the gear in the bag until it has warmed up or even in a big plastic bag until it returns to room temp.

Last year I shot the Aurora Borealis in Northern Finland. The moment I arrived I put my camera and lens into a padded shoulderbag (lowepro toploader) and stashed it in the outside woodstorage to cool down gently and kept it there the whole week. That particulair evening it was around -30C (-22F) and the K5 as the DA14 performed pretty good allthough they were covered with frost after 2 hours (my own silver edition, lol)

Getting back to the cabin I only took the SDcard out, body and lens stayed outside in the bag. When it was time to go home I took the complete bag and put it inside a photobackpack for extra insulation so it wouldn`t warm up to fast.

I use this trick a long time, ever since I went on a trip to Costa Rica and it allways worked no matter what cold, heat or humidity. Oh and in the case of humidity, remember to keep the pack out of he airco.

[EarlVonTapia]

If you're moving around a lot and thus constantly putting your camera back and forth into a camera bag, condensation on the front element might be a problem.

I like to use a UV filter when in cold conditions so that when I inevitably have to wipe the front of the lens, I can do so without fear of scratching it. I've had this happen to two of my lenses already, where I was trying to get a shot but had to wipe off the lens, only to discover later that I made tiny little scratches on it because there was some bits of dirt or rocks on the front.

These small scratches won't affect images at all, but they will hurt the resale value of your lens.

There may be situations where you would have to take a UV filter off because of flare/glare/ghosting (long exposures with the sun/light sources in the frame, etc.).

Have fun.

[waterfall]

Last year I shot the Aurora Borealis in Northern Finland. The moment I arrived I put my camera and lens into a padded shoulderbag (lowepro toploader) and stashed it in the outside woodstorage to cool down gently and kept it there the whole week. That particulair evening it was around -30C (-22F) and the K5 as the DA14 performed pretty good allthough they were covered with frost after 2 hours (my own silver edition, lol)

Getting back to the cabin I only took the SDcard out, body and lens stayed outside in the bag. When it was time to go home I took the complete bag and put it inside a photobackpack for extra insulation so it wouldn`t warm up to fast.

I use this trick a long time, ever since I went on a trip to Costa Rica and it allways worked no matter what cold, heat or humidity. Oh and in the case of humidity, remember to keep the pack out of he airco.

Air conditioning is the same problem and it is a thorn in my side. I go out for a summer shoot where the outside dew point is high 70s F. Gear is cooler and immediately sweats, as do I. I haven't tried my winter freezer bag trip, but I will next summer. The principle is the same from thermodynamics: dew forms on the first cold non-absorptive material that is chilled below the dew point. Our camera bags are absorptive. Hence we do not see the "dew" on the bag. Dew will always form on the first non-absorptive surface that is cold enough. And it will form on sorptive materials that approach fiber saturation. Anyways, this is a long way to say protect your gear and avoid a fungus among us. The prevalence of fungus contaminated used lenses makes my point, I guess. I would buy a desert used lens but never one from the Gulf Coast. Or from Cold states because lens precautions may not be followed by all. Maybe I just buy new because I have seen too many wood framed wall cavities spoiled by condensation.