Warm to cold transition - effect on camera gear?

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Ben C

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I’m heading to northern Minnesota this weekend to photograph the great grey owl irruption. Temperatures are going to be well below freezing, as low as -15 F in the early mornings. As I understand it you mostly drive along the roads, pull over when you come to a sighting, get out and shoot, and then get back in the car. So the camera will be going from a warm car to freezing cold and back, with no time to acclimate before shooting. I’ve been told that some folks leave their windows cracked while driving around so the temperature swing for their gear isn’t so extreme, but that sounds quite unpleasant to me and I question if it’s necessary. I know if I was going from an air conditioned car to humid, tropical weather that condensation on/in the lens would be an issue, but I wouldn’t think that going from a warm car to cold, dry air would be an issue. Obviously I don’t want to mess up my gear or miss any shots though. Do I need to be concerned? Any steps I should take to avoid issues?
 
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I do all I can to avoid drastic changes in temperature with my gear. Certainly in the scenario you describe a lens hood would cause problems as it will trap warm air coming off the lens and act the same as heat waves from the ground. I've limited the temp change with my gear to about 30F and not had any unpleasant issues.
 
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Ben C said:
I’m heading to northern Minnesota this weekend to photograph the great grey owl irruption. Temperatures are going to be well below freezing, as low as -15 F in the early mornings. As I understand it you mostly drive along the roads, pull over when you come to a sighting, get out and shoot, and then get back in the car. So the camera will be going from a warm car to freezing cold and back, with no time to acclimate before shooting. I’ve been told that some folks leave their windows cracked while driving around so the temperature swing for their gear isn’t so extreme, but that sounds quite unpleasant to me and I question if it’s necessary. I know if I was going from an air conditioned car to humid, tropical weather that condensation on/in the lens would be an issue, but I wouldn’t think that going from a warm car to cold, dry air would be an issue. Obviously I don’t want to mess up my gear or miss any shots though. Do I need to be concerned? Any steps I should take to avoid issues?
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Depending on the temperature and humidity of the indoor air to which the lens has acclimated, and the temperature of the outdoor air, the first time or two you expose the lens to outdoor air it’s possible to get a bit of interior fogging on the exposed glass. It’s not guaranteed that it will happen, but it could. I find it best to let the gear acclimate when it’s going from warm to cold and vice versa. My recommendation is to lower your windows a bit on the way to your shooting location, with the heat turned off.
 
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Warren D said:
I do all I can to avoid drastic changes in temperature with my gear. Certainly in the scenario you describe a lens hood would cause problems as it will trap warm air coming off the lens and act the same as heat waves from the ground. I've limited the temp change with my gear to about 30F and not had any unpleasant issues.
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Remove the hood.
 
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Ben C said:
I’m heading to northern Minnesota this weekend to photograph the great grey owl irruption. Temperatures are going to be well below freezing, as low as -15 F in the early mornings. As I understand it you mostly drive along the roads, pull over when you come to a sighting, get out and shoot, and then get back in the car. So the camera will be going from a warm car to freezing cold and back, with no time to acclimate before shooting. I’ve been told that some folks leave their windows cracked while driving around so the temperature swing for their gear isn’t so extreme, but that sounds quite unpleasant to me and I question if it’s necessary. I know if I was going from an air conditioned car to humid, tropical weather that condensation on/in the lens would be an issue, but I wouldn’t think that going from a warm car to cold, dry air would be an issue. Obviously I don’t want to mess up my gear or miss any shots though. Do I need to be concerned? Any steps I should take to avoid issues?
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At some point, you will go from cold outside back to warm inside the car. What works best for me is to "suck it up, buttercup" and drive with the back windows open. Try to equalize the outside and inside temps as much as tolerable.
Try to avoid having it so cold in the vehicle that you have to dress like the Michelin Man in order not to freeze to death. It's nearly impossible to shoot dressed like that.

Edit - as others have said, remove the lens hood.
 
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You could put the camera and lens in a case and put it in the trunk. I would think that the trunk won't warm up that much compared to the car's interior. If your vehicle doesn't have a trunk, put it as far back as possible and leave the rear windows open. At the end of the day, put the camera in a ziploc or garbage bag that can be squeezed to push out as much air as possible and then bring it indoors. You could also keep the gear out side all night in the car and bring the battery and card in if you trust the surroundings.
 
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Drew said:
You could put the camera and lens in a case and put it in the trunk. I would think that the trunk won't warm up that much compared to the car's interior. If your vehicle doesn't have a trunk, put it as far back as possible and leave the rear windows open. At the end of the day, put the camera in a ziploc or garbage bag that can be squeezed to push out as much air as possible and then bring it indoors. You could also keep the gear out side all night in the car and bring the battery and card in if you trust the surroundings.
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In the shooting scenario described, I would think a primary concern is to keep the camera easily accessible so as not to miss the shot. Being able to keep the camera and lens on the seat next to him or even on a neck strap would allow easy accessibility.
 
