Hot weather shooters

[IndyJeff]

I shot a softball tourney this weekend. Temps were in the mid 90's and humidity was in the upper 80% brackets. On Saturday I went to the outfield, popped on the 400 Sigma and was shooting straight on at the batter. The lens was searching a lot for focusing. Zip, zip, zip, zip, zip lock. Then when I got home, everyone of those shots was OOF. Not just a little either, unsavable.
Then Sunday, hotter than Saturday, I was shooting two games at once. I noticed the 70-200 f4 L began searching for focus. Zip,zip, lock. After one game was over, I started shooting the other team batting. The camera was searching and searching for the focus. It was so bad that I couldn't get focused on any play in the field.

My question, has anyone ever had problems with their lens/camera finding the correct focus in high heat and humidity? After 2 hours at home both lenses seem to be working fine.

[Grampaw]

That seems to be the problem I was having yesterday. Two hours in the sun and high humidity, when I got home all the shots were soft. Only able to salvage 4. Was using the Canon 75-300 IS and hoping I wasn't dripping sweat into the camera.

[EricKonieczny]

I kinda noticed a similar problem last week when shooting outside at a swim meet for 6 hours.

I was gaving trouble with my 70-200 IS in very contrasty coniditions. I think the glare of the sun on the water was the main problem.

I need to get a polarizer filter. :)

[primoz]

I don't know about really hot and really high humidity, but just hot is usually not a problem. But even mid 90's (if I calculated right this is about +35c) is not THAT much. Few weeks ago I was on holidays and I was shooting without problems at +50c (around 120f) when my 1d was so hot I could hardly hold it. I guess I don't need to mention there wasn't any sport involved but still :) With temperatures around +30c (85-90f) everything was working for me even when humidity was higher (for example after or during rain)

[Blue Deuce]

My 2 cents.

Since I am a landscape contractor my truck is parked all day every day in the sun with my camera inside. I have never had any problems so far with soft images or malfunctions. Was concerned what the prolonged effects might be but figure the trade offs are worth me having the camera with me in case a good opportunity presents itself.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Jeff.. what camera???

Mid Nineties is probably the worst I have faced..
I have used 10D, 20D 1D and 1D MkII and even a D60 in those conditions.
I don't think I could draw any correlations between heat and bad camera performance...

....but I'm no good in the heat myself.. so I could easily draw some correlations between heat and bad photographer performance! :lol:

[scottbergerphoto]

I went to a protest at the RNC concention in NYC last summer and worked all day in the hot sun using a 10D and 1DMII with the 24-70 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8. No problems with focus.

[Citizensmith]

Never shot in anything over 110F and that wasn't with my EOS kit, so not really too experienced with this issue. However, could it be possible that the sun beating down on a lens will cause different components to expand at different rates and hence may move some lens elements slightly out of position?

[mkh]

You said you were shooting the batters from the outfield. That is a long shot and I wonder if the camera was having fucus problems caused by heatwaves rising off the field. We've all seen that shimmer on hot days when we look way down the road as we are driving. Since the optical light path is affected that should also affect the focus.

For those of you reporting no problems, how far away was your subject?

[LazyPhotographer]

I shoot a lot in the desert, often with temps around or over 100f - the hottest I've been in is 120.

I often notice a problem with the 100-400 hunting for focus on the 10D, 20D, and Mark II when it's really hot & really bright or if I've been out a long time. It's especially funky on all white or very dark birds.

I do think there's something to be said for the heat waves interfering in shots that include the ground. I just deleted a couple dozen images of a Harrier hovering over a field that just don't look right. The bird was OOF in a lot of them and the focus was all over the place, but the heat waves were dead on.

Basically, I just limit the amount of time I'm out in those temps to a few minutes at a time or shoot out the car window with the fan on & air moving. Hand towels cover the equipment when it's on our lap or the seat, and it's never left in the car unattended. Periodically, when the lens or camera feels hot to the touch, it stays inside the car's AC for a while. Also, when back indoors for the day, the camera bags are opened up and the equipment is rearranged to let some air flow in.

[IndyJeff]

Well all lenses and the camera (the D60) seem to be working fine today. The Sigma 400 still has a zip zip lock to it. The 70-200 is zip and dead on again.

The heat index, temp + humidity, was around 105. I do know that Canon EOS digitals are rated for 85% humidity or less but, I am not sure what the humidity was yesterday.

CDS I also thought about heat and bad photographer performance LOL, the outfield shots I was in the shade so I was not so hot there.

I thought about heat waves but don't remember seeing any.

Thanks for the help/comments/advice.

[blinking8s]

My parents live in the middle east and during the summer the humidity/heat is so high I havent gone to visit cause I knew it would kill every photo op I could get...have to wait till winter again *sigh*

[PhotosGuy]

However, could it be possible that the sun beating down on a lens will cause different components to expand at different rates and hence may move some lens elements slightly out of position? Keep in mind that while the air temp was 90, the internal lens temp would be much higher, which might effect the electronics. I've measured temps in closed cars at 140 degrees. We used to be concerned about the lubricants migrating , too.
Sounds like a question for Canon, though. I'd be interested in their answer.

[blinking8s]

ugh...im horrible about leaving gear in my car, and its got all black interior...not good at all

but so far everything is working fine. Its mroe the humidity i worry about that straight heat, I let things cool down before I use them if I do forget something in my car.

[Michaelmjc]

I have to say I leave my camera in the car all the time! it seems that I do it more on the hottest days too, So far everything is still working good. I just gotta stop leaving it there.

My lenses always fog up on me, I could imagine it's just as frustrating.