Potential Damage

Ok, I got caught again without a camera and missed a great sunset. I was wondering how much potential damage would I cause a Canon PowerShot if I kept it in the glove compartment of my car. During the summer, temperatures top the upper 90's. It would be out of direct sunlight, but I am concerned about the heat...

From personal experience - I've not had a problem. Maybe someone else has had different results but if it isn't sitting in the direct sun you shouldn't have a problem. I've known folks that simply abuse theirs..they've left them on the dash of the car or seat in direct sunlight for hours and the camera functioned ok after.

I've seen that result in 140 degrees inside the car. Your battery life might be shortened, but I keep a spare battery in the console & it seems to be OK after 2 years.

I keep my Nikon 8700 in the car all the time now. It freezes, it bakes, and has not shown any adverse effects.

It depends. It might warp the plastic over a long period of time.
Inside a car gets really hot because it acts like a greenhouse.

Get you a really small (Igloo, etc.) ice chest and store it in there instead of the glove compartment, it'll be fine no matter what.
If someone sees it in your car, they won't bother to steal your lunch, so that'd be safe.
Do like my wife, have a small towel or blanket to cover stuff with, that works to for hiding stuff.

Randy

drmac wrote in post #5808420
Ok, I got caught again without a camera and missed a great sunset. I was wondering how much potential damage would I cause a Canon PowerShot if I kept it in the glove compartment of my car. During the summer, temperatures top the upper 90's. It would be out of direct sunlight, but I am concerned about the heat...

Put in a bag and put it in the truck. Not a zip lock or anything, just a small camera bag. Maybe with Velcro so it doesn't hop all around?

recrisp wrote in post #5809636
Get you a really small (Igloo, etc.) ice chest and store it in there instead of the glove compartment, it'll be fine no matter what.
If someone sees it in your car, they won't bother to steal your lunch, so that'd be safe.
Do like my wife, have a small towel or blanket to cover stuff with, that works to for hiding stuff.

Randy

The back seat floor is the coolest place for a chest or bag on a hot day & it's harder to see from the outside. I too use a white towel to cover things in the rear seat.

It's just a PowerShot right? A very compact, small camera?

Keep it in your pocket. That's what I did with my PowerShot A400 from January 11 to August 31, 2006, when I got a new Nikon camera.

drmac wrote in post #5808420
I was wondering how much potential damage would I cause a Canon PowerShot if I kept it in the glove compartment of my car. During the summer, temperatures top the upper 90's. It would be out of direct sunlight, but I am concerned about the heat...

It should be OK. I live in Louisiana where the summer temps are consistently 100 + with 90% or higher humidity.

I owned a Minolta Dimage A1 that I kept in a camera bag on the floor of my car every day. It eventually stopped working due to a faulty CCD. The sensor in this camera was recalled by Sony due to manufacturing problems, but Sony claimed that exposure to extreme heat could have accelerated the problem. The CCD was replaced under the recall and the camera continued to work fine.

I had a Canon 300D after that and I kept it in the same camera bag in the same spot on the floor of the car. Never had a problem after 1 year.

I now have a Canon 20D that I keep in a backpack in the trunk of the car. Same heat, no problems.

According to Canon the SD1000 Operating Temperature : 0 - 40 °C (32 - 104 °F)

This is when they are being used- however storing electronics they can survive more extremes. I think that as long as it is in a dry environment it should be okay. Very extreme temps might effect the battery though. And I've used my cameras in much colder temps then 32F.. just don't let the camera freeze lol.