Ebony cameras in below freezing temperature

[Santiago Vanegas]

Has anyone had any experience with Ebony cameras in below freezing temperature. Do these low temperatures present any problems to the ebony wood? Will it crack or warp? If these cameras are vulnerable to these cold conditions, what is recommended to reduce/avoid damage to the camera?

[Steve Hamley]

Santiago,

I've used both of mine - one ebony wood and one mahogany - below freezing many, many times - no problems. Don't worry, just go shoot. You'll have more trouble with lenses and filters fogging in cold weather, the camera is bullet proof, at least to the point shutters would get slow.

Steve

[austin granger]

To second Steve's comment, I used my ebony (mahogany wood) once when it was 15 degrees below zero didn't have any problems.

Well, to be honest, I did have some problems, but none of them were with the camera. It's hard to photograph when it's 15 below zero!

I highly recommed those mittens that transform into fingerless gloves. But I suppose that's another post...

[Eric Leppanen]

No problems with my Ebony either when shooting at below freezing temperatures. At least in my experience, the photographer experienced far more problems in the cold than the camera!

[Pierre Kervella]

I have also used several times my Ebony SW45 below freezing temperatures, without any problem. I found that the major concern with wooden cameras is when you use them in very hot and humid weather (tropical): the wood can "inflate" slightly, making the adjustments difficult. But this is not specific to one brand or the other.

[Michael Gordon]

Hate to sound like a smartass, but wood comes from trees, and trees persist through conditions that kill humans. I'd worry more about the photographer

[tim atherton]

"Hate to sound like a smartass, but wood comes from trees, and trees persist through conditions that kill humans. I'd worry more about the photographer "

I've stood beside a tree that cracked in two down the core of the trunk with a sound like a rifle shot at -40c. At -30c I've had leather bellows that become so stiff you couldn't contract them and close the camera down.

Differential adjacent metal parts can contract at siginifcantly different rates and jam (metal on wood part can do the same and jam tight - had that with the rail guides on a deardorff).

It really varies from brand to brand and model to model. Some have no problems at all, others do. I've had wood cameras that have jamed up and metal ones as well, and vice versa - both types that worked just fine. I've had new cameras whose bellows stiffend up horribly and 30 year old synthetic bellows that worked no problem... Hence it's probably best to ask if anyone has used a particular camera in such conditions...

[Santiago Vanegas]

"Hate to sound like a smartass, but wood comes from trees, and trees persist through conditions that kill humans. I'd worry more about the photographer

--Michael E. Gordon 2005-12-19 08:59 PST"

I understand your point, but trees are not precision instruments. They are living organisms that are constantly changing, growing, and reacting to their environment. Cameras are precision instruments that require maintaining their structural integrity to function properly. IMHO, the tree analogy isn't relevant to the question.

[Bob Younger]

The mink-liner coats are backordered for six months!!!
And the fitted beaver-skin wrappers for the focusing nobs that keep bare fingers off cold titanium are almost 9 months backordered!

So, I've resorted to some form-fitting neoprene type gloves. I found that even with the fingerless gloves that have the mitten wrap over the fingers, once I'd held onto that focusing knob for very long I never could get my hands warm again.

But, I've never had any problems with the wooden cameras, either my Deardorff or the Ebony (mahogany version). Fogging the ground glass or the lenses can be a problem.

Bob Younger

[Michael Gordon]

IMHO, the tree analogy isn't relevant to the question.

OK then..... I'm not an arborist, but I have a mahogany Ebony (for the weight savings), and my guess is that mahogany might be more susceptible to environmental conditions than ebony. I've used my mahogany Ebony numerous times in rain, snow, sleet, very high humidity, very low humidity, 100+f temperatures and below 32f (just yesterday, in fact) and it has not reacted adversely in those conditions, nor does it show any signs of trauma or wear from those conditions as a result.

I'd worry more about my lens shutters than my wooden camera, but that's me.