Guest BigSplash Posted December 17, 2009 Share #1 Posted December 17, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I am planning to go skiing and want to take my M8 with me. ...and in future a M9. In years gone by it was the norm to have the Leica M4 for example winterised (oil removed) and on my Beaulieu Movie camera I used to use a battery pounch that I kept in my ski jacket pocket (to keep it warm) and the gave power via a cable to the camera. Question: Does anyone have experience using a M8 or M9 at very low temperature...minus 30'C to minus 10'C. I shall have two batteries fully loaded each day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 17, 2009 Posted December 17, 2009 Hi Guest BigSplash, Take a look here Battery Usage at below -10'C. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted December 17, 2009 Share #2 Posted December 17, 2009 Yes I have.It is quite possible to use the camera in the cold, but do keep it under your coat as much as possible, and do keep the spare batteries warm in your pocket. The main enemy is internal condensation - watch out for that - it can kill cameras. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted December 17, 2009 Share #3 Posted December 17, 2009 Yes I have.It is quite possible to use the camera in the cold, but do keep it under your coat as much as possible, and do keep the spare batteries warm in your pocket. The main enemy is internal condensation - watch out for that - it can kill cameras. How do you avoid the condensation......I guess if the camera has been in the cold all day (snow conditions) and then you wander into a warm hotel room that is likely to be ideal to get condensation.....do you suggest keeping the camera minus batteries but with lenses in the car boot during the night, and allow the camera & lenses to gradually (ie very slowly) reach normal temperatures on the journey back home? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 17, 2009 Share #4 Posted December 17, 2009 No- just put it in a closed plastic bag outside, when it is cold, take it inside and let it warm up inside the bag. You can take it out when temperatures have more or less equalized. DON'T LEAVE IT IN! In the car boot is not a good idea. If the temperature comes to the dew point there you will have created the circumstances that promote condensation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted December 17, 2009 Share #5 Posted December 17, 2009 it 's bound to be better than my first digital Leica, the Fuji built Digilux Zoom in 1999. It used 2 AA NiMH batteries and in cold weather below 0º, you could get about 2 shots. Eventually I found that non-rechargeable Lithium AA's was the answer. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted December 18, 2009 Share #6 Posted December 18, 2009 Many thanks ...very useful feedback for me and very logical. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted December 18, 2009 Share #7 Posted December 18, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I can't vouch for minus 30'C, but I have been out today and the wind chill got it down to minus 8'C. Starting with a fully charged aftermarket battery I got 200 uncompressed .dng files with no review but some chimping, before it stopped working. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted December 20, 2009 Share #8 Posted December 20, 2009 Jaapv ....After hearing about five Eurostar trains stuck in the euro tunnel it seems that condensation is an issue. Those trains apparently went from extreme cold to humid warmth in the tunnel and seemingly suffered acute condensation as a result. I guess a digital camera and its lenses as you point out would behave in much the same way if you go from cold to the damp hot of a ski hotel.....so thanks for the advice. I am reading here that batteries, especially if a spare is kept in a warm pocket are less likely to be an issue. Thanks to all of you for the feedback. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisK Posted December 20, 2009 Share #9 Posted December 20, 2009 I used the M9 in -12 degrees Celsius for 4 hours today and there were no problems at all. In fact, my 1Ds III stopped working while the M9 continued to work just fine. Dennis Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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