I've seen it different places I've lived, but as an example Bella Bella BC on the coast record low 8° F. Chilanko Forks (Puntzi Mtn airport) inland on the other side of the mountains had a record low of -55° F this January. Iceland probably not as cold vs fairbanks if you can afford it.
Yeah, please do the layers. I mean, jeans could work but combined with long underwear and a shell for when it's wet and/or windy (because jeans will get soaked and you'll be miserable). But proper 'technical' pants are cut for much better mobility and range of motion. Unfortunately, IMO, it's difficult to narrow down the choices from all the brands without being able to try them on. Each brand can have quirks with cut and proportions. One might be accurately sized for your build while another might require a size up or down. Is there absolutely nothing in your area where you can try out some winter gear? Like an REI? Or at least talk to someone with some actual winter experience? I think the challenge for you will be that you're accustomed to warm weather and it will initially feel very cold, even if it really isn't *that* cold. Once you get moving a bit and focused on whatever is happening, you will probably forget about the cold. Maybe. For me it's usually when standing around and nothing is happening that I start to think about it. Or going to the bathroom. But I also really like being out in wilder winter weather (as wild as it can get in my area, which might be tame compared to some other places), especially during blizzards. There is something strangely calming about being in a wind whipped whiteout frenzy. On the flip side, back in Sept. 2019 I shot a Dolphins game in Miami and nearly passed out from heat exhaustion after the first half, haha. I wasn't used to the heat and humidity combined with physical exertion running up and down the sidelines between plays. TBH, I'd rather be stuck in a blizzard at a Bills game in Buffalo (the photo in an earlier post).
Like with appropriate attire for the conditions, driving in the winter is similar. Winter tires help a lot. 4-wheel drive/AWD helps too. Fresh snow isn't really so much the problem, it's hard-packed snow and ice combined with inappropriate driving technique. There's a reason why studded winter tires are popular in some regions. With a rental car here in my area of Canada, I would not trust them to put on proper winter instead of all season tires. Iceland might be different and perhaps someone who has been there can comment. But sure, as a totally new experience, I don't blame you for wanting to let someone else take care of the driving. It leaves more time for you to look out the window and enjoy (even if it's mostly in the dark).
Back to clothing: I find the reviews here pretty good:
Thank you! Unfortunately, there are no places anywhere near me that sell winter clothing. The only store that might have a jacket would be Burlington Coat Factory, however, they rarely stock any actual coats. They mostly sell regular summer clothing and household accessories. The warmest items of clothing sold here are hoodies. Florida is the shorts and flip-flop center of the universe!
snegron7 wrote:
Thank you! Unfortunately, there are no places anywhere near me that sell winter clothing. The only store that might have a jacket would be Burlington Coat Factory, however, they rarely stock any actual coats. They mostly sell regular summer clothing and household accessories. The warmest items of clothing sold here are hoodies. Florida is the shorts and flip-flop center of the universe!
Wow - I find this kind of surprising. When I traveled domestically for work in the very recent past, I always drove by ski shops in states where you simply can't ski due to the warm climate, such as Texas, Florida and Georgia. If you can find a ski shop, shop around 10-15 degrees F colder than the temps they would recommend for skiing. I've personally found that my snowboarding clothing combinations that work well for 0F only work down to 10-15F when doing low to moderate activity, such as spectating at a Nordic ski race. Personally, I like having few thin wool base layers, a fleece, a 700+ fill goose down or synthetic puffy all wrapped by a GoreTex shell when heading out into super cold conditions. For bottoms, two thin wool or synthetic layers, a thick wool layer, and then another GoreTex shell. Layering with shells that have venting zips allows you to easily adjust to changing (i.e. warming) conditions without having to shed layers. Although you can do that if it gets much warmer than expected. Having a good facemask + wool hat is imperative to top it off to keep your head warm.
I live in Minnesota, and photograph regularly in the winter.
I worked construction for 40 years, so I'm pretty used to the outdoors.
Cabella's is a pretty good place to look for cold wether gear.
For work, I mostly used Carhart clothing. Insulated bibs were a must, with a few layers for your upper torso.
Hunting cold weather gear for when I went shooting. I have a set of camo coveralls that are very warm.
Under these outer layers, I would wear sweat pants and hoodies.
The elastic around you ankles and wrists would help keep the wind out.
As I've gotten older, I'm not able to handle the cold as well as I used to.
Two years ago, I bought a heated vest from Amazon. This has really helped me out.
It has 6 or 7 heating elements in it, one of them is in the neck. That helps a lot.
The battery lasts a few hours, up to about five it its on a lower setting.
I would wear a long sleeved t-shirt, then the vest, then the hoodie over the top of it to keep the heat in next to my body.
Gloves, I can't help you there. I have 15 pairs of gloves, none of them keep my hands warm when it's below 0.
I've tried them all, but I think at some point in my working career I had frostbite or something.
My hands just don't stay warm.
When I go out now, I'm typically not out for more than a hour.
When I worked, we had a saying, "The heats in the the tools."
