Does anyone out there have any tips for taking photographs in the cold with a Nikon D7000? I'm in the Rockies right now and the temperature has been down to minus 30. I've take photos but when I get back inside and look at them on the laptop they are all out of focus. My indoor shots are okay so my guess is it is the cold temperatures. I am going dog sledding tomorrow for 4 hours so really want to be able to get some photos while I'm out. Any suggestions you have would be awesome!!
Have a wonderful day
Christine
if your photos are blurry, then your lens motor must be getting too cold to auto-focus. Can you insulate it? maybe even try a sock or towel. It won't look pretty, but maybe it will help. Also, try manually focusing :)
Are they out of focus or could it be that the lens is fogging up? If you are keeping it in a warm place and then bringing it out of that warm place to take a pic in the cold, you could get a bit of condensation/fogging on the lens. Although I've never been in minus 30 degree weather, and can't imagine how cold that must be, I've found my cameras have done just fine in below freezing weather conditions, into the teens, when carried outside.
@guaranteed - has a good idea of putting a sock over the lens. Cut the toe end off so the sock can remain on the lens while you are using the camera.
I have no suggestions for you, but it sounds like you are having an amazing adventure! What a fabulous way to spend Christmas! Can't wait to see your photos!
I think Mike is right and it is fogged up,When hunting I keep mine in a large outer pocket in my coat.So it don't have the hot to cold problem of fogging up.Have heard of them putting the camera in a zip lock bag to keep the moisture from condensing on the camera and lens.But still need to give your camera time to warm up or cool down before taking it out....My camera is a Canon but I think all kinds will fog up.....The guys I hunt with leave their guns in the trunk of their cars at night to keep their scopes from getting fogged up when hunting in the morning.It also helps keep moisture from forming on other parts of their guns by not taking them in and out of the cold all of the time.....Me, Iam no pro photograher.Just a guy who has lived in the cold wether of Wisconsin.
Living in the rockies, I haven't had that problem yet. But I can totally see that happening to me. Mike is right, it could be fogging up. It's like my eyeglasses fogging up when I move from freezing temp to a warm room. :)
This won't help your fogging problem, but one more thing you should do is keep a spare battery in a pocket under your coat in a warm pocket. Minus 30 weather kills batteries fast and sometimes body heat is enough to keep them charged.
With cold weather photography in the past people used to prefer fully mechanical camerss with no battery dependency. That's obviously not possible with digital cameras. I would echo that for the camera to.work the battery will need to be warm enough. I have found the condensation problem is often caused when changing environment to another. Particularly cold to warm.
@agima@markjohnstone@daviddobedoe@rvwalker@carrieoakey@wildernesswillie@northy@btorrey@sarie@mikehamm@guaranteed
Thank you all for your tips and suggestions. Unfortunately I did not get to try any of them out. I had no idea that I was the person driving the sled and the guide was sitting in the sled. I thought it was going to be the other way around. Apparently when my kids purchased the trip for me they thought it would be more fun for me to learn how to drive a dog sled rather than ride one. After a brief half our lesson we were off and when driving one of those things there is just so much to think about and do that there is no time for photos. I did get a couple that I will post later.
Thanks again for your suggestions. I will keep them in mind for my next adventure into the winter wilderness
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@guaranteed - has a good idea of putting a sock over the lens. Cut the toe end off so the sock can remain on the lens while you are using the camera.
Get some pocket hand warmers. Put some in your pockets with your spare batteries and put some in with your camera/lens.
Do this will save your batteries and will stop your lens for fogging up. ;-)
Thank you all for your tips and suggestions. Unfortunately I did not get to try any of them out. I had no idea that I was the person driving the sled and the guide was sitting in the sled. I thought it was going to be the other way around. Apparently when my kids purchased the trip for me they thought it would be more fun for me to learn how to drive a dog sled rather than ride one. After a brief half our lesson we were off and when driving one of those things there is just so much to think about and do that there is no time for photos. I did get a couple that I will post later.
Thanks again for your suggestions. I will keep them in mind for my next adventure into the winter wilderness