[tibbitts]

Green Bay WI the famous “Ice Bowl”
12-31-67 (-15f) wind chill (-48f) all the boys were shooting the venerable Nikon F, with the FF36 MD. Not a single body worked most of the game.

My buddy’s son Jim was there with his dad Vernon and had his trusty Nikkormat. Happened to get a shot of the game winning QB sneak. He later was a staffer for SI.

Lesson the old cameras will work, it’s the batteries and gear train stiffness on the new ones, keep your batteries warm, hand packs on the body and lens for warmth, not heat that fogs store in a cooler /insulated bag


Hang up and DRIVE!

I would say if not a single body worked the entire game then the lesson would be that the old cameras didn't work very well in the cold. I would guess that the pros would have been equipped with cameras prepared for the cold by having lubricants removed, etc. so they really should have worked, even if some battery-operated components might not have.

[ecostigny]

I do remember the time I was skiing Snowbird when it was -25 at the base and even colder at the summit. My then-new Super Program, with fresh batteries, had been working well at that point. However, it conked out within several minutes after I reached the summit. Fortunately, I had another set of fresh batteries in an interior pocket, so a quick button cell change was enough to get me started again--after I had skied down to the relatively-warmer parts of the mountain, of course. Always keep those spare batteries warm!

[stevebrot]

IIRC, Pentax Forum member @MJKoski has deep experience with shooting in deep cold with both the KP and K-1 cameras. With any luck, they may check in.


Steve

[jbinpg]

Just a note about windchill: it is the most misunderstood of all meteorological units. Windchill is a cooling rate (often given as an equivalent temperature), not a measured ambient temperature. When a windchill of -30 is given, it means that a naked person standing at this location at an ambient temperature of -10C in a wind of 20 km/h would lose heat at the same rate as if there were no wind at -30C. A thermometer would still measure -10C, though, not -30C. One can dress for windchill as long as you do not expose any skin. That is why the Inuit can live in the Arctic.

[Haenzel]

Why not use an external power source that you can keep close to your body for warmth? Only downside is you have to expose the dc input to the environment, but I don't think that will cause an issue. See for example this post https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/22-pentax-camera-field-accessories/405309-external-mobile-power-supply-8-3v.html

[Ian Stuart Forsyth]

-42 C was one of the coldest days I have been out photographing wildlife
Driving on square tires and the extension cord that morning was made of glass
Also the nylon on the camera bag split open on that day walking back to the truck

The K20d worked but on limited to 5-10 shots before the battery died and needed warming up
Most DSLR work not to bad into the -20 and -30

One funny post was from sometime ago where a person showed that their pentax camera worked down to -45 C and that no other camera could not, The funniest part was that they took a photograph of the camera on to show it still worked beside a weather meter showing -45 with a cheap Nikon DSLR

Much of my winter projects are taken at night in -20 to - 25 C were the camera's and lenses are needed to be cooled to the ambient temp. And most brands work well including the none pentax brands
Where I see a difference is in cameras that use high capacity batteries like the D3 and D4 where I would need to swap out a bat. while they would still be shooting.

[jgnfld]

I live in a very humid marine subarctic climate--Newfoundland is wet a lot even in winter--and can offer a few notes as I suspect humidity might be an important factor as well.

I find that the drive trains in my Sigmas 10-20 (slo version) and 17-50 seize up at around -10C (14F). Lubrication maybe? (probably?) Can still use on manual focus. My Pentax 16-85 and my old 50-300 work fine to as cold as it usually gets here which is like ~17C (0F). Haven't had the new PLM out in any (locally) extreme cold conditions.

Worst day was a storm a few years ago--a strong nor'easter that brought horizontal snow and salt spray in 100kph winds at -10C (-24C or more depending on the chart) on the cold side of the storm system. Only had my K-50 and Sigma 17-50 then which was only partly usable in these conditions. Some interesting pics at Cape Spear, but VERY difficult conditions even to shuffle around among the rocks and tundra. Couple of semi-worthwhile shots from that day (nothing great came out of all the effort, sadly!)...

