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Rodya

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I've done as low as -30C (+ windchill but that doesn't make a difference on cameras) with my M8 and Leica glass. Lenses stay well lubricated at those temperatures (which is pretty impressive!)

 

The biggest concern is battery life which will be much lower so to maximize your battery life, in general:

1) Shut the camera off when you're not shooting (this actually makes a huge difference) instead of going into standby

2) Reduce the amount/duration that you use the LCD

3) Keep a spare battery in a warm pocket

4) Leave the camera outside of your jacket (this doens't improve battery life but details below)

 

(4) sounds a bit unintuitive (afterall, why would you protect your camera from the cold by leaving it in the cold?) but there is method to the madness. If you take your cold camera into a warm, moist environment (i.e. the inside of your coat where your body releases heat and water vapour), the water vapour will condense on the camera. Because the camera is not air tight (remember we're not talking about water, but water vapour), the water vapour can easily get inside the camera and when it hits something cold (i.e. lens elements, view finder glass, circuit boards, chassis), it condenses into water droplets. This can cause fogging in the optics and leave residue when it eventually dries, or worse, condensation can potentially fly electronics if you repeat this cold-warm transition a lot and/or you're sweating a lot due to heavy excercise.

 

To give you an example of just how humid it can be within your jacket, there was one time when I was hiking in cold rain (near freezing) and to protect the camera, I've put it inside my GoreTex Pro Shell jacket (this is suppose to be the most breathable hardshell material that GoreTex makes). After 30 minutes, even though i was not sweating heavily, I found a small puddle of water on the bottom of my shell jacket near my waist. The optics in the M8 rangefinder as well as my external finder also fogged up and took a day to dry out.

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You are of course right on condensation. Howeverr changing batteries in extremely low temperatures - metal will stick to skin- and using a non glove-friendly camera like a compact is not a good idea imo- and the LCD will black out. I would advise using an M3 and film. Careful with transporting the film and rewind slowly.

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Not sure how cold it will be in Norway in Feb. but down to -30C, the M8 LCD still works. Refresh is a bit slow (takes about 0.5-1.0 seconds for the image to pop up due to affect of low temperatures on LCDs) but it still works. Alternatively, you could just disable the LCD completely and shoot your camera as you would in film.

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From your thread title I suspect you are going to northern Norway (Nordland or Finmark counties). If so, good advice are already given above.

 

If you are going around the Oslo area you can just treat it as if in New York or London:-)

 

Have a great trip!

 

Cheers,

Knut

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I've done as low as -30C (+ windchill but that doesn't make a difference on cameras) with my M8 and Leica glass. Lenses stay well lubricated at those temperatures (which is pretty impressive!)

 

The biggest concern is battery life which will be much lower so to maximize your battery life, in general:

1) Shut the camera off when you're not shooting (this actually makes a huge difference) instead of going into standby

2) Reduce the amount/duration that you use the LCD

3) Keep a spare battery in a warm pocket

4) Leave the camera outside of your jacket (this doens't improve battery life but details below)

 

(4) sounds a bit unintuitive (afterall, why would you protect your camera from the cold by leaving it in the cold?) but there is method to the madness. If you take your cold camera into a warm, moist environment (i.e. the inside of your coat where your body releases heat and water vapour), the water vapour will condense on the camera. Because the camera is not air tight (remember we're not talking about water, but water vapour), the water vapour can easily get inside the camera and when it hits something cold (i.e. lens elements, view finder glass, circuit boards, chassis), it condenses into water droplets. This can cause fogging in the optics and leave residue when it eventually dries, or worse, condensation can potentially fly electronics if you repeat this cold-warm transition a lot and/or you're sweating a lot due to heavy excercise.

 

To give you an example of just how humid it can be within your jacket, there was one time when I was hiking in cold rain (near freezing) and to protect the camera, I've put it inside my GoreTex Pro Shell jacket (this is suppose to be the most breathable hardshell material that GoreTex makes). After 30 minutes, even though i was not sweating heavily, I found a small puddle of water on the bottom of my shell jacket near my waist. The optics in the M8 rangefinder as well as my external finder also fogged up and took a day to dry out.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my querie, Rodya

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You are of course right on condensation. Howeverr changing batteries in extremely low temperatures - metal will stick to skin- and using a non glove-friendly camera like a compact is not a good idea imo- and the LCD will black out. I would advise using an M3 and film. Careful with transporting the film and rewind slowly.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my querie, Rodya

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Not sure how cold it will be in Norway in Feb. but down to -30C, the M8 LCD still works. Refresh is a bit slow (takes about 0.5-1.0 seconds for the image to pop up due to affect of low temperatures on LCDs) but it still works. Alternatively, you could just disable the LCD completely and shoot your camera as you would in film.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my querie, Rodya

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From your thread title I suspect you are going to northern Norway (Nordland or Finmark counties). If so, good advice are already given above.

 

If you are going around the Oslo area you can just treat it as if in New York or London:-)

 

Have a great trip!

 

Cheers,

Knut

Thanks for taking the time to answer my querie, Rodya

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