[672]

I did not think it was possible , but mine froze up the other nite while shooting this scene. And I mean freeze from cold temperatures. It was about 18 fahrenheit, colder here at the waterfront. I had the camera on a tripod from 10 minutes before sundown until 45 minutes after and it stopped working in the middle of a 20 second exposure, so i pulled the battery and all that , but it remained locked up until i took my cashmere cap off my head and wrapped the camera in it. A process which i repeated a dozen times to get the last few frames.......

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[2351HD]

Well it's rated to -10 C so that's about right.

[biz-engineer]

Well, that's not surprising, the 645Z share a lot of the K-3 (or the other way around). The AF module of the 645Z is the same as the one in the K-3. The interface is roughly the same. So if the K-3 can freeze, the 645z can freeze as well, I suppose.

[cpobuttons]

my K3 never freezes...because I freeze first...

[ffking]

I once had a K10D freeze on me (I know cold temperature operation did not go quite slow at that stage, but it wasn't that cold either) and it did occur to me to wonder at the time if the tripod screw might be a point where heat could be rapidly lost from the camera, particularly with a metal tripod/head - probably the engineers on the forum will shoot that down, but it would be worth knowing either way.

[Wolfeye]

I wonder how much it shares with the film 645NII because mine froze up in the cold too, but revived once we reached warmer temps.

[texandrews]

my K3 never freezes...because I freeze first...

Yup. Happened to me. Interestingly, it was colder than 18F, about 12F/-11C. No issues with the camera, flash (540FGZ) or lens (45-85) at all. Extra batteries needed, though. Shooting for about an hour. I couldn't go on---glasses completely frozen over, couldn't keep them clear. Fingers totally numb, well beyond any feeling. So, operator failed first.

[Doundounba]

Just last weekend, I shot the K-3 for an hour in about -15C without any issues. I was jogging during the 30s exposures to keep myself from freezing over. I've shot a lot in -8C to -12C and never had a problem. I'm surprised that a 645Z would freeze up in -8C...

[itshimitis]

I was in -8 in Seoul recently with the Z and mine didn't freeze either...

[Belcik]

Used to walk around with k-5 at -15 celcius. Not a tripod, hanging on my neck for hour or so. No problems with freezing.

[Paul the Sunman]

I once had a K10D freeze on me (I know cold temperature operation did not go quite slow at that stage, but it wasn't that cold either) and it did occur to me to wonder at the time if the tripod screw might be a point where heat could be rapidly lost from the camera, particularly with a metal tripod/head - probably the engineers on the forum will shoot that down, but it would be worth knowing either way.

Is there a market for a heated (or at least fully insulated) tripod plate?

Not much of an issue here though.

[Canada_Rockies]

My Asahi Pentax froze at -30 C in a Piper Cub. The shutter went across, but the images looked as if the curtains had frozen together.

[672]

Thanks for all the answers. I was baffled by the Z freeze since in my years with the 645D in the high sierra, overnight in 10 degrees all night, it just woke up in the morning and shot pre sunrise all the time.

[ilya_sp]

Had an experience taking pictures at about -25 with 645z. Night, tripod, several hours multi-exposure.
Battery life was about an hour so i used 220V.
Absolutely no problems with the body ("frozen" LCD - isn't a problem). In terms of noise it's even much better.
But the lenses. It is just terrible. Frozen lenses (FA35, FA150-300) produce "triangular" stars. Probably because of temperature deformations of the lenses. So i'm going to buy some kind of heating specially for the lenses.

[Sagitta]

By any chance, could it have been the lens and not the camera itself?

I discovered my Samyang 85mm absolutely hates the cold. As soon as things get down towards the freezing point the lens just kind of gives me the finger until I can get it warmed up again. If I swap it out for any other lens (including its 35mm cousin) everything works fine.