Working, moving around would help got you though the really cold days.
When you go out, try you best not to think of the cold.
The more you think about it, the colder you feel.
Good luck, I hope the northern lights come out for you.
Usually you cannot rent a proper winter car with winter tires and a block heater. The block heater warmer is a mixed blessing - if it does not start overnight, I would not trust it to start after 5 hours of snowhoeing. But it will start easier/warmer in the AM.
I love my jeep rubicon with thinner knobby tires (cuts through deep snow) and locks all hubs at 100:1 ratio but on highway speed the less knobby are better on ice. So I drive slower on highway. And it's a plus minus - more danger at highway speeds but more able to get through deep snow, vs less knobby/wider.
I find with rentals the best strategy is:
newer cars have newer batteries - newer batteries are most important in holding charge, which restarts the engine
Less complicated cars have less trickle drain
High clearance - jeep compass or something like is less likely to get stuck
4WD or AWD gives you a fighting chance
Winter Tires if you can get them
Bring Inreach. If you are stuck, ensure your tail pipe is clear, SOS for trouble, and wait in the warmth. You can judge whether SOS or wait for a passing car.
Park facing out for jumping battery - I bring jumpers and tow rope but rental agencies likely do not have them. And most my towing is getting others out.
Drive slow but steady (momentum helps but crashing is problematic)
Follow the line in front of you, not the lanes
bring a candle and matches for if you run out of gas
Don't pass a gas station. Lower fuel can cause gas line freeze because what separates and freezes
-45c windshield wiper fluid or colder
Make sure you have big snow wiper and periodically clear your lights as well as your window.
I love the winter !!! Usually its just me and the elements.
snegron7 wrote:
Thank you! Unfortunately, there are no places anywhere near me that sell winter clothing. The only store that might have a jacket would be Burlington Coat Factory, however, they rarely stock any actual coats. They mostly sell regular summer clothing and household accessories. The warmest items of clothing sold here are hoodies. Florida is the shorts and flip-flop center of the universe!
Wow, that's unfortunate. Another advantage to layering might be that you will actually be able to repurpose some of the clothing for Florida. While you may likely never again wear a winter parka after your trip, hard shell coat and pants could see use in warm rainy conditions or future trips.
Four pages so far of advice on shooting in very cold weather, yet at this time nobody, including the OP, knows what circumstances he will be shooting in, or at what location.
If he is taking a tour, I doubt the tour operator will be letting his clients freeze their butts off.
Also, when shooting the aurora, one does not have to be constantly standing or sitting next to their camera/tripod. One can being going in and out of a vehicle or building between exposures. It is not like the aurora is going to disappear in a few minutes.
IMO, the most impressive shots of the Northern Lights are ones that have different and interesting subjects in the foreground. Some of the best I have seen were with lake reflections, obviously taken further south at warmer temperatures.
rscheffler wrote:
Wow, that's unfortunate. Another advantage to layering might be that you will actually be able to repurpose some of the clothing for Florida. While you may likely never again wear a winter parka after your trip, hard shell coat and pants could see use in warm rainy conditions or future trips.
I'm hoping to go on some other vacation to another cold weather area in the future (provided I don't freeze to death or lose a limb due to frostbite while on this trip)!
Where I live in Florida, we might get 3 cold days a year where the temps will drop to the upper 40's (F). Most of the time it's hot to insanely hot (summer time). Between the heat and humidity it always feels like 95° to 105° F on a daily basis. I've grown accustomed to the intense heat. 😬
Imagemaster wrote:
Four pages so far of advice on shooting in very cold weather, yet at this time nobody, including the OP, knows what circumstances he will be shooting in, or at what location.
If he is taking a tour, I doubt the tour operator will be letting his clients freeze their butts off.
Also, when shooting the aurora, one does not have to be constantly standing or sitting next to their camera/tripod. One can being going in and out of a vehicle or building between exposures. It is not like the aurora is going to disappear in a few minutes.
IMO, the most impressive shots of the Northern Lights are ones that have different and interesting subjects in the foreground. Some of the best I have seen were with lake reflections, obviously taken further south at warmer temperatures. ...Show more →
At this time, 95% Iceland, 5% Fairbanks (if volcanic activity prevents flights from the U.S. to Iceland, then Fairbanks it is). Impossible to predict weather conditions this far away because the trip will be during the first two weeks of January. I sincerely appreciate all 4 pages of advice and suggestions, and I will be making my clothing purchases soon based on the awesome tips provided by everyone here.
And yes, there is a 99.99999% that I will be taking tours and not driving/renting a car regardless of whether I go to either Iceland or Fairbanks.
During a trip in the french Alps, I spent one entire day with my A7 in the outside, in a very narrow valley which almost never see the sun in the winter. The temperature was something between -12°C to -8°C. It was perfectly functionnal. The camera was mostly hidden under my coat when I was walking though.
My apologies for reviving this old post, but I finally got to use my 3 cameras in extreme cold weather this past week (R6II, A7c, and OM-5).
