As the title suggests I was not going to let the cold weather slow me down. So with hand warmers and finger less wool gloves, off I go for some wintertime fun. Doing some research on winter photography I have learned of a few problems that arise while using a DSLR during cold temperatures.
The first issue, is that the lithium batteries in the camera do not like cold temperatures. The number of photos a full battery is capable of can change quite a bit with cold temperatures.
As the battery gets colder it's capacity seems to decrease. From what I've read, it is only temporary. Here are a few tricks to improve your battery life during cold temperatures.
The low tech approach is to keep a spare battery in a pocket close to your skin. This allows your body heat to keep the battery warm until needed.
The next option is to keep the spare battery in a pocket with a chemical hand warmer pack.
And the last option is a little extreme for my use, but someone came up with it, they taped chemical hand warmers to their camera body surrounding the battery compartment. I opted for the chemical hand warmers in pocket with spare option.
The next problem is condensation caused by going from a cold temperature to a warmer temperature. Those of us that wear glasses in cold climates know about this all too well.
As soon as you step inside of a warm building after being outside, instant fog.
To avoid moisture on my lenses and camera body, I have found a easy solution that someone came up with, and it works great.
Before I go outside I make sure to store a empty large Ziploc bag in one of my pockets. Then before coming back into the house, I put the camera and lens in this bag.
While doing this, I also try to remove as much air as possible from the bag. The end result is that any cold air in the bag will have very low moisture content.
When the bag is brought into a warm house, condensation will form on the outside of the bag only and not on the inside of the bag.
One thing to remember, before putting the camera into the bag, is to remove the memory card from the camera. If you forget to do this, you'll need to wait until the camera returns to room temperature, before viewing the photos you've taken.
So, stay warm and keep your equipment dry.
Scott
As soon as you step inside of a warm building after being outside, instant fog.
To avoid moisture on my lenses and camera body, I have found a easy solution that someone came up with, and it works great.
Before I go outside I make sure to store a empty large Ziploc bag in one of my pockets. Then before coming back into the house, I put the camera and lens in this bag.
While doing this, I also try to remove as much air as possible from the bag. The end result is that any cold air in the bag will have very low moisture content.
When the bag is brought into a warm house, condensation will form on the outside of the bag only and not on the inside of the bag.
One thing to remember, before putting the camera into the bag, is to remove the memory card from the camera. If you forget to do this, you'll need to wait until the camera returns to room temperature, before viewing the photos you've taken.
So, stay warm and keep your equipment dry.
Scott
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