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Thanks for all the tips. I’ve seen Steve’s video about the lens hood and will definitely remove it when shooting. I rented an SUV so I won’t have a trunk to keep my camera gear in so I guess I’ll keep the rear windows cracked as much as I can. I’ll be dressed warm so it shouldn’t be too bad. I’ve done landscape photography in the Canadian Rockies where I was lying on a frozen lake shooting ice bubbles at sunrise for an hour at 30 degrees below zero, so this should be nowhere near as extreme as that!
 
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Get ready as it is really cold up here now (below average).... next week looks the same.
The air is dry, but I would keep the air in the car cold (heat low or off -- it will still be better than outside)....or keep your gear in your trunk in between shots (although then you lose a lot of flexibility).
 
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In the winter I use a one inch long screw-in lens hood on my telephotos. It give some protection to the front element, and provides a little bit of shade as well, without being long enough to trap much warm air -- the mere act of moving the camera around releases any warm air within the hood. On a sunny day without wind and with the camera/lens sitting on a tripod for any length of time, a long dark lens hood will heat up enough to move the air within the hood.
 
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When I transition from hot to cold, I simply use an 18 hour hand warmer and hold it in place with 1 or 2 rubber bands. It amazes me how many people use them & place them on top of their lenses...(elementary school...heat rises). I also turn the camera off when not in use to preserve battery life in a colder environment.
 
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Have any of you tried to put the camera in a bag, reasonably sealed, before putting it back in the car? It's a question, not a suggestion, as I haven't tried it myself.

The problem is when warm air gets in touch with a cold body because air can't hold as much vapour at lower temperature. If the air in the bag comes from outside, it's drier and its relative humidity will decrease further when it's warming up. I see no problem there, in theory. If you have to go back outside, just unpack it outside and repeat.

The only issue I can see is when going outside the first time, from warm to cold, with a camera that has some warm air inside (for ex, between the sensor and the lens). I think it's usually not a problem as the body takes much more time to cool down than the air near it.
 
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Unscript said:
Have any of you tried to put the camera in a bag, reasonably sealed, before putting it back in the car? It's a question, not a suggestion, as I haven't tried it myself.

The problem is when warm air gets in touch with a cold body because air can't hold as much vapour at lower temperature. If the air in the bag comes from outside, it's drier and its relative humidity will decrease further when it's warming up. I see no problem there, in theory. If you have to go back outside, just unpack it outside and repeat.

The only issue I can see is when going outside the first time, from warm to cold, with a camera that has some warm air inside (for ex, between the sensor and the lens). I think it's usually not a problem as the body takes much more time to cool down than the air near it.
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I find the air in the car at cold temps is normally very dry already so humidity isn't an issue. Bigger problem is if you want to jump out and shoot hence the windows down. I suppose an insulated bag of cold air might help for that or maybe a regular drink/food cooler. I just roll down the windows.
 
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cdfturner said:
I find the air in the car at cold temps is normally very dry already so humidity isn't an issue. Bigger problem is if you want to jump out and shoot hence the windows down. I suppose an insulated bag of cold air might help for that or maybe a regular drink/food cooler. I just roll down the windows.
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Of course the if your car isn't cold you can't pull over and use your car as a "blind"
 
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Ben C said:
I’m heading to northern Minnesota this weekend to photograph the great grey owl irruption. Temperatures are going to be well below freezing, as low as -15 F in the early mornings. As I understand it you mostly drive along the roads, pull over when you come to a sighting, get out and shoot, and then get back in the car. So the camera will be going from a warm car to freezing cold and back, with no time to acclimate before shooting. I’ve been told that some folks leave their windows cracked while driving around so the temperature swing for their gear isn’t so extreme, but that sounds quite unpleasant to me and I question if it’s necessary. I know if I was going from an air conditioned car to humid, tropical weather that condensation on/in the lens would be an issue, but I wouldn’t think that going from a warm car to cold, dry air would be an issue. Obviously I don’t want to mess up my gear or miss any shots though. Do I need to be concerned? Any steps I should take to avoid issues?
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Although the shutter and lens aperture can sometimes be a problem
These days the battery is the most effected by cold.
Keep spare batteries in your pocket.
And maybe use a USB lens warmer ... 🦘
 
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I’m back from my weekend trip and happy to say I had no issues. I intended to keep the car windows down as suggested but to be honest, after standing outside in zero or below-zero temps for 30 minutes to an hour at a time waiting for and/or shooting birds, I needed a warm car to thaw my hands as they were basically numb. It was hard to even operate the camera well at times as it required taking off my gloves and/or just using liners to be able to move the focus joystick or switch settings. I also hadn’t anticipated that my warm breath dispersing through my face mask would cause my viewfinder to fog up, so that was an annoyance. But the warm to cold transition did not seem to be an issue for my cameras.

If anyone has a recommendation for gloves that are actually thin enough to allow you to operate tiny camera buttons, work for a phone touchscreen, and yet are warm enough to keep fingers from going numb in zero degree temps, I would be very interested to hear!
 
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