Last week I was in Iceland and had all 3 cameras with me (I used the R6II and OM-5, my kid used the A7c). The cold dropped down to around 7°F (-13C). I wore my R6II around my neck at all times except for when it was raining; then I used my OM-5.
All 3 cameras performed flawlessly. The only issue I had was that my fingers froze every time I removed my gloves to make adjustments. On a side note, I didn't get a chance to change lenses because it was so cold. I ended up using only a Canon RF 24mm f1.8 on my R6II and my Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 on my OM-5 at all times. My kid used my Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 on the A7c at all times as well.
Interesting thing I found out was that the R6II was the most comfortable to shoot with in extreme cold weather.
-35F at night, to as warm as -15 in the day though -30 or so in early morning, in northern Baffin Island in early March, stalking polar bears during the day and the aurora at night. R5 and R7 worked fine at all times, 5D Mark IV was not as happy at night as the R5 (did not use the R7 at night). And to think I brought the DSLR because I did not trust the mirrorless, which had no reports at that time on performance at those cold weather extremes.
snegron7 wrote:
I'm posting this on both the Canon and Sony forums because I would like to know about the cold weather performance on both cameras I own; Canon R6II and Sony A7c.
Both cameras have the exact same operating temperatures of 32° to 104° / 0°-40° C.
I'm looking into planning a possible trip to visit a very cold place, possibly 14°F (-10°C). This is cold by my standards (I live in Florida, and the temperature here is usually between 80° and 93°F). I have read that the charge on my batteries will die down faster in colder weather. However, I'd like to know which of my two cameras will not freeze up completely and fail me. My goal is to get a picture of the northern lights, so I will be outdoors in cold weather, and I would be really bummed out if my camera failed me. For the sake of weight, I can only take one of the two cameras.
Anyone here have experience shooting in cold weather? At what point does your camera fail completely?...Show more →
-10 to -20C was fine for the camera but I couldn't handle it.
An old photographer told me his trick is to use heated pants.
leverda1 wrote:
-35F at night, to as warm as -15 in the day though -30 or so in early morning, in northern Baffin Island in early March, stalking polar bears during the day and the aurora at night. R5 and R7 worked fine at all times, 5D Mark IV was not as happy at night as the R5 (did not use the R7 at night). And to think I brought the DSLR because I did not trust the mirrorless, which had no reports at that time on performance at those cold weather extremes.
Coincidentally, I was thinking about purchasing a 5DMK4 because they are on sale now. I still have a few EF lenses, and I thought it would be a tougher camera than my R6II. Thanks for the info! I'll pass on the 5DMK4 for now.
aCuria wrote:
-10 to -20C was fine for the camera but I couldn't handle it.
An old photographer told me his trick is to use heated pants.
I don't blame you; it was way too cold for me as well! In my case, my fingers were freezing to the point of feeling like they were on fire. The pain was excruciating!
Last year I had my A7III out on a hike at -7 degrees Celsius, most of the time hanging outside on the Pgytech Beetle Clip. No problems at all, worked without a hitch.
hasenbein wrote:
Last year I had my A7III out on a hike at -7 degrees Celsius, most of the time hanging outside on the Pgytech Beetle Clip. No problems at all, worked without a hitch.
That kind of mild winter weather is not a problem for the camera. Not even for battery.
However, moisture builds up very quickly on camera surfaces when you take it in after an outing in winter weather. Even more so, if weather is cold. Good practice is to let camera warm up slowly in bag before powering it. Just take the card out quickly if you want. It is moisture that kills cameras, not cold weather.
....... I finally got to use my 3 cameras in extreme cold weather this past week (R6II, A7c, and OM-5).
Last week I was in Iceland and had all 3 cameras with me (I used the R6II and OM-5, my kid used the A7c). The cold dropped down to around 7°F (-13C).
Extreme cold weather is more like -30C to -40C and colder, not -13C.
I have shot in -30C to -40C weather with no camera problems and no heated clothing. Layered clothing and camera kept inside my parka and only taken out when ready to shoot. I use Little Hotties to keep my hands warm nowadays.
-20C -30C is doable for an active shooter, but for short periods of time. For a still shooter, even at 0C it can get too cold after some time unless heating is used. Too many garments will not get someone too far, so, for me at least, I would rather dress less and travel more.
snegron7 wrote:
This is a whole new science for me! What gloves would you recommend for shooting? I'm assuming that weather proofed gloves are probably thicker, so feeling the camera might not be possible? Again, I don't have a clue!
No specific brand, many are good.
Liners (thus two layers of gloves) is a lot better than one supposedly warmer glove. The inner layer does need to breathe, and now with touch screens getting the liner pair to be touch screen compatible is a good idea. Then get a larger fluffier pair to wear over the liner pair, something that can pull on easily (has little grips or pulls) and covers past the wrist. Look at ski equipment, it tends to be pretty range of motion friendly. Some little hot hands packets might be worth the few dollar cost too just in case.
For me it's usually when standing around and nothing is happening that I start to think about it. Or going to the bathroom. 