How to make the camera work normally in severe cold?

Here are three different situations:

1. What should you do when you take your camera out of a warm and comfortable room or car into the cold outdoors.

2. What should you do when you shoot outdoors in the cold.

3. What to do when you finally return to a warm and comfortable room or car with your camera in hand.

Okay first of all, when you go outdoors with a warm camera, what should you do? Are you worried about water vapor condensing from the cold air onto warm lens surfaces or film, and electronic components? In fact, this worry is unnecessary. Cold air doesn't have a lot of water vapor. When you go into the cold outdoors, there is almost no condensation of fog. (As we'll discuss, this only becomes a major issue when you return indoors.)

So, what's the major issue with going outdoors? The main problem is the loss of battery power! Batteries

Batteries The physical and chemical methods by which batteries produce electricity lose their effectiveness at low temperatures. Especially today, with automatic cameras all relying on battery power, this is a serious problem. In this way, when you take your camera and flash into a cold environment, you can expect the loss of battery power. How should you respond? First, keep your cameras and flashes (and their batteries) as warm as possible, especially outdoors. Try to keep them close to your body, such as inside your coat. Except for short periods of time when taking photos, try to use your body heat to keep them warm. In addition, keeping your camera warm can also greatly reduce the possibility that the mechanical shutter will not work due to the lubricant being frozen. Second, consider the loss of battery power in the cold. How should you prepare? First of all, when you go out, you should bring as many spare batteries as possible. Also, keep it as close to your body as possible, for example, in a shirt pocket that helps absorb your body heat. That way, if your camera or flash battery starts to fail, you can replace it with a warm new one.

Okay, now that you are outside, is there anything else you should do in the cold outdoors? Your goal is still to keep your camera and flash as warm as possible. For example, let's say you wait for the appearance of wild animals on a distant hill. Set up your tripod, but if possible keep your camera in your arms until you're ready to shoot. In this case, it is very convenient to use a quick-install gimbal. While you're looking at your subject, place the camera on the tripod quickly and accurately. A cold tripod will continue to work, but a cold camera will most likely not work at all.

We noticed that those power-hungry digital cameras often failed very quickly when we were out in the cold weather. There is no other way but to prepare more batteries. As a conclusion, if you find that your battery fails, you should definitely have a backup of warm batteries.

Static Electricity

What other problems (than frozen fingers and snot) are more distressing for photographers in the cold? static electricity. If you live anywhere in the north, you're bound to encounter this problem throughout the winter - if you walk on carpet, shake hands, or touch a doorknob, you'll get an electric shock. The problem of static electricity only exists when it is dry. And, because cold air cannot hold water vapor, cold weather means dryness. So when you use your camera outdoors in the cold, you run the risk of static electricity accumulating as you load the roll (which is the same as when you walk on carpet), and, when the static electricity is strong enough, it may There are sparks inside your camera that cause the film to become exposed to light and create fog. Of course this is rare, but it does happen. We’ve seen and experienced photos being wasted. How to minimize the possibility of this situation in cold weather? Load the film carefully. Use a manual camera and film slowly. Use automatic cameras and avoid continuous shooting.

The most important thing when shooting outdoors is not to freeze yourself and wear more layers. Find a good pair of boots. Bring a thermos of hot soup. (The effects of coffee and alcohol on maintaining body temperature are not obvious). And if it's really cold, consider accessories like the chemical-based plastic bags that skiers use to heat their hands and feet, or even electrically heated insoles. You will need thick gloves, but this can be very inconvenient when pressing small buttons on the camera. So you also need gloves that can separate your fingers so you can use one of your fingers briefly.