Cold weather concerns?

[Kelly Frame]

The ice is finally starting to melt in the Northeast, so I have two related questions for northern photographers:

1. How concerned does a person need to be about condensation when bringing equipment back into the house from an extended trip outside in cold weather?

2. If one does need to be concerned, what recommendations would you have to deal with it?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I'm not concerned about getting the equipment back inside the house and never had trouble with condensation in the winter. In extreme weather my concern is the temperature difference between the inside of the car and outside. I remember reading that some people noticed problems with the AF performance shortly after going outside. It might be a good idea to leave the equipment in the trunk while going to your destination.

[Kelly Frame]

I didn't lay it out very clearly in my original question, but my main concern was whether condensation might be an issue on a digital sensor.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Not to my knowledge, I think it is a bigger problem in areas like Florida because of the difference between high humidity outside and airconditioned cars/houses. Let's see if there are other experiences.

[Bob Ettinger]

If you bring it in from the outside in a bag and just leave it for a couple of hours any condensation will form on the outside of the bag and not the camera. It can be a plastic bag, camera bag whatever. Hope this helps

[Chris Hansen]

I have had problems in the past with lenses getting fogged up. I live on the North coast of California where it can be wet and cold. If I have been out on a cold day. (25 degrees is the coldest we ever get) when I come back indoors I leave my camera bag with the camera in it until the bag has warmed up to room temp. If I have just the camera and a short lens I put it into a zip lock baggie and then bring it into the house to warm up. If I am using a long lens i stick it into a garbage bag and twist it up a few times.

When my lens fogged up I put it into the oven on very, very low for a couple of hours. Probably voided my Canon warranty but it worked. Don't try this at home or without adult supervision!

Good luck and God bless,

chris

[Kelly Frame]

I had done the garbage bag routine, based on something I had seen on some website or other. I just wasn't sure if I was wasting my time or not.

[John Chardine]

Garbage bags work. All other things being equal, cold air is dryer than warm air. If you wrap your gear up in a garbage bag and bring it in you are trapping the cold dry air in the bag with the gear and the warm, moist air inside the house can't get to it. The extent of the problem depends partly on the humidity in your house. In a dry house in winter, you will likely not get condensation problems, but you may get health problems from the same dry air!

I've never had any trouble bringing camera gear in a warm car because the car is full of warmed outside air, and cold outside winter air is not very moist.

As far as the sensor is concerned, if the camera body is air tight or approximately so then it shouldn't be a problem. For there to be a problem you need a way of getting warm, moist air in contact with the sensor or filters in front of the sensor. With a light-sealed mirror box I don't think this is an issue.

[Roger Clark]

(Try 3--problem on my end)

I agree with John. The problem is one of a cool object being moved into a warmer more humid area. If you bring your camera into a warm house from outside cold air, never take the lens off the camera until both camera and lens has warmed up to room temperature. The greater problem I think tends to be in warm humid outside environments, like Florida. If you drive to your photo site in an air-conditioned car, then get your gear out and put the big lens on you camera, there is a chance the water will condense inside the camera. That's not good. So I usually transport my gear in the trunk to avoid the camera getting too cold. I also do not assemble the gear at a hotel and carry it out to the car; I keep it in the camera bags. I don't want to advertise I have expensive gear. (This could start another thread.)

If you are in winter conditions and have a warm car, then take your gear out to do some photography, you will not have condensation problems because the camera is warmer than the outside air. What you might experience, however, is if you use a supertelephoto and a 2x converter, the images may be reduced in sharpness until the lens equalizes temperature with the outside air. The lenses can get distorted as they change temperature. Also the focus point will shift as the lens barrel cools. So if you jump out of your car, set up to do a long exposure star trails or other night shot, the focus can shift during the exposure.

Regarding putting the camera in an oven, be very careful. I would never have the oven actually on. If I needed warmth, I would warm the oven first to a temperature that felt warm but not too hot to touch, turn the oven off, then put the camera in it. But if you have the time, an oven is not needed. I've never done such a thing with a camera (I did it with an infrared spectrometer once when we had to warm it up from liquid nitrogen temperature to fix a problem).

[Daniel Cadieux]

I've never had a problem bringing my gear in the house after spending hours out in the cold. Same for bringing in the gear in a warm car. The only time I had a lens fog up was in Florida in June...when I got out of the air conditioned car.

If in doubt, put the gear in a Zip-Loc or garbage bag like suggested above. Take out the CF card out before so you can work on your images right away while your camera "thaws" :-)

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Out of personal recent experience, I'd suggest avoiding changing lenses in really cold weather. Moisture in the air, e.g. from breath, may condensate onto the sensor.

Hope that helps. JR

[Roger Clark]

Out of personal recent experience, I'd suggest avoiding changing lenses in really cold weather. Moisture in the air, e.g. from breath, may condensate onto the sensor.

Hope that helps. JR

Or if you must, use a fast method of changing lenses, e.g.:
http://www.clarkvision.com/photoinfo/dslr.changing.lenses

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Or if you must, use a fast method of changing lenses, e.g.:
http://www.clarkvision.com/photoinfo/dslr.changing.lenses

Not so easy with a 500mm lens... :cool:

[Roger Clark]

With a big lens, you move the camera, not the lens, but the idea is the same: to minimize the time the inside of the camera is exposed. I guess I should add that to the web page.

[Aragorn Aall]

To prevent any condensation after taking pictures in cold weather like -30 C and then going indoor to +25 C I usually just remove the memory card and leave the camera in the camera bag. As it is somewhat insulated in the camera bag it will get warm over time, I jsut leave it untill the next day. I have heard of several who use plastic bags over the camera and lense when they go indoor after taking pictures in the cold, never tried that thou...

[David S.]

I live in Northeast Iowa and regularly shoot outside in the winter where temps are 0 degress and colder and have never had a condensation issue bringing my equipment into the car from outside.