Discussion
Hi chaps
I'm heading to Siberia/Arctic in feb. Its going to be cold potentially down to -60Degrees centigrade. I've got a Sony Alpha 200 and want to take it but don't want to kill it with cold.
Will it be ok? Or merely a burden? Not worried about taking it indoors/outdoors and condensation as we'll be camping the whole time.
I'm heading to Siberia/Arctic in feb. Its going to be cold potentially down to -60Degrees centigrade. I've got a Sony Alpha 200 and want to take it but don't want to kill it with cold.
Will it be ok? Or merely a burden? Not worried about taking it indoors/outdoors and condensation as we'll be camping the whole time.
Yeah I need to get a second battery. The trick is to swap them regularly (i've heard) so that no permanent damage is done to them. So i've read.
I'm more thinking about the camera, has anyone taken a DSLR to these temps? Do I need a "weather proof" camera, will the lens freeze in position? will the frail Aperture blades become to brittle and break in the cold?
I'm more thinking about the camera, has anyone taken a DSLR to these temps? Do I need a "weather proof" camera, will the lens freeze in position? will the frail Aperture blades become to brittle and break in the cold?
One spare battery probably won't do the job either if you expect to shoot for any decent length of time each day. The cold just doesn't drop the time that the battery will stay up and effective, it also begins to affect it's ability to hold charge through the charge-discharge cycles if the cold temps last for any decent prolonged length of time
Another biggie that I learned the hard way while covering WRC Sweden back in (i think) 2003 for the first time was that bringing the camera from outside in the temps well below freezing to inside at normal room temp isn't a good idea, as the inside of the camera, lens etc all mists up and you know what happens when mist dries on your house/car windows - it leaves marks which are NOT what you want to find on all your pics at the end of the next days shooting.
After that painful experience I ended up bring the temperature in the car from freezing to normal room temperature level a little at a time on the drive back to help prevent the misting as much as I possibly could. The other guys in the car would beat the hell out of me to get the heating jacked up to 11 as soon as they got in the car
Back to the batteries, on my first trip to WRC Sweden I took 3, and midway through shooting the 3rd stage I was covering that day they were all down and out. The next few years I took 8 of the buggers with me and max used was 5 which included 4x stages and a lot of shooting at the service area too.
Another biggie that I learned the hard way while covering WRC Sweden back in (i think) 2003 for the first time was that bringing the camera from outside in the temps well below freezing to inside at normal room temp isn't a good idea, as the inside of the camera, lens etc all mists up and you know what happens when mist dries on your house/car windows - it leaves marks which are NOT what you want to find on all your pics at the end of the next days shooting.
After that painful experience I ended up bring the temperature in the car from freezing to normal room temperature level a little at a time on the drive back to help prevent the misting as much as I possibly could. The other guys in the car would beat the hell out of me to get the heating jacked up to 11 as soon as they got in the car
Back to the batteries, on my first trip to WRC Sweden I took 3, and midway through shooting the 3rd stage I was covering that day they were all down and out. The next few years I took 8 of the buggers with me and max used was 5 which included 4x stages and a lot of shooting at the service area too.
Simpo Two said:
There may be a market for a 'heat box' here... think of an underwater housing, but with a heat pack inside...
(I don't know if such a thing exists but if not I'll have 10% for thinking of it please!)
I did the easy option and took a few flasks of hot water with me in an insulated pack.(I don't know if such a thing exists but if not I'll have 10% for thinking of it please!)
Thats good to know. It won't be huge use as I think it will be too cold to use most of the time as we'll be on a motorbike too.
Most use will be with my GoPro i think as it is better protected but the DSLR is 100x better camera and it has zoom. Unless I freeze it.
What sort of temperatures were you experiencing in Finland?
Most use will be with my GoPro i think as it is better protected but the DSLR is 100x better camera and it has zoom. Unless I freeze it.
What sort of temperatures were you experiencing in Finland?
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