The possibility of gear malfunctioning in below freezing temperature might be true… through very long exposure to the weather maybe. Usually the obvious symptom is the LCD refresh rate lagging behind. The other issue might be an accelerated battery consumption (as in the battery flashes red like if all the power was drained). This doesn’t mean the camera is dying nor are you damaging it. I have done many photo outings in such conditions.
Extreme cold shooting 1: New Year All-nighter
After partying like a rockstar over at Tyler’s place during the passing to the year 2009, me and some other friends went outside on my friend’s balcony to shoot the sunrise. It was freezing outside and we stayed there for at least an hour or more I don’t remember. The d80 still worked months after this.
Extreme cold shooting 2: Winter Full Moon
I once went taking pictures of a full moon at night for 3 hours straight with my Nikon D80. The sky being very clear, the thermometer showed -30°C. I just got dressed very warm, put some beat in my ears and shot. After some minutes, the LCD screen started to lag in refresh rate, but the camera continued to work.
Extreme cold shooting 3: Montreal All-Nighter
Long exposure night, long night photo outing. Camera survived.
Extreme cold shooting 4: F70EXR test day and ski trips
Not long before Christmas, it was -20 outside during the day. I went for a 45 min walk with my new bought camera to try it out. I’ve noticed some LCD refresh lag and the battery was drained faster, but the camera was still working. Some weeks later I went on a ski trip with the camera. I left the compact in a pocket with no isolation layers other than a windproof layer in temperatures varying from -10 to -20 with wind on the top of the mountain. The camera still works today.
Precautions
Now the precautions you have to take for cold condition shooting are mostly about when you get from cold weather to warm indoor weather. The best way to do this is to leave the gear in the bags and let them warm up before opening the bag and using the gear. If leave the gear exposed to the indoor air, it will fog up. If this happens, you have to let the gear dry up before touching it. That way, nothing harmful will happen to it.
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