tcthome Loc: NJ

Depends on the neighborhood. In spring & fall, it is always in back of my seat , or in the back seat area on the floor of my truck in a camera bag along with my tripod. All of it is insured with State Farm. During the summer & winter in extreme heat ( over 100 in the vehicle ) or below 40 in the winter I bring it in the house when I'm home. Keep in mind when you take it out or into changing temps & humidity levels , there is a chance for condensation to form on & in your equipment. It should be in a case or sealed tight bag with 30- 60 minutes time allowed to warm or cool down in the bag before use or being remove from the bag. Don't let this keep you from using your equipment. Have fun.

AGO

If I have to leave a camera in a car in hot weather I place it in an insulated cooler (without any ice, of course).

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

When we moved to Lake Havasu from Colorado in July I thought having my camera in the storage unit would be safe temporarily...wrong when the temp was 118. My digital display was all colors of the rainbow, but the pics still came out ok.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Many of the new smart phones have 3 and some even 4 cameras which allow coverage for most situations and provide very decent images. A perfect solution for your situation plus much, much more.

SouthShooter Loc: Southern USA

I struggle with that too. I won’t leave my Nikon in the car but I tried taking my little Nikon D40 along. I left it in the car covered up with a towel when temperature permitted but batteries were dead when I wanted to use it. I have a car charger for both my cameras but that doesn’t help when you need the shot right then.
I think best option is probably a small point and shoot that’s easy to slip into pocket or purse. Better to use a lower end camera than miss a potential great shot altogether. Just my thoughts.

AGO

I agree. I often take my Coolpix A1000 when I ride my bike. I've gotten some great pictures with it. My only complaint is that the raw files for this camera are not recognized by all processing software.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Lots depend on the ambient temperature in your geographic location. Extreme heat, cold, abrupt changes in temperature, moisture, condensation are all bad for cameras. Heat can melt internal lubricants, cause them to run or seep and cause malfunction. In warm or hot climates the temperature in a closed car, especially in the glove compartment or trunk, can get to oven-like levels. Cold temperatures cause lubricants to congeal and thereby cause malfunction. Extremes in temperature cause expansion and contraction parts- that is also not good. Constant exposure to high relative humidity can cause an accumulation of moisture or condensation in lenses and encourage mould growth.

Besides all of the above possibilities, leaving expensive equipment in your car, especially in plain view, subject it to the possibility of theft and damage to your car as well.

Don't be lazy- bring it in and out of your car with you!

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

Julie hi hope things are well with you. My suggestion is if you can afford it get one of the great smaller cameras
that are now available. Sony's RX100's are amazing for thier size. They are up to like 5 or 6 version. I have the 4 and it terrific. Have used some video from these camera's. Canon, Panasonic, nikon all have great camera's
that fit in your bag, briefcase. or pocket. I have now changed to Fujifilm and they have wonderful camera's
that are smaller size that street shooters like. An older model of the a6000 series like the a6300 I havee or RX100would be great fun. I never left a camera in my car. Or in my room art a hotel. Check if your homeowners or rental insurance covers your camera. Good luck it is all good fun.

whatdat Loc: Del Valle, Tx.

Always carry a camera in the car with me. I do not leave it in the car overnite. If too hot or too cold, I take it with me when leaving car. I throw a jacket , towel, cap, etc. over the camera on the seat. Of course, tinted windows help. Never had a problem.
May not be germane to your question, but, when I was camping on horseback in the Rockies & Wind River Range in Colo & Wy I protected the camera under a coat or in saddlebag. Even in July, it was not unusual to have 35 deg nights. Still, never had a problem & that was back in the film days.

k2edm Loc: FN32AD

by the time you get it ready to shoot at a target of opportunity, the target is gone.... use your cell phone camera. it is easier to access,always in your shirt pocket and unlikely to be stolen. IMHO, Ed

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

dar_clicks Loc: Utah

I'll take the long way 'round to make my point in reply -- Many years ago I took mass transit (the bus) to work every day -- sure did beat the cost and aggravation of parking, etc. The camera always was with me for those noon breaks to walk a few city blocks to see what could be photographed.

We had a great many different cameras represented at work, Minolta, Canon, Olympus, Nikon (newer than mine), et. al., and I did get razzed once for always carrying that Nikon F w/usually 85 mm or (gasp) 43-86 lens. One day I took the middle seat in the very back of the bus and about half-way to downtown it stopped and couldn't start up again. The housing on the rear axle had broken! I got blamed for for that because of sitting with all that weight from the "cast-iron Nikon" right over where it broke! (The lightweight Olympus OM-1 guy led the charge on that one.)

I kept on carrying my "cast-iron Nikon" every day, even after breaking a bus with it, but I never did and never would just leave the camera in the car for thieves or heat or cold to do it damage.

"It ain't heavy, brother -- it's my Nikon."

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Iphone

SteveR21 Loc: Oklahoma

I keep an old camera under the seat of my pickup. It has an 80-200 zoom lens. I have had it there for years and it still works. Most importantly, I have it with me. I sometimes wish I had an additional lens, (like a wide zoom) but this one handles the majority of my needs. If I plan to go on a photo outing, I take one of my good cameras with me. I also keep a spare battery in the console. It the battery is low, I can exchange it in seconds.

A decent second hand DLSR camera can be bought for around $100. Mine is a Canon T2i.

nobler

Julie:

Cameras (and lenses) are delicate instruments. You don't want to subject them to any stress, mechanical or otherwise. Consider that you want to minimize stresses and go from there. You should have the cameras and lenses in a padded camera bag. This will remove most of the mechanical, and some of the THERMAL stresses from the equipment.

(Aside: people who walk around with a camera hanging bare and banging against their hip, and that tree, snd that rock, are just trying to look cool. Get a holster type bag and give it some protection.)

Okay, so why did I highlight thermal? Thermal stresses can be a big deal. Repeated temperature changes can literally tear materials apart (electronics are prone to this, especially with Pb-free solders). And, you don't want to do anything that will cause condensation to form on the outside OR inside of a camera/lens. If you take a camera from a cold environment to a warm one, keep it in a csmera bag, or 'holster' for an hour or more so it can slowly warm up, sans condensation.

Consider that the temperatures inside a parked car can go from freezing at night, to near boiling during the day. How fo you reduce the effects of this on your equipment?

Once you find a camera bag that you can live with, get a heavy beer cooler that the bag will fit in.The cooler won't stop all the temperature changes, but it will slow them, both up and down. Put this cooler in your trunk (less temperature extremes than the passenger compartment), and put it against the forward wall of the trunk so it doesn't move if you hit the brakes-- or worse!

Between the padding of the bag, and the combined insulation of the bag and the cooler, your gear should survive.

Cheers!

Bob