Hello All,

You were very helpful when I went to Iceland 2/2019 to photograph the Northern Lights (NL). They did not appear. I have a new question.

This December, I am going on another NL trip to a place 20-30 miles north of Fairbanks Alaska. It is typically colder there.

I am taking my Canon 5DM4 and the Olympus OMD E1M3. The manual for the Olympus said that it is freeze-proofed to 14 degrees F (-10 degrees C). Alaska temperatures can be much lower - below freezing. The good news is that wind chill doesn't affect the camera. We will be outside at night.

Given the camera is on a tripod taking multiple long exposures at night, how do I keep the camera warm? I read not to put it in your coat for the warmth will cause humid conditions. I don't the "raincoat" I have for it will keep it warm, just not wet if it is raining. The only idea I have is to wrap a child's wool scarf around it...

How do I keep it warm? Last, do I need to worry about the lenses staying warm as well?

Many thanks in advance. Linda

When we went to Churchill Canada to see the polar bear migration to the sea ice, I had no problems with my Canon 7d2. The temp was often below freezing and the camera performed perfectly even when we were out for several hours at a time. Battery life was half of normal, so I just carried extras in my pockets close to my body to keep them warm.
The lenses had no trouble either. Condensation was not a problem in them and the only real pain was keeping water spots off the glass from the snow flurries.

...

Final thought, a space blanket (really cheap on Amazon, but probably can get at an outdoor store) plus some of those hand warmers packets might do the trick if really cold. If really cold, the hand controller is nice as fingers don't work well in cold and I find handling a camera wearing gloves to be near impossible for me. Hands and feet have always been my problem, have skied in -24F (Baniff) and wind chills to -95F (Brech.), body OK, but not my hands or feet (Eventually had heated boot and gloves).

Good luck;
I find questions like yours make me think about such things for my self.

There are at least 6 considerations for using cameras in cold temperatures:

1)
The temperatures you are shooting in will be below the camera manufacturers recommended temperature range but that is not a problem. They will work below that temperature until the lubricants in the camera become viscous. Cameras used in Antarctica need to have the lubricants replaced with ones that work at those extreme temperatures, the lubricants in your cameras will work.

2)
Don't try to keep the camera warm, it is a losing battle. What you want to keep warm is your spare batteries; battery capacity drops quickly in low temperatures. An USB external battery with a dummy coupler will last longer than an internal battery but avoid the lithium polymer types; they stop when the temperature goes below freezing.

3)
Consider the use of a dew heater or strap hand/feet warmers packets to to the lens barrel. Either tie the packets to the lens with a rubber band or tape or use an old sock pulled over the lens. Since you won't be in the cold for an extended period of time, the hand warmers would last long enough and can easily be replaced during the shoot.

4)
When done shooting, you can take the camera cards and batteries out of your camera and put them under your clothing. Your camera should not be brought inside without putting it into a ziplock or sealable bag before warming. The cold camera and lens will quickly be coated with frost, some will form inside the camera and could affect the electronics when the frost melts. I haven't found a documented example of this happening, but this seems to be a consensus opinion. One UHHer, MTshooter, leaves his gear in the car overnight, just brings the batteries and cards in at night.

5)
Consider a plastic rainsleeve to keep any light snow off the camera and use the lens hood. The hood seems to keep the front glass cleaner.

6)
Your camera will survive the cold better than you, dress carefully.

I was in Fairbanks at the Chena Hot Springs in March 2020. I have a E-M1ii and tried live compositing but had difficulties with the buttons and my hands. I ended up setting up a timelapse and got enough shots for a 10 second clip but found the Olympus batteries to degrade quicker in the cold. My Nikon D7500 did better; I had an external battery for it and the camera worked longer.

I'm going to be back in Anchorage next month and might go north to photograph the northern lights better. They are visible from there, but the light pollution will dim them. University of Alaska Fairbanks has the Geophysical Institute that does aurora forecasting as does NOAA. You only need a KP index of 3 to see them in Fairbanks. The Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce adverises that you can see the auroras in Fairbanks about 240 days of the year.

Good luck and clear skies!!!

Lots of good suggestions. Dummy battery works great. There are other options. Have several batteries Keep them in your pants pocket. Or take a small cooler and put those cheep hand warmer packs in there.They are only a few $ at sporting goods stores. It is not likely that your lens and camera will freeze up but the batteries will poop out sooner than normal. You can also use a extended grip attachment that has extra batteries in it. Back in the old film days you had to be concerned about the cold making the film brittle and it braking in the camera when you advanced it. There was also the problem of static electricity "lightening" strikes as the film moved across the felt on the film canisters. older film cameras and lenses had the be winterized. The oil based lubes and the turned hard in the cold. Modern cameras and lenses us synthetics. I doubt that you will be outside too long at -40 or even "0". Happy shooting. Don't forget your Hot Chocolate