How To Protect Camera From Snow
Updated: Baronial 2018 to change some product recommendations to newly discovered, better products.
1. Fight Condensation With A Plastic Purse
In cold temperatures, condensation is your number 1 enemy. Y'all should avoid rapid temperature changes with your gear unless yous are prepared for it, then that ways don't walk in and out of your domicile, hotel or ski resort restaurant all the time. Warming a cold photographic camera and lens in this way will immediately cause condensation to form all over it. To forestall this from happening, put your camera and lens into a ziplock bag while yous are still outside. This will allows the camera to come upward to temperature more slowly, and much of the condensation that does form, volition appear on the pocketbook and not the photographic camera.
At the end of your common cold weather condition shoot information technology's imperative that all your gear is thoroughly dried out to prevent mildew from forming within the lens. When I get dwelling house, I lay a towel out on the table and remove all the lens caps from my lenses to let them warm up. I also remove the body cap from the camera and identify it face down on the towel. Never put the towel directly in front of a heater though! We don't want to go melted safety grips or loosened glue inside your lenses.
Some condensation on your gear is inevitable though, so you lot'll likewise desire to make sure you accept at least a couple of cloths within your bag to dry them out with. I used to use regular lens cleaning cloths, but and so I discovered the amazing PakTowl. These are made of ultra absorbent materials, and actually designed for backpackers who don't want to acquit a lot of weight. The PakTowl Face size of towel is barely bigger than a regular lens cloth, simply it absorbs about ten times as much h2o. Fifty-fifty when my camera gets soaked, this thing dries information technology out in a 2nd, where regular lens cloths just make it experience every bit if you're moving water around from one place to another.
–>> If you exercise get your camera besides moisture and information technology stops working, read our guide about how to revive a wet camera.
The effect of cold temperatures on your battery life can be severe, depending on the brand and type of batteries you are using. My experiences with Catechism 1D-series batteries have been very favourable, and the capacity of those is so loftier that I've tended not to worry about them too much. Smaller batteries for other lower-terminate DSLRs tin can suffer from significantly increased depletion rates in colder temperatures though.
At -18°C (0°F) a battery might take as piddling every bit half the capacity that it would have at 27°C (80°F). These common cold temperatures don't take a lasting effect on the batteries, but it tin can certainly be frustrating if you aren't prepared for information technology. Thankfully the solution is uncomplicated, only add together a lilliputian warmth and bring a few spares. Lots of bulky batteries aren't practical to put inside your jacket so you can simply utilise oxygen-activated hand warmers and an elastic band to go along them up against your batteries. Boxes of hand warmers aren't expensive and they can always come up in handy for their actual intended apply as well!
3. Rain Covers
Whilst it is pretty obvious that a rain cover tin can also protect your gear from snowfall, I idea I would take the opportunity to laissez passer on some of my experience with rain covers so that you lot can make an informed ownership decision. I never similar to permit the atmospheric condition dictate whether I tin shoot or not, because sometimes information technology has taken me a lot of time and coin to get to a location. I've got to attempt and come up back with something, no-matter what mother nature is throwing at me. In cold environments this often means dealing with occasional snow and even if it'south not falling, information technology's often globe-trotting around on frozen lakes in places like Banff and Iceland. It doesn't hurt to cover upward your photographic camera, particularly if you lot don't have the more expensive pro-level gear that is atmospheric condition sealed.
Camera covers come in various shapes and sizes, depending on what kind of lens you are looking to encompass. There'due south also a very broad pricing spectrum, just I'd urge you to weigh the pricing against the total value of the gear yous are trying to protect….. A $ix.99 plastic comprehend doesn't make a lot of sense to me when you're protecting $1000+ worth of gear, or annihilation upwards to $xv,000 for some of my own camera/lens combinations.
