What was the lowest temperature have you brought your gears into?

[Marsu42]

Minus 30 degrees Celsius with my 600D and EF-S 18-55 lens. Worked flawlessy. Also from Norway.

In such extreme temperatures, the question (nobody is likely to be able to answer here) is how much affects your shutter mechanism, i.e. how much sooner it will break due to components/lubricants being outside their meant operating range. With a Rebel it maybe won't matter that much (depending on your budget), but a 5d3 breaking is more expensive.

 

[Kernuak]

-26 C in Finland, photographing the Aurora, for around 20 minutes, but slightly warmer (possibly around -20-22 C) earlier in the night for around 3 hours. No problems experienced with my 5D MkIII and 24 f/1.4 MkII, I was pretty cold though, even with lots of thermals. I even had the same battery for all that time.

 

[duydaniel]

Thank you(s) very much...
I am very pleased to know your gears have served you well.
Please keep posting

 

[fegari]

-35 or Celcius some years ago in arctic Sueden when I had a 7D, probably -40 including wind chill while driving on the snowmobile, the back of the camera covered in frost due to condensation from my body heat or when approaching the eye to the viewfinder. Zero issues

 

[AttackMonkey]

Around -35 to -40 Celsius on a ski trip to Finland over Christmas. Had my 600D out for ages without any problems. The only issue at those temperatures is battery life, which is greatly reduced. I used a battery grip though and that seemed to help a lot. As others have mentioned, the back screen can get frosty if you're breathing on it while you look through the viewfinder. I found wearing a ski mask mitigated that for the most part though.

For operating, just make sure you have really good gloves and a bit of practice. When I was taking shots of the Aurora, I took my outer gloves off but kept the thermal linings on so I could operate the smaller buttons, but you can't do that for too long due to the cold.

 

[crasher8]

5 F

 

[takesome1]

Please share:
body name / lowest temperature / how long etc...

I hope we will all benefit from this info.
Thank you very much

Plural for gear is still gear, not gears. Gears mean something completely different.

Maybe you misunderstood the question. I have shifted the gears on my car at -40 F for hours on end.

Then again, maybe everyone else understood and didn't need a third grade teacher for a typo correction.

To answer the OP's question (taking the typo in to account), I used a 5D II photographing for almost an hour of shooting at 10 F. Before I finished the mirror failed. I do not know if it was the cold or if it was just its time. It was 9 months old and warranty covered it.
Edit: I have been in much colder with no failures, but always for short periods.

 

[JPAZ]

A few years back, was dog-sledding in just subzero with a 50D and 17-85 around my neck exposed to the wind and cold. After about 4 hours in the cold and wind, the camera just stopped working. It came back to life a few minutes after coming in from the cold (it warmed whatever stopped working) and seemed fine. The next night, I was out in -31F shooting the Aurora for hours with the same camera on a tripod but with my 10-22. Except for battery life there were no issues. Of note, I used that camera for a couple of years after these events with no apparent issue. The 17-85 failed but this was at least 2 years later so doubt there was a relationship. Lens was repaired by Mack under my extended warranty and went on to serve me until I replaced my kit with the 5Diii.

 

[duydaniel]

Anyone tried to avoid condensation by putting a camera into a condom*?

*this for convenience shake because a condom is very small to put in a wallet vs a traditional plastic bag

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Please share:
body name / lowest temperature / how long etc...

I hope we will all benefit from this info.
Thank you very much

probably about an hour at 10F for one of the xxD and also a 5D2

 

[duydaniel]

The only experience I had was walking around NY city for hours when it was probably 20 F
with a Canon G9 hanging around my neck. It was so cold that the Garmin GPS damaged.

 

[tommo224]

The only concern is when you bring the camera in. Like Eldar suggested remove the batteries, wrap the camera in a airtght plastic bag when you are outside, BEFORE you bring it in. Then wait until the gear is climatized before you use it again.

The reason for this is how condensation is generated when cold objects are brought into hot enviroments and not to risk waterdroplets forming on inside of the camera.

May I ask you to elaborate on this? What kind of airtight bags are these? Just any type?

I'm heading to Alaska and trying to find out as much as I can

 

[JPAZ]

The idea is to prevent condensation which can then freeze. I can't speak for others but a "zip lock" bag has worked for me.

 

[amoore00357]

Had my 60D in my backpack ice fishing all day (about 7 hours). It was -14 when we went out and topped at 20. The camera worked perfectly but the hands didn't want to operate as fast

(it doesn't get that cold very often in Nebraska like it does in Norway but that's the coldest I had mine)

 

[eml58]

Antarctica 2012 over 6 weeks we had 11Days that went to -40 with wind chill. Svalbard 2013 we had 6 days where the temperature went to -35, again with wind chill. 1Dx worked flawlessly, but Batteries last about 45 minutes or less. Lenses used were 400 & 600 in Antarctica, 200-400 & 600 in Svalbard, again no issues, I do use Lens Coate covers, not for any aesthetic look, purely to protect the Lens from dust/dirt/knocks and my hands in the cold conditions of the Arctic/Antarctic.

 

[ooF Fighters]

9 deg F. For about 20 minutes. It was at the Queen Mary Chill ice sculpture exhibit. A 7d with a 24-105. I was frozen but the camera was fine. Had a lot of condensation buildup after going from 9 deg to 65 deg, but was fine after about 20 minutes

 

[captainkanji]

Took my 6D on an early morning walk a couple of weeks after I got it. No worse for wear.

 

[msm]

Windchill temperatures are irrelevant, its the still air temperature which decides how cold the gear gets.

Airtight bags aren't really crucial, any bag which prevents the air from circulating freely around the equipment should be enough. I just keep my stuff in my camera backpack with the zipper closed over night and have no issues with condensation forming on it when moving from -20 to +20 inside (celsius).

 

[Maximilian]

Please share:
body name / lowest temperature / how long etc...

5D2+100-400L/ -15°C (4°F) / about 1 hour / +100 pics of young siberian tigers in snow (zoo)

everything worked well, didn't even have to change the battery, 8)
only prob was, that I had forgotten my gloves (metal body and lens on pure skin)

after that I left the gear in the bag for +3 hours at +21°C (70°F). no condensation.

 

[Jura]

when researching snow leopards in the mountains of western China (min altitude 3400m) my old 50D and sigma lenses went down to -25 in my tent most nights and suffered no ill effects other than the lcd screen seeming a little less responsive and the whole ensemble smelling a lot like yak buy the end of a trip. I have a friend out there who still uses her 60d and sigma ultrawide + canon 18-200 with no problems. Also once took a 40D and sigma 10-20 up to 6000 metres and the night before we submitted the mountain it was well below -20c.