leaving gear in hot car

When doing this is there any risk of damage or anything to worry about (besides theft which im aware of)? Im talking 4-8 hours sitting in a hot car. Its about to be that time of year again in North America and I have always avoided doing this in the past for the fear or damaging my camera, and there have been times where I have missed great opportunies because of it. I would just like others opinions and experiences.

While you are waiting for some knowledgeable replies, if you look at the bottom of the page you will note that your thread title had keywords that triggered a forum "mini-search" that produced a couple related results!

tonylong wrote in post #14440741
While you are waiting for some knowledgeable replies, if you look at the bottom of the page you will note that your thread title had keywords that triggered a forum "mini-search" that produced a couple related results!

I never new that!! And I've moderated/run VB forums for years! LOL

Leaving my gear in a HOT car would be the last thing on my mind ... leaving my gear in ANY car is something I'd definitely never do. That's just me though, maybe I'm a bit more paranoid ...

I would not do it, besides potential theft which you are aware of, heat can be an issue.

namtot wrote in post #14440629
When doing this is there any risk of damage or anything to worry about (besides theft which im aware of)? Im talking 4-8 hours sitting in a hot car. Its about to be that time of year again in North America and I have always avoided doing this in the past for the fear or damaging my camera, and there have been times where I have missed great opportunies because of it. I would just like others opinions and experiences.

I've often wondered the same thing. I would love to bring my camera to work with me and shoot after work on way home, but never felt comfortable letting camera cook in the car. Not at all worried about theft as we work in the country and have a small staff. Can't bring in inside if that's what you're thinking. Need's to stay in car.

I guess it depends on how hot it gets in there.
The 50D Operating Temperature: 32-104°F/0-40°C

I have absolutely no problems leaving my gear, in its bag, in the trunk of my car.

How hot does it get in Massachusetts? There's no way I'd leave gear in a hot car in Texas. The inside temperature can get much hotter than the outside. Don't do it. But if you absolutely have to, put it in the trunk close to the rear seats to keep away from the trunk walls near the outside.

I guess if it was a real concern, carrying a cooler in the trunk would be a solution.

But, be aware that tech manufacturers do test their equipment in high temeratures, so you might want to check with Canon as to the limits.

Ill chime in since I'm in Texas. I have been mainly have been doing this since I work evenings(3pm-12am) and go shoot after work sometimes. I just figured that, yes it is hot but it cools down as the the night progresses, it should be fine. Also I drive a jeep GC and don't have a closed trunk per se. I just leave my bag in the back seat or on the floor. It's a gated parking lot so i don't worry about theft.

Same deal with my tripod.

The cameras should be fine from the heat; it's the theft you've got to worry about.

Its OK as long as the baby or the dog don't break anything.

When I do I leave it in a cooler, I have left a thermometer in there just out of curiosity and temp in the truck was 130deg and in the cooler was 90deg, it had been in there all day and was just about 5pm

Thanks guys, sounds like a cooler in the trunk is a good option because it will somewhat insulate and keep the inside temp lower then the temp in the car. In Massachusetts in the summer it can easily get into the high 90's and humid as hell, and then if its sunny and the cars sitting, it gets brutally hot.