JamisonFischer Loc: Inland Northwest

I am new to the forum, and contemplating either the Canon 6d or Nikon d610, and noticed that the both have temperature ranges from 32F to 104F. I'm sure I will be shooting outside of that range. Any experience shooting in hot and cold environments outside the published ranges of the cameras?

lightcatcher Loc: Farmington, NM (4 corners)

Welcome to UHH.. In cold weather I keep it under my coat when not shooting in hot weather it is best out of direct sunlight. Hot or cold will effect the batteries.

Leicaflex Loc: Cymru

Welcome to the HOG - Enjoy. Either cameras will serve you well.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

Don't leave a DSLR sitting on the seat of a car in the summer if temperatures might get above 80F degrees. But don't worry about using a camera at least up to 100F. (The biggest problem would be lubricant on the mirror mechanism getting very thin and being thrown onto the sensor.)

Cold just really isn't a problem. You'll be frozen long before the camera is!

What you do want to be careful of is transitioning from a cooler environment into a warmer environment. That can be from an air conditioned home in Florida and going out the door into a hot humid environment. It can be a winter problem anywhere the outside temperature is below freezing when you re-enter a nice warm (and damp) house. The problem in both cases is condensation. To avoid damaging the camera put it into a kitchen size trash bag and squeeze all the air out before entering the warmer environment. Once the camera warms up it is safe.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

That temp range is just a "cover-your-butt" attempt on the part of the manufacturers. Almost certainly your camera, and most everything else we buy, has been exposed to either higher or lower (or both) temps while in transit from the factory to your hands. Common sense precautions, such as those already posted, should do the trick for you.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Temperature rating are relevant when it comes to batteries as the chemical process is significantly slowed down at lower temps.

High temps as mentioned earlier can lead to problem with oil. I have never seen it even when I was using my cameras in the heat of the desert (100F+) for long periods of time (read days).

Difference of temp from inside to outside will create a thermal shock that will play hell with any camera, even weather sealed. This is where most of the trouble reside.

Best bet is often a 'Do It Yourself' (DIY) solution to one of many solutions offered on the web, both DIY and commercial. Sample DIY: Seal the camera in an air tight plastic bag when cooling/heating along with a desiccant material like rice in a breathing pouch* to reduce humidity**.

I have not really experienced extreme cold in photography, other folks can comment on that.

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* Rice in pouch: to present rice dust
** The air expansion/contraction 'invites' humidity in as well as thin particles of dust in every nook and crannies of both the lenses and camera body. Personally I just left my camera in a non cooled area when not in use. I lived in the middle east for a couple of years.

bweber Loc: Newton, MA

I have used many of my canon cameras and temps well below zero without any problem with the cameras. You have to find a way to keep the batteries warm. I usually keep a spare one close my body under my parker and replace the one in the camera when it "dies" in the cold. The dead battery will be work again without a charge once it is warmed up. I frequently leave my cameras outside of a heated tent as I am afraid of condensation on the lens if I bring the camera into warm tent. Not a problem in an unheated tent.

Joecosentino Loc: Whitesboro, New York

Last winter I had my 610 out in 10 below zero temperatures twice. It worked fine one time was about an hour the other was a sunrise shoot until noon time. By noon it warmed up to 10 above or so.

I always have jumbo zip lock bags to put the camera in when coming inside. If I want to work on the photos take the cards out and put them in your pocket to let them warm up before bringing them in.

Db7423 Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Agreed. ;)

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

I've shot in weather from -20 F (Iceland) to 115 F(Egypt) -
In the cold, keeping the batteries in shirt pocket works well - I usually carry 2 or 3 extras -

Agree with not leaving a camera sitting the in sun in a car - either summer or winter...

After shooting (hot or cold) there is generally a major climate change going indoors. I will remove the lens, batteries and memory cards and place the camera, lens and batteries in my camera bag with the silica bags and the memory cards in my shirt pocket before coming in. I try to leave the equipment in the bag overnight if possible. Been doing this for years with no problems in either humid or dry locations - Florida, Bermuda, Iceland, Nova Scotia, Panama, Arizona, New Mexico, Egypt, Pakistan...

The biggest problem I faced was getting off a dry/cold airplane in hot/humid locations and have to shoot almost immediately - the equipment would fog up and all we could do was set it in the sun to dry out and wait for the fog clear off the lens - the equipment survived - it is actually a lot more durable than most think...

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

That is certainly a valid approach. It works, slowly.


The actual problem with all of this is having a "cold" camera come into contact with air that is both warmer and moist. If there is no air contact, there is no problem. If there is no temperature differential, there is no problem. And if the warm air is dry there is no problem.

Almost always the niggling difficulties, such as you describe, relate to warming up the camera faster! Another problem is access to things like batteries and memory cards while the camera is warming up.

With that in mind, putting everything in a padded (i.e., an insulated) camera bag is just fine if you have all night, and the worst thing to do when there is a rush.

Put the camera into a kitchen size plastic trash bag, then squeeze all the air out. The air is a good insulator and will slow down the warming process. You want the plastic to be directly in contact with the camera! The bag does not need to be sealed as such, a single twist is more than is needed. If there is no air flow down into the bag that is all that counts, and a cold camera can even be placed in a cardboard box that is open at the top if there is no air circulation (and that also takes all night to warm up!).

Put the bagged camera in a warm place with good air circulation and it will warm up very quickly. Also if you need the battery or memory card, just stick an arm down into the bad and take it out!

Don't use ziploc bags, anything with a lot of air, or zippered shut camera or luggage bags unless you have a lot of time.

JamisonFischer Loc: Inland Northwest

Those are great ideas. Thank you! I will definitely use the plastic back and desiccant ideas when coming in from the cold. The industry I currently work in rates electronic devices at -40C to 85C, so I was surprised to see the narrow range for DSLRs. Of course, we don't need to worry about oil and condensation on lenses....
Thanks again!