One of my favourite covers is the fully featured Think Tank Photo Hydrophobia. Information technology'due south available in five different sizes to conform mirrorless and DSLR cameras with lenses ranging from ultra wide-angle all the style to 600mm. Each Hydrophobia comes with a front cover to protect the lens element, which is very useful if yous're waiting in snow that's blowing effectually all over the place.
Fully seam-sealed zippers and stitching provides an bulletproof barrier in all the right places, but the two hand holes are great for winter shooting because you can go your hands inside to keep them warm, potentially removing the need to employ winter gloves or at least allowing yous to use thinner, more tactile glove liners whilst operating the photographic camera.
- HydrophobiaDM 300-600 V3 – For DSLR or mirrorless cameras with a lens size between a 300mm f/2.8 and a 600mm f/iv (an 800mm f/5.6 likewise fits).
- HydrophobiaD 70-200 V3 – For DSLR with a 70-200, fourscore-400, 100-400, 24-70
- HydrophobiaD 24-70 V3 – For DSLR with 24-70, 24-105, xvi-35, xiv-24
- HydrophobiaK lxx-200 V3 – For mirrorless cameras with a 70-200, 80-400, 100-400, 24-70
- HydrophobiaM 24-70 V3 – For mirrorless cameras with 24-70, 24-105, sixteen-35, 14-24
If yous are looking for a cheaper, ultralight option then check out the Think Tank Emergency Rain Comprehend series. They are designed with a more than minimalist approach but equally the proper noun suggests, they're good in emergencies. They're also light on the wallet, and definitely improve than a garbage bag!
If you desire to delve deeper into the particular topic, I've actually written a huge guide to the best photographic camera pelting covers, which explores all the options from companies like Manfrotto, Think Tank, Aquatech, Vortex Media and more than.
4. Desiccant Packs
Desiccant is a solid chemical substance that absorbs water and it's well-nigh usually establish in small packets inside items that you've just purchased online. Manufacturers include them in the packaging of anything that could be damaged in transit, or storage, from exposure to moisture. I'm certain that you've come up across them many times! The smaller packs that you might observe in clothing purchases aren't as well much use to us on their own, but yous tin buy much larger ones from B&H Photo, or similar online photo stores.
These larger sizes are a bully affair to take in your camera bag in cold and snowy environments. No affair how conscientious y'all are, equally soon every bit your bag is open, a minor amount of snow will find its way into your bag and melt instantly, creating a damn interior. Desiccant packs in your handbag will help to soak up some of this moisture, and they are "rechargeable" by heating them up once you return to your home or hotel. Even if yous are in a dry out, common cold surroundings, you still run the risk of excessive condensation forming on your gear and the silica desiccants will help to minimize the risks.
v. Keep Your Memory Cards Warm (& Dry)
Whilst high-end memory cards like the Sandisk Extremes take an operating temperature of well-nigh -xiii to 185 fahrenheit, some of the cheaper cards are not quite too protected. Unlike the batteries we talked about earlier, in that location's no need to use mitt warmers on your cards, just you should identify your retention card holder in the inside jacket pocket so that it can benefit from some of your trunk heat. Avert putting it too close to your core if you are going to exist taking part in strenuous activities though, like skiing or snowshoeing. We don't desire to get sweat on the cards becuse wet is even worse for them than cold temperatures.
If you are working in snowfall, consider a water-resistant memory card case such every bit this one from Pelican or consider placing your regular retention card holder into a waterproof case like the eCase in the photo below.
If you want to read more than about my general recommendations for retentiveness card holders, cheque out our guide to the best memory carte cases on the market today!
Bonus Tip!
Best Photography Gloves?
If you're trying to protect your photographic camera then it probably means yous demand protecting every bit well. When it comes to common cold weather photography, I'thou always getting asked what kind of gloves I wear, then I created a post to explicate the choices. Find out what kind of gloves I use here: What Are The Best Photography Gloves?
Source: https://shuttermuse.com/cold-weather-photography-protect-camera/
Posted by: hernandezmakentance.blogspot.com
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