You know here's something to think about the cameras NASA uses. The vacuum of space is a really excellent insulator and objects in that vacuum radiate heat slower than we are used to. I wonder how cold those cameras ever really got. Just a thought.
Jammy Straub wrote:
I'm surprised any electronics would function for more than 10 or 15 minutes in -25 deg F weather.
There are plenty of electronics that will work at -45 degrees. The telecommunications industry has all sorts of electronic gear that works in extremely cold weather without any heat being supplied to it.
HerbChong wrote:
........ also, in the old days, film would become brittle and break in the cold.
I did plenty of film shooting at temperatures from -20 to -45 degrees and never had film break on me. I had to advance the film very slowly or static charge would cause streaking on the film, but as long as I put warm batteries in and shot right away, I had no other problems.
Jammy Straub wrote:
You know here's something to think about the cameras NASA uses. The vacuum of space is a really excellent insulator and objects in that vacuum radiate heat slower than we are used to. I wonder how cold those cameras ever really got. Just a thought.
In space it would indeed take a very long time for an object to loose its heat. From what I've been able to gather about this, within about the same area as the Earth's orbit, in the shade the temperature would eventually reach about -160 C (-256 F). If placed in direct line of our sun's rays, it would reach about 200 C (392 F).
On a more "realistic" level, the temperature that spacesuits deals with range from -73C (~ -100 F) to about 115C (~235 F)
I would be curious to know how the LCD handles the cold. The other components are probably fine. If we can handle the cold, the camera can. But the LCD does have some limitations. I have seen laptop screens crack from being to cold.
Imagemaster wrote:
There are plenty of electronics that will work at -45 degrees. The telecommunications industry has all sorts of electronic gear that works in extremely cold weather without any heat being supplied to it.
Most electronics actually perform better at lower temperatures. The processing speed of a desktop computers CPU can be increased 2-3 fold if cooled with liquid nitrogen - a fun geek thing to do similar to running an engine until it blows up.
Imagining sensors for extreme low light/night time photography are often cooled to very low temperatures to increase circuit efficiency and reduce residual noise caused from heat.
AJ Nadershahi wrote:
Most electronics actually perform better at lower temperatures. The processing speed of a desktop computers CPU can be increased 2-3 fold if cooled with liquid nitrogen - a fun geek thing to do similar to running an engine until it blows up. \
Nitrogen cooling only helps you overclock higher due to lack of upper temperature limits. Two processors with the same specs and clock speeds aren't going to perform different even if one is cooled to subzero, and the other left at nominal operating temps. When it comes to chips, I would say they perform horribly and inconsistently above design temperature, but between nominal and really low temps, there isn't a performance difference. Cold changes the properties of charge holding components such as batteries and some capacitors.
Liak Yuan Howe wrote:
Nitrogen cooling only helps you overclock higher due to lack of upper temperature limits. Two processors with the same specs and clock speeds aren't going to perform different even if one is cooled to subzero, and the other left at nominal operating temps. When it comes to chips, I would say they perform horribly and inconsistently above design temperature, but between nominal and really low temps, there isn't a performance difference. Cold changes the properties of charge holding components such as batteries and some capacitors.
Cooling lowers resistance and production of heat - the two most basic negatives with electronics. You're correct that two processors with same specs and clock speeds will not show performance difference if one is supercooled, but it will increase lifespan due to slowing down of thermal breakdown. And super cooling allows a circuit to be run at much higher than performance levels.
Now taking this back on topic, using electronic equipment in extreme cold is not a problem (as opposed to extreme heat) as long as moisture/condensation and proper power supply issues are addressed.
AJ Nadershahi wrote:
Keeping it under your jacket and pulling it out suddenly increases the chance for issues with condensation.
Unless you are perspiring, that chance is pretty remote. And, when it is -30 to -40 degrees, you usually have so many other clothes between your body and your jacket that little, if any,
condensation from your body reaches the camera.
