preparing for winter

[false_Aesthetic]

Heya,

I realize winter is a few months away but I thought I'd ask for advice while the questions are on my mind


1) Can you shoot with "frozen" film and if so, does the ISO or color balance change at all?
2) How do you deal with condensation on film and lenses?
3) How big of a problem is static?


Feel free to offer any other info.

Thanks

T

[400d]

1) Films are better at a lower temperature. How low? I don't know.
2) Assume my gears are in my pack for couple hours, they usually won't be that warm to get condensation.
3) Static...I've never thought about that. The only problem I can associate with static is dust and the shock to electronics. LF gears aren't really threatened by those two when it's out there in the field. Just don't blow the dust on your lens by mouth, or it will take FOREVER for the condensation to disappear.

[400d]

Also, focusing on groundglass can be annoying when you are breathing out on the glass.

[Eric James]

1) Your film doesn't know that water has frozen:)

2) Going from cold to warm presents a problem. I place my gear in Ziploc bags, Lock-n-Lock containers, or Pelican cases before coming back inside. Let your gear reach ambient temperature inside the dry environment, then open it up without the risk of condensation forming on lenses and electronics. If you plan to store gear in a watertight environment you should have silica gel or some form of desiccant inside to sop-up the evil moisture.

3) I haven't had to deal with static.

X) I use Patagonia lightweight Capilene glove livers inside of mittens - the liners don't compromise dexterity, and the thick felted woolen mittens provide warmth when waiting for the light of moving to a new location. Fingerless mitts/gloves are also useful in milder temps - mine don't fit well inside mittens; this combo compromises blood flow and turns out to be colder than the lighter Capilene liners plus mitten combo. YMMV.

Y) 400d's ground glass point is always a problem - I've tried to train myself to breath away from the glass or viewfinder but I haven't had much success. Maybe the next-generation Black-Jacket will have a snorkel hole (patent pending:) )

[Walter Calahan]

Snorkel.

That's Brilliant! Better than rinsing one's mouth with anti-freeze. HA!

Static, that's a problem in cold temperature with low humidity in roll film cameras as the film moves through the camera. In LF the film never moves, and I've never heard of static discharge problems with the dark slide.

Always let your gear slowly come to temperature. No sudden moves from warm, humid environments to cold, or back again. It's always a problem with cave photography on a hot summer day.

[Frank Petronio]

I keep a couple large plastic bags tucked around the car, camera cases, etc. and wrap stuff before bringing inside. Going out into the cold is rarely a problem unless you are coming from a warm, humid place like a pool or greenhouse. Coming in from the cold is what will kill your gear.

If you do get condensation, try to get some gentle airflow going (but not a blow dryer!)

[Jim Jones]

Film becomes brittle at very low temperatures and humidity, and static electricity can definitely be a problem. So can batteries in equipment. I've used all mechanical equipment down to -65F and maybe 5 or 10% humidity with no problem as long as I carefully reloaded and slowly advanced and rewound film. Watch for bits of film that may have broken off of the roll when changing film. Factory lubrication sufficed in well-used cameras, although some photographers keep a camera with no lube for those conditions. If I had to return to the Artic, I'd avoid any camera with electronics. In more moderate winters the precautions others have mentioned are adequate.

[Michael Graves]

The static and condensation problems can be address with one simple addition to your toolbox. Last year, I bought a package of 100 3M anti-static ziplock bags for my 5x7 film holders and another 100 for my 8x10. They're reusable so I think they were a pretty cheap investment. My dust problems have been significantly reduced as a result. Can't remember the company I got them from off the top of my head, but if anyone is interested, I'll check my invoices for last year. I'll have it on file.

[Jim MacKenzie]

You actually want your gear and film to be the same temperature as the environment in which you are shooting. As mentioned, if your gear is a lot colder you will get condensation on it, particularly if the air is humid. If the gear is a lot warmer this isn't a fatal problem but if you accidentally breathe on a lens or viewfinder (for those who shoot other than LF :) ), you will have fun being able to see anything for awhile.

I let my gear go cold. Keep it in a well-closed camera bag for a few hours once you get back home and let it warm up slowly. I find that this works well. It isn't necessary to put everything in ziploc bags unless you want to forcibly warm stuff up fast.

I do use the bags on my frozen film, though, because I do warm it up fairly quickly.

[Michael Graves]

Actually, Jim, in the northern climates (as you should know) just walking into the house after a long shoot in 20-degree temperatures will cause a rapid build-up of condenstation. I've never opened my film holders there in the doorway to see if they're being affected too. I just preferred to assume that the same laws of physics applied to them as did my glasses.

Agreed: while you're outside and the temperatures have stabilized, the only thing the ziplock bags do is keep the holders clean. But the do come in handy when you come back into the house.

[Ron Marshall]

Also, focusing on groundglass can be annoying when you are breathing out on the glass.
Use a cheap skin-diving snorkel, and stick the tube outside the dark-cloth.

[Michael Graves]

Use a cheap skin-diving snorkel, and stick the tube outside the dark-cloth.


We don't look goofy enough when we're shooting? Now we gotta wear swimming gear when it's thirty below?

[Donald Qualls]

We don't look goofy enough when we're shooting? Now we gotta wear swimming gear when it's thirty below?

Speak for yourself, Michael. I look dignified and professional when I'm shooting LF, with my dark cloth (a black t-shirt) around my neck and hanging loose after I straighten up from the ground glass.

I only look goofy when I'm shooting my Altoids Gum pinhole cameras on my tiny pocket tripod. Well, or any other tripod I own, come to that...

