Cold Weather and dSLRs

Snow has begun to be mentioned in our forecasts for next week. I've never really gone out in the winter to shoot but will be doing it this year. Any tips, resources, or needed equipment for going out in the snow and cold to capture the season?

Thanks!

 

Watch for condensation when carrying lenses from cold to hot, or hot to cold, environments. The recommendation is when transporting a lens from the cold indoors, it's best to seal it in a plastic bag and move it in stages (ie, from outside to garage, garage to laundry room, laundry room to house) to prevent moisture condensing on the inside of lens.

I've never had a real problem with it, but I don't do a whole lot of outdoor shooting in Winter - usually a few snaps of Christmas lights and that's it.

 

For the batteries, I would consider storing the batteries somewhere warm (if your jacket has one, an inside pocket would probably be good) and then only popping them into your camera when you're going to start shooting. I haven't tested this out, but even though the battery would probably cool off quickly enough, you could still get some extra shots out of it.

I think the hint about sealing the gear in a plastic bag before going to a warmer environment is a useful one. I've never really done that.. I just tucked my camera into my jacket before I went indoors, and left it in there once I was inside until it warmed up enough. It worked well enough. The only time I've had serious condensation was when I was trying to shoot star trails at night. My black camera cooled down quickly (a little known flip side to the well known fact that black things absorb heat from light is that black things also radiate heat and so cool down faster as well) and I ended up only getting maybe 15 minutes of star trails until the pictures were blurred out by water condensing on the lens.

My one other uncertain suggestion is that you might want to let the camera cool down adequately before taking pictures. I'm not certain of this, but I know that it's standard practice in astronomy to let your telescope cool down to the ambient temperature before using it. I did some winter shooting last winter, and it seemed that when I first took out my camera, after keeping it warm in my jacket, and starting shooting the winter scenes (I was shooting animals in the zoo with snow on the ground). I got too many less than sharp pictures, especially the first shots I took when I first took the camera out. I can only guess that my lens was still in the process of cooling down at first so it wasn't producing optimal images.
Mind you I was using a long telephoto lens, if you won't be using as large a lens it probably won't take you as long to cool your camera down.

 

I have never shot in the winter with a dslr since I got mine this past spring, but I have done lots of shooting in cold weather with my film cameras. From my experiences I don't think that its really necessary to put the camera in sealed plastic bags before you go outdoors. I have shot in weather down into the teens with no problems with condensation. When I shoot in that weather, I put the camera in my camera bag and zip the bag shut before I go outside and I keep the camera in the bag long enough for it to slowly cool off to the outside temperature before I take it out.

Definitely take extra batteries. It does help to keep the batteries in a pocket inside the jacket to keep them warm before you use them. Also, when they die, put them back inside your jacket because they should be good for a few more shots once they warm up again.

I am going to a photo workshop in in Yellowstone this January, so I'll add some more advise on cold weather shooting when I return from that.

 

I've always found that I give in to the cold weather before my camera does.

 

I've never done this, so I have no idea if it works, but I read on another forum once that if you have a real long day of shooting planned in the cold, you should go to any sporting goods any buy some of those 99 cent chemical packs that heat up when you break and shake them (which people use for glove inserts). wrap one in a rag, along with your extra batteries (not in direct contact though). Keeps the cold from seeping charges.

Makes sense to me, though I have yet to ever shoot that long in the cold.

 

Would similar advice apply to humidity?

 

Ive never heard of Lens fungus thanks for the tip

 

oh it's real all right, i lost about $100 or more in value on a lens i had appraised to sell last year, so i keep my lenses in a better lit dry place now, and silica gel packs in my camera bags for longer trips

 

Gary, can you buy the silica gel packs?

 

Well, I had no trouble with my equipment during my photo shoot of Niagara Falls a couple of weeks ago. My battery lasted about a 3/4 of a day before having to swap it out. Temps in the Teens and 20's.

Now, my body needed some help keeping warm. I found some fleece socks and convertible gloves in the Gander Mt. Store near me. Both worked great! Feet stayed warm and dry and the gloves allowed me to manipulate my camera controls while keeping my fingers warm between shots. Only thing I need to get is some long johns to keep my legs warm in the windy conditions next time.