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Last edited by jgnfld; 12-26-2020 at 05:27 AM.

[sdhute]

Does anyone have any hints/tips/suggestions for extreme cold conditions.

For context I’m a cargo pilot and we do fuel stops between Asia and Europe. On Sunday I will be in a Russian city called Novosibirsk (new siberia). The forecast temperature will be within -35 and -46 degrees centigrade. (-31 to -49 Fahrenheit).

Having kittens about taking my gloves off. But if I do. Will the camera work (KP). Will the lenses work. Any suggestions for these extremes?

Curious living in MN was leaning toward KP for winter street photography. Keep us posted

[MikeMcE]

I would say if not a single body worked the entire game then the lesson would be that the old cameras didn't work very well in the cold. I would guess that the pros would have been equipped with cameras prepared for the cold by having lubricants removed, etc. so they really should have worked, even if some battery-operated components might not have.

Nope, it’s the FF36 motor setup.
This was “back in the day” it shot a blistering 4fps. It was a massive clunky setup, the MD2 was a completely different beast

Remember the nikkormat worked perfectly. Modular Copal square shutter, not the rollers and foil curtains
Most all shutters evolved into that style

Hang up and DRIVE!

[MJKoski]

Original post mentioned KP, so...

With original KP battery it is not possible to use the camera more than few minutes in Siberian winter. The battery dies after 2-3 exposures @ -30C when camera is kept outside on tripod. One needs the battery grip and a 4-5 D-Li90 (original) batteries for one day of shooting. Just keep the loaded ones inside the jacket. Warming up used batteries will extend their usage time as well.

The 109-type battery used in KP and few other models starts to choke quickly when it dips below 0C barrier. D-LI90 is *the* solution.

[stevebrot]

Driving on square tires and the extension cord that morning was made of glass
Also the nylon on the camera bag split open on that day walking back to the truck

Reminded me of doing some electrical wiring in Montana some decades back in -20F (-29C). First the electrician's tape started breaking. Then the low-temperature electrician's tape's glue froze and lost its sticky. At last resort we went to a low-temp tape with peel-off backing. That worked. We were so cold our lips would not work to talk.


Steve

[stevebrot]

Modular Copal square shutter, not the rollers and foil curtains
Most all shutters evolved into that style

I shot frequently in deep cold with my first Ricoh Singlex TLS. The Copal Square is an amazing shutter.


Steve

[Ian Stuart Forsyth]

Reminded me of doing some electrical wiring in Montana some decades back in -20F (-29C). First the electrician's tape started breaking. Then the low-temperature electrician's tape's glue froze and lost its sticky. At last resort we went to a low-temp tape with peel-off backing. That worked. We were so cold our lips would not work to talk.

One year while driving to town I watched as a tractor broke its rear axle on one of the coldest days I have ever seen

[Jan178]

Bodies work, just make sure it won´t get wet when warming up. Batteries, just like MJKoski said, are the issue. Never had an issue with K-5.
K-70 has only the small, already limited option for a battery, allthough it seems to be as bad in winter as it is in summer

Even managed to shoot at -30C with K-200 and K-x on Eneloops but that was literally painful, after few shots needed to change for the warm batteries, digging the snow for the cold ones that slipped through my frozen fingers...

So yeah, K-p with battery grip should do it. Lenses are another story, i usually take the manual ones with me when freezing. Or my oldest kit zoom, it´s too worn out to get stuck

[MJKoski]

I do not know if all KP bodies are affected, but my KP had one issue which I was able to replicate on two separate days. KP's main shutter trigger stopped working after few hours in extreme cold and I had to revert to using the trigger on the grip instead.

I was not able to use my cable remote as it became so stiff that trigger button just got stuck when pressed down.