40D in extreme cold condition

Hi there,

I'm a newbie in photography. I've had my 40D for about 1 month now and have taken 1000 over shots with it. My only question is, I'll be travelling to Chicago, Niagara falls, New york and Boston this new year and I was wondering if the extreme cold condition in Chicago and niagara falls will give any problem or potential problem to the camera??

Just for your info, I'll be using a tokina 12-24, canon ef-s 17-55 and
sigma 30mm f/1.4.

Thank you for any advice and tips.
Any info appreciated.

enrixan wrote in post #6822988
extreme cold condition in Chicago and niagara falls

Extreme!!!??? Don't ever come in canada in January man !!! Sorry, could not resist. I just saw next week, maximum day temperature is expected to be -16C on Thursday... Brrrrrrrrr! Not used yet to this.

JTL

I'm also curious if DSLR's can handle extreme cold weather, and I dont mean "extreme" chicago cold , i mean what our "regular" winters are like in edmonton, canada (very normal for it be around -25 C or -13 F)

shoryuken wrote in post #6823021
I'm also curious if DSLR's can handle extreme cold weather, and I dont mean "extreme" chicago cold , i mean what our "regular" winters are like in edmonton, canada (very normal for it be around -25 C or -13 F)

wow.. -25!?? I'm not exactly an electrical engineer so I wouldn't really know.. that's why i'm asking. A friend of mine told me not to even take it out.. I wonder how true that is for those of you living in 'extreme' cold condition.. hhehehe.. (for me coz I'm from LA, it rarely gets below 5 degree celcius here)

It will be fine. I took mine up and shot in the Rockies earlier this month. Your batteries will run down faster in the cold.

Take a large ziploc bag that everything can fit in. When you move from the cold into a warmer environment like a car or back indoors, turn it all off, put it all in the back and seal it. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes for it to equalize. If you leave it on and just take it to a warmer area you will get condensation, which is bad for electronics. Try not to be going back and forth between cold and warm areas a lot if you can.

shoryuken - I've had cameras out in -5°F or so with no problems. You just have to be careful as noted above.

Here's an interesting thread relevant to your question.

http://www.cloudynight​s.com …mber/2215803/Ma​in/2214328

Depends on what you define as extreme. I have read that battery life drops on a pretty dramatic curve as the temperature drops below freezing. I'm of the opinion that my personal comfort level would drive me back to the warmth before the temperature was a major impact on the camera!

Strictly anecdotal and YMMV. Interested to see what other responses you get.

That is an interesting read.

LCD's do not do well in the cold - they can't change very quickly - and that's true on anything. The LCD screens on my CD player in my car and truck do this when it's too cold.

One thing...do not open the camera to change memory cards, battery. Don't even think about changing lenses...

I too have had my camera(s) out in -30C weather. I keep a spare battery in my shirt pocket under my parka. When the camera indicates the battery is getting low I swap them. When the battery warms again I'll swap it out as required. I have changed cards and I'll take the card out of the camera before I place it in a bag to bring it back inside. The card by itself will warm up quicker and allows me to view the images right away if I desire.

Tango

tango wrote in post #6823344
I too have had my camera(s) out in -30C weather. I keep a spare battery in my shirt pocket under my parka. When the camera indicates the battery is getting low I swap them. When the battery warms again I'll swap it out as required. I have changed cards and I'll take the card out of the camera before I place it in a bag to bring it back inside. The card by itself will warm up quicker and allows me to view the images right away if I desire.

Tango

Exactly!
Just to clarify a bit: don’t put the whole camera under the jacket, it’ll get foggy.
Keep camera outside and have some spare batteries inside, close to your body.

Put your camera inside a sealed bag before getting back inside. The condensation will happen on the bag and not the camera. As the air inside the bag warms up, it will be safe to get your camera back out of the bag and it will have been protected

xti with grip
shot about 100 pics of the lunar eclipse last feb with temp being 20deg over about 1 hr's time left the camera on the pod for the entire time while i warmed up occasionally

nothing extraordinary happened with the battery life display/camera/shutter​/etc

did the bag trick to warm the camera up and all is well

i live in minnesota and it tends to get a little cool. here is what i do. i wear a very large jacket and keep my camera under the jacket. then when im ready to shoot,,i flip it out,,snap,,and put it back. never had battery issues or lens fogging up issues. another trick is to shoot w/o gloves on. i find that after about 7-10 mins,,my hands get very cold. everything goes back under the jacket and warms back up.

here is a racer,,i think it was about 12 degrees when i shot this,,right off the camera. this meathod seems to work good. your body temp can keep your gear working w/o issues,,and i have not had a fogging up issue. but i have had the lens fog up from having the camera out in the cold and coming inside of a buiding and shooting..wasnt very bad though. i havnt had any fogging issues

JohnTheLuck wrote in post #6823011
Extreme!!!??? Don't ever come in canada in January man !!! Sorry, could not resist. I just saw next week, maximum day temperature is expected to be -16C on Thursday... Brrrrrrrrr! Not used yet to this.

JTL

Its not the problem for the camera or lens, more for battery. I test my 5D and my lenses on lets say -10C and less and all work normally the whole day. Just take care for spare battery - keep it in your (warm) pocket.

there were people that used them in Antarctica I think somewhere, with no hiccups, so I would say they would work fine