[ronald moravec]

I bring all my gear inside and wrap the backpack and all with an old quilt. About four hours later It is at room temp, and I put it away.

Keep it out of a warm car on the way home.

Buy some spiked soles to strap on your hiking boots and Gators to keep the snow off your lower legs and ouy of your boots. REI sports sells both. Hand warmers are really nice when you take your gloves off to shoot a pic. I try to use hunter gloves where the fingers 1/2 covered and mittens fold over them for when you are not shooting cameras or guns.

Proper clothing is imperative.

[John Kasaian]

K-Y, a wonderful cold weather lubricant for cameras. Really.

If you need something like that.

What I like about it is that it can easily be removed with water, so its easy to replace with your normal camera grease when you aren't in sub-zero conditions.

Get the jumbo-sized veterinary tube of the stuff and tell your wife its for your dearly beloved field camera and see what happens!

[Andrew O'Neill]

K-Y, a wonderful cold weather lubricant for cameras. Really.

Ya...suuuuuuure, John.

[Paul Coppin]

Snorkel.

That's Brilliant! Better than rinsing one's mouth with anti-freeze. HA!

Static, that's a problem in cold temperature with low humidity in roll film cameras as the film moves through the camera. In LF the film never moves, and I've never heard of static discharge problems with the dark slide.

Always let your gear slowly come to temperature. No sudden moves from warm, humid environments to cold, or back again. It's always a problem with cave photography on a hot summer day.

The snorkel idea might not be so dumb. Not thinking about my diving snorkel, but a foot-long section of soft food grade vinyl hose that can just hang down from your mouth, and a set of swimmer's nose clips for your nose...

[paulr]

... but a foot-long section of soft food grade vinyl hose that can just hang down from your mouth, and a set of swimmer's nose clips for your nose...

i don't think you'll look goofy ... you'll look like a Ghostbuster.

[Eric James]

I was only partly joking about the snorkel - certainly you'd look like a goofball. For those game to try you might look at the Black Diamond Avalung. http://www.bdel.com/gear/avalung_ii.php Spendy, no doubt, and I would rather be breathing through my nose - especially in winter. The Avalung would keep you from looking like a freakazoid - but you'd still be a "mouth breather". I like the nose plug idea - if you remember to mouth breath through a snorkel device 95% of the time - the 5% nose exhuast will still foul your GG.

[Joseph O'Neil]

K-Y, a wonderful cold weather lubricant for cameras. Really.

-snip-

Personally I've always used white lithium grease, usually bought in automotive supply stores, but hey, I'll pick up a case of the KY stuff, and tell my wife it's for the cameras. Warming lotion, right? :)

A bit more serious, ziploc bags are possibly your best friend going form one extreme of weather to another. This applies from freezing to extreme heat. Always wait for yoru film and holders to "climatize" inside before opening.

I also find those small, portable, soft sided lunch bags and/or coolers are excellent for carrying around film loaded in holders. I first noticed them when my kids started school (many moons ago) and took these insulated lunch bags with them.

Depending on how much film you are carrying or the size of your film, these coolers & lunch bags are easy to find (try any Wal-Mart for example), realtively cheap, mostly waterproof (I sitll use ziplock bags), and lightweight. I've travelled through Kansas in 100F heat (102F I think it was ) and i've gone through snow and cold down to darned near -20 C with wind chill, and these things are just wonderful. Not perfect, but excellent.

The other thing I find, some film holders, depending on how long you are in the cold, can get a wee bit brittle. The padding on these cases, large or small, seems to offer some protection against damage if you fall or drop something - especially for natural born klutzes like myself. :)

Also there are these pocket warmers you can buy. Not sure of all the different brand names, but bascially a small plastic pouch or bag, with two chemicals inside. They sell arroudn hunting supply stores at this time fo year,a nd through winter. You squeeze them - break them, whatever - kinda like a glow stick - and the small bag gives off heat for the next 15 to 30 minutes.

These things are excelelnt while shooting in the snow or cold. Keep your hands warm, or hold one against the ground glass for a moment to remove dew/frost, there just seems to be amillion uses for them. Worth picking up some if you plan on a long time outside.

One last bit of advise, comming fomr Canada and dealing with cold weather all my life. The basic foundation of staying warm outside in the cold for extened periods of time is your underwear. Seriously. You can have all the fancy cold weather wear and gear in the world, but start with the foundation (pun intended). I have found nothing beats wool longjohns and wool undershirt. If you dress in layers, you can always add or take away. Add to that heavy duty boots, a down parka, and a good hat, and you would be amazed how long you can withstand the cold.

good luck
joe

[Ted Harris]

Like Joe I work in vry coold weather all the time. We even run a Fine Focus Snow and Ice Workshop. All the advice you have gotten is good, you just need to see what works for you.

I like Joe, much prefer natural fibers for the most part and add layer after layer. I also make sure that one or more of my outside layers is well populated with inner pockets where I can stash film and lenses as I stage them for use. One of the tricks is to gradually change the temperature, either up or down, of your equipoment and film untilyou reach the outside temperature to avoid condensation.

You also need to know what sort of equipment will behave bettr or worse in extreme cold. For example, wood v. metal tripods. Additionally, some years ago I found out the hard way that BOSS Screens behave as badly in extreme cold as they do in extreme heat. In the case of cold they develop styrations working in from the corners. There are also isolated reports of some types of carbon fiber unraveling in extreme cold.

Finally, make sure you can operate your camera controls with gloves or mittens.