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Peter - 23 Jan 2006 11:49 GMT

Can temperatures in range of -15C...-20C (about -10F) stop lens from
working? I've had it several times when aperture control + AF wouldn't work
outdoors. Cycling battery power usually helped. Is this a problem with lens,
or 'normal' and I simply shouldn't expose camera to such temps? Canon 20D +
Sigma 28-70 f/2.8

Peter

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Floyd Davidson - 23 Jan 2006 14:38 GMT

>Can temperatures in range of -15C...-20C (about -10F) stop lens from
>working? I've had it several times when aperture control + AF wouldn't work
>outdoors. Cycling battery power usually helped. Is this a problem with lens,
>or 'normal' and I simply shouldn't expose camera to such temps? Canon 20D +
>Sigma 28-70 f/2.8

At -10F the battery is dead and any lubrication becomes thick,
or even solid.

I wouldn't know about a Canon 20D / Sigma 28-70, but generally
if you want a camera to work at those temps you'll have to have
it specially serviced. All lubrication is removed, thus it will
wear out relatively fast. Also you need something in the way of
an external battery pack that enables powering the camera with a
battery that is inside your coat.

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Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd@apaflo.com

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Mike King - 23 Jan 2006 22:29 GMT

-10F isn't cold, we have temperatures in that range most winters. The only
camera I couldn't use at that temp was my Contax RTS, the battery shut down.
Not a lubricant problem. Lubrication issues are more common at 40 below
(either C or F it's the same point on both scales). Look into a remote
battery pack that you can keep inside your parka and run a wire down the
sleeve to your camera.

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darkroommike

> >Can temperatures in range of -15C...-20C (about -10F) stop lens from
> >working? I've had it several times when aperture control + AF wouldn't work
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> an external battery pack that enables powering the camera with a
> battery that is inside your coat.

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Floyd Davidson - 24 Jan 2006 00:59 GMT

>-10F isn't cold, we have temperatures in that range most winters.

Well, we do get that warm now and then...

Current temperature here is -15F with a windchill of -43.

>The only
>camera I couldn't use at that temp was my Contax RTS, the battery shut down.
>Not a lubricant problem. Lubrication issues are more common at 40 below

Lubrication can be a problem at much warmer than -10F. Typical
non-synthetic motor oil is jello at -10F. Almost any kind of
grease that is not designed for Arctic use is solid at -10F.

Typcically the light oils used in cameras won't be that bad.
But it may be difficult to focus lenses, and AF may not work.
Shutter speeds may be inaccurate, and the aperture blades may
stick without closing down completely.

Hence it isn't so much that the camera will refuse to function
at all, but a question of just what it does when it functions.

>(either C or F it's the same point on both scales). Look into a remote
>battery pack that you can keep inside your parka and run a wire down the
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>> an external battery pack that enables powering the camera with a
>> battery that is inside your coat.

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Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd@apaflo.com

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Ray Heindl - 24 Jan 2006 21:14 GMT

> -10F isn't cold, we have temperatures in that range most winters.
> The only camera I couldn't use at that temp was my Contax RTS, the
> battery shut down. Not a lubricant problem. Lubrication issues
> are more common at 40 below (either C or F it's the same point on
> both scales). Look into a remote battery pack that you can keep
> inside your parka and run a wire down the sleeve to your camera.

Or you could carry two batteries, one in a warm pocket and one in the
camera. Switch them when the camera starts to have problems. You
might want to put the cold one in a plastic bag before putting it in
your pocket, to keep condensation off.

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Ray Heindl
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default - 23 Jan 2006 16:35 GMT

I took my Canon Rebel Rebel XT 350D and subjected it to taking about 1000
pictures in some serious cold at times. The humidity is usually quite low
though when it was really cold. The 18-55mm Canon lens always did fine in
the cold as did the camera. I used the battery grip with two lithium
batteries and it was never a problem. The main thing from the Canon
literature is not to charge the batteries below O C. I have read in other
places of people using Rebel XT's to -20C. The 20D is similiar so I would
expect it to work ok. The salesman where I bought the camera told me that
many do not work well in cold but that he had many reports of the canon
DSLR's working good in the cold. The Canon manual lists operating
temperature of 0-40C and <80% relative humidity.

The Sigma 70-300mm DG Macro lens worked great most of the time, but did stop
working a couple of times. I turned the power off, pressed the lens
release, rotated the lens just a bit and then back to seated, then turned
the power on and it worked again. I imagine that removing and re-inserting
the batteries would have a similiar effect.

The Sigma documentation doesn't show the operating temperature limits, but I
imagine it isn't designed to be too cold. The Canon kit lens has very loose
construction, but it feels like the Sigma has much closer tolerances
mechanically. Possibly it gets too tight although it felt ok turning the
zoom and focus rings.

The pictures turned out great though. It was extremely bright out so even
the "cheap" lenses did quite well. Shutter speeds were usually 1/500 -
1/1000 sec at ISO 100-200 even at F8-11.

> Can temperatures in range of -15C...-20C (about -10F) stop lens from
> working? I've had it several times when aperture control + AF wouldn't
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Peter

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Mike King - 23 Jan 2006 22:30 GMT

Lithium batteries are better than alkaline or silver oxide at low temps but
there will come a time when they all loose power.

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darkroommike

> I took my Canon Rebel Rebel XT 350D and subjected it to taking about 1000
> pictures in some serious cold at times. The humidity is usually quite low
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> >
> > Peter

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Alan Browne - 28 Jan 2006 16:09 GMT

> Can temperatures in range of -15C...-20C (about -10F) stop lens from
> working? I've had it several times when aperture control + AF wouldn't work
> outdoors. Cycling battery power usually helped. Is this a problem with lens,
> or 'normal' and I simply shouldn't expose camera to such temps? Canon 20D +
> Sigma 28-70 f/2.8

I've shot below -20°C and never had a lens problem (I don't use AF very
much, however).

I have had film jam once in the body at -17°C on a very windy day (and
close to a helicopter operating above/around me). Same camera at below
-20°C on other occasions, no prob.

Digital: if the monitor LCD gets very cold it may become very sluggish.

Cheers,
Alan

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