I just came back from the Gold Coast and the D300 worked great. Temperatures dropped to some of the lowest ever seen in February, +20 deg Celsius at times.
There was no need to put on a jumper just yet, but I did have to put my shirt back on after going for a swim. Actually, that was to protect myself from the high UV factor.
I find what happend herestrange. I live in Ontario, Canada where the temperature this time of year can drop as low as -40 celsius. I take my D3 out all the time, no real precautions taken and I have no problems at all. I'm out for a few hours too so either he just had real bad luck or some bum cameras.
I, and my staff, beat the daylights out of our gear. Partly it's the job and partly because we don't own it and they pay us to get the shots and they'll buy more goodies/it's insured. We have accessories and tripods that cost more than a D3. But it's never failed on the job, as in failing to get the shot ( if it did fail, we don't own it anymore). Just because you don't own it doesn't mean you can take any complicated mechanical/electronic device from a manufacturer directly to the field, or even from room temperature to something other without testing it first. I would NEVER take an untested piece of gear, no matter how free or how cool on a mission critical shoot without some testing. These guys are supposed to be pros. Yet they take totally untested gear into the field? Sure, it's supposed to work in those conditions but who cares what the marketing dude says? I would take my most chewed on, beat up, old-school camera on an important gig before I would take a wonder-tool that some suit had just handed me. Unless I had fully explained my philosophy to said suit and made sure they understood that that they might be risking the entire shoot by sending out untested gear. Jeez, better a D2h that nails the shot than a D3 that is dead weight, or a digibeta that works vs the latest "digital cinema" camera that goes TU with a bit of mist in the air. Or film god forbid. Rant off...
I was at the NFC Championship. I had a Canon 20D with me and 3 batteries. They all died in the first quarter because of the cold. When I got inside, they began to work again with full charge. What i discovered: Carry the spare batteries next to your skin and rotate them as they "die" due to cold. If the batteries stay warm, the camera will work.
ShaneEngelking wrote:
Carry the spare batteries next to your skin and rotate them as they "die" due to cold. If the batteries stay warm, the camera will work.
So true. If you shoot in the cold you need to keep those batteries warm! When I was into nature photography that was one of the first tips I learned.
ShaneEngelking wrote:
I was at the NFC Championship. I had a Canon 20D with me and 3 batteries. They all died in the first quarter because of the cold. When I got inside, they began to work again with full charge. What i discovered: Carry the spare batteries next to your skin and rotate them as they "die" due to cold. If the batteries stay warm, the camera will work.
Hmmm, I was kind of assuming they were keeping extra batts in an inside pocket and rotating them through the cameras. If they weren't doing that, there isn't much you can tell about the cameras... Same deal with batts. At least cycle them a few times to make sure they hold a charge and work well. Batts are not exactly assembled with the same loving care as cameras. And I'm not sure that even pro cameras are assembled as well as they once were.
(Some guys I know who work in the anarctic/arctic (film/HD) wear their batteries inside and run wires to the camera. Plug it in when it's time to roll. Probably harder with a still camera)
fishfilm wrote:
(Some guys I know who work in the anarctic/arctic (film/HD) wear their batteries inside and run wires to the camera. Plug it in when it's time to roll. Probably harder with a still camera)
Not at all. People have been doing this even long before digital came on the scene. It can be done using either camera manufactured external battery systems, or custom made adapters.
Yah, Nikons can't handle the extreme weather. I mean, NASA has only taken them to the moon and stuff, where it is pretty balmy. As well, all those D2XS' they just bought only get used in extreme weather in space , with only a 500 degree temperature variance.
bonnerkopf wrote:
Yah, Nikons can't handle the extreme weather. I mean, NASA has only taken them to the moon and stuff, where it is pretty balmy. As well, all those D2XS' they just bought only get used in extreme weather in space , with only a 500 degree temperature variance.
IIRC every D2X they purchased was taken apart and put together again by a third party company. The part that interested me the most was the Braycote lubricant they used. Have you seen the cost of those
Well my D200, D70s, and lowly FM10 just survived a couple hours in the blowing snow here in Omaha. I took them all downtown and they hung around my neck while I walked around town. All three were covered with snow on top and functioned from start to finish. Of course, it's "only" in the 20s here today.. so...
AJ Nadershahi wrote:
Still cheaper than printer ink.
ya got that right for the Epson 2200 it works out to
10ml / 13.00USD
do the math , i might mess it up , my math has it at near 5 Thousand dollars a gallon, but i could be off by a factor of ten i am severly math challenged
$13/10ml * 1000ml/L * 3.785 L/USgallon ~ 4920
That's impressive profit margins! Boy oh boy Exxon et al have nothing on these guys!
Anyway, my D1H just survived being out in the blowing snow the other day... It was only -3C though (ambient temperature)... And my D70s survived a good 1/2 hour at around -20C temps... So there's my "tough Nikon body" story
I'm waiting for Exxon branded printer ink. I feel kinda bad their CEO didn't make much of a bonus last year.
My worse case Nikon experience was getting stuck in a sudden downpour where the camera was dripping wet. After half hour got back to the car and wiped down the gear as much as possible. Everything worked as expected throughout the ordeal.
I was just wondering which of the Braycote products was approved for spaceflight. Bracote 806 perhaps, just wondering which I should buy to send off to Nikon with my camera. At $90.00 per 2 ounce syringe you want to make sure you know?
