Outdoor temperature effect on gear - what can it handle?

How much can our gear handle?

I am going stir crazy in this house due to the heatwave and I (crazy as it may be) have been thinking about driving around and trying to capture the effects of the drought and heatwave in my area (city folk and country farmland, etc.) but I am not sure how much my gear can handle for short periods at a time. I've been out in midwest blizzards and never experienced any problems but I'm sure I was pushing it to the limits.

I've even worried about having my gear out when it's 90 degrees and today is suppose to have a "real-feel" temp of 115 degrees! It's 9:30 a.m. now and already 106! I'd probably do most shooting very quickly from my air-conditioned car. With the window down, the gear would be briefly exposed to the heat & high humidity but there isn't much sun. Should one only do this if they have a lens coat & filter?

So, I was wondering at what temperature does it start possibly posing a risk to our gear for both cold and heat & humidity. In my area, temps go from one extreme to the other throughout the year.

real-feel" temp doesn't matter to your equipment. The actually temperature may.

The manual says not to leave the equipment in direct sunlight or in the car. I think that you will probably pass out from the heat before the camera does. The camera is black so I would keep it shaded, and take it with you when you get out of the car. I have been out with mine at home when the "real" temperature was well over 100 and didn't have a problem. We had 63 days over 100 degrees last year, it didn't slow me down.

:) I just looked up your local weather, I am pretty sure you have nothing to worry about.

Edit; your dew point is 70 today. If you have the AC in your car cranked up on high could make a little moisture. But highly unlikely you would have the car that cold. I think moisture is the bigger enemy to you than heat.

It's about 80+ in my house and I went outside to take a photo of a butterfly this morning and everything fogged up so bad I couldn't see anything through the viewfinder or using liveview so it does look like that would be the biggest issue to deal with.

I think it's less about the absolute temperature and humidity (to a point, anyway) and more about rapid changes - going from hot any humid outdoors to an air conditioned interior, in particular.

Check out this tip: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/P...densation.aspx

I regularly shoot at 100+ degrees with no problems. I have also shot at subfreezing temps and the only problem was an occasional err 99 code---but all was well when the camera warmed up. Like the others said, I would be more concerend about condensation with the humidity levels in your neighborhood and the article John suggested explains the problem and how to deal with it very well.

Good luck and enjoy the summer:cool:.

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Originally Posted by neuroanatomist

I think it's less about the absolute temperature and humidity (to a point, anyway) and more about rapid changes - going from hot any humid outdoors to an air conditioned interior, in particular.

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Actually I think with heat outside it might be more of the opposite, (especially in Denise’s case) taking a cool camera from an AC environment to a hot humid outside. Many AC’s have a de-humidifying effect, no moisture in the air when bringing a hot camera inside should mean less condensation inside than out.

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Originally Posted by HDNitehawk

Actually I think with heat outside it might be more of the opposite, (especially in Denise’s case) taking a cool camera from an AC environment to a hot humid outside. Many AC’s have a de-humidifying effect, no moisture in the air when bringing a hot camera inside should mean less condensation inside than out.

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That is true. Yesterday I stepped out of the A/C car and my glasses immediatly fogged up so I could not see a thing. The same is going to happen to you lenses that have exposed glass, cooled metal (camera body), etc.

Good info in the thread -

Living in Central Florida where it is cooler in the summer than Kenosha and much warmer in the winter (sorry just had to) we battle humidity/condensation pretty much all the time from March to end of October. I will put the camera/lens in the 2 gallon zip lock inside the house w/ the relatively dryer air, and then transport to the car or take outside for the first few minutes en route to the shoot, even if the dew point is a few degrees below ambient as I have found it easier to not encourage the condensation by warming the lens/body a few degrees before shooting. Many times in the morning the relatively humidity seems like just short of solid water, etc.

Lastly to keep the humidity from screwing up my hairdo - I just went bald, its easier that way - models seem to have a much harder time :)

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Originally Posted by neuroanatomist

I think it's less about the absolute temperature and humidity (to a point, anyway) and more about rapid changes - going from hot any humid outdoors to an air conditioned interior, in particular.

Check out this tip: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/P...densation.aspx

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Not to highjack your thread Denise, but what about when shooting video? I was asked to set up a tripod and record video of a friend's wedding this weekend:

Me: "Yeah, if you just want it set up in one spot, I can do that during the ceremony."
Friend: "Great! Thanks for doing that. It should be a very quick ceremony. Maybe 20 minutes tops."
Me: "Wow, that's quick."
Friend: "Well it's going to be so hot."
Me: "Oh, your ceremony is outside?"

So, when I arrived to the location, I was disappointed to find every spot I could set up had zero shade. I was worried about condensation (but didn't run into any of that) and overheating. I set up on the tripod in the direct 105F sun, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. I was sitting in a chair about 15 feet from the camera and about half way through the ceremony, I heard a faint shutter click. I glanced over, expecting to see the actual wedding photographer snapping some shots, but no, it was my video recording 60D closing the shutter. Afterwards, I checked the vitals and it all looked fine - battery had juice, memory card had space. Did the camera shut itself down to prevent overheating?

There is a 12 minute video limit for the 60D and 7D. But, after you reach the limit, then you can record another 12 minutes.

This may explain it a little better:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...0&changemode=1

Rich

Thanks Rich. In the back of my mind, I thought it might have been a limitation of the frames in the video, but 12 minutes is a lot easier to remember. Looking back at the file, total runtime was 12:04, so that's probably exactly what happened.

Out of curiosity, do EOS cameras have a high temp safety shutoff?

No there isn't. The cameras really don't create that much heat internally that they would need to be automatically turned off. The main concern would always be the ambient temperature outside. Of course, I would never leave the camera inside a car on a really hot day.

I wanted to add that it was great that you realized it stopped recording.., that was very observant of you to catch that and keep going!

I was actually a pro wedding videographer (VHS videotape) when I was in college, as it was mainly on the weekends and it didn't interfere with school that much. I would monitor the video portion of the ceremony on my external mini tv monitor that was also mounted to the tripod, which was on a dolley. I would also have a wireless mic on the groom and monitor the audio portion via my headphones.

My biggest fear was that I would somehow, screw-up the ceremony!

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Originally Posted by rlriii13

Thanks Rich. In the back of my mind, I thought it might have been a limitation of the frames in the video, but 12 minutes is a lot easier to remember. Looking back at the file, total runtime was 12:04, so that's probably exactly what happened.

Out of curiosity, do EOS cameras have a high temp safety shutoff?

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I couldn't find anything in my manual about high temp shut off.
What I did find on recording size is a bit odd (T2i)
"the movie shooting will stop automatically if the file size reaches 4GB or if the movie length reaches 29.59"
But looking at the chart available movie settings 1920x1080 or 1280x720 would stop at 12 min
640x480 would fill 4GB at 24 min
so- there is no way to record more than 24 min continuosly

That lines up with my experience as well Kombi. The video file was 3.9 GB and change.

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Originally Posted by Richard Lane

I would monitor the video portion of the ceremony on my external mini tv monitor that was mounted to my tripod, which was on a dolley.

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That's a setup I'd like to see!

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Originally Posted by rlriii13

That's a setup I'd like to see!

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There actually may be a photo of me with that setup, floating around somewhere. If I ever find it, I'll scan it and post it!