Photography in the frozen north?

[sandbender]

Hello all

I'm off to Kiruna, Sweden at the end of January, has anyone had any photography experience up there?

I understand that it's a bit dim up there at that time of year

Also worried about how the cold may affect my equipment.

I'll be using...

Nikon D200
Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8

 

[torjusg]

When I was up north I didn't use cameras, but the lenses of some guided missile launcher. They often dimmed up sometimes, but I'd imagine the air is dryer in Kiruna.

Of greater concern is likely to be that the batteries go out in no time. Very annoying.

 

[Adrian]

I assume that you're off on the Woodlore course? I did that this year, and it was great.
The cold is hard on batteries, so keep a spare set next to your body, so that if the batteries in the camera die, just swap over. Put the "dead" ones next to your body, and they'll recover. If you can, save on power by only using the viewfinder and shutting off the monitor. I used a manual film slr rather than a digital one, but where possible, keep it under your jacket/ in an insulated pouch (CCS or Lowe) until you want to use it, then put it back. If you let the camera get cold, then apart from dead batteries, you run the risk of condensation damage if you warm it up too fast. warm it up more gradually in the hut. The pouch will also protect the camera when you fall over on your skis. That happened rather a lot to me
Daylight is about 11am to 1.30-2. after that, you've got twilight (getting dimmer) until about 4ish. Even using iso 400 film, the exposures were fairly long.
There is a good article on photography in Arctic conditions on Kodak's website.
Have a great time!

 

[singteck]

The low light means you will have to use a tripod and long exposure. Which also means leaving the camera in the freezing cold long enough for the battery to freeze. Which also means that you'll never get any photos because your battery freezes before the exposure is completed. Ask me how I know.

You have 2 option

1. Get a battery pack and connect that via a wire to the camera. Keep the battery pack next to your body so that it will not freeze and the camera away from the body so that it does not fog up going from warm to cold.

2. Get a mechanical camera and a separate light meter if you cannot estimate the exposure.

singteck

 

[jayuk]

This guy managed to use his in -39C:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d200/d200-cold.htm

Also this forum has got lots of info on using D200s in cold weather:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1021

By coincidence I was just researching D200s before getting one and came across the cold weather stuff. As well as the battery advice, avoid bringing a cold camera from outside into a warm room (condensation can be a problem). Leica used to offer a service where they would remove all of the lubricants in their cameras to make them suitable for use in extreme cold weather conditions.

 

[Fenlander]

I too will be in Northern Sweden at the end of January, at Jokkmokk

In Canada in February this year (where temperatures were as low as -40) I used a cheap digital camera which runs on AA batteries. Batteries will discharge very quickly in the extreme cold, so I kept both the camera and spare batteries inside my clothing to keep them warm. I encountered no problems at all

 

[pierre girard]

Never had much problem with it. Like Fenlander says - keep your camera inside your jacket.

 

[HuBBa]

At least keep your batteries inside the jacket. If you put your camera inside beware of fogging up due to moisture and heat from your body.

But you should be fine. Just be careful with bringing the equipment inside especially if it's warm and maybe a bit moist inside (drying wet clothing? =). It wont short out your camera or something like that but lenses can take damage of it and also when you bring the warm camera back out in -40C, it doesn't take it kindly.

I envy you all for going up there in the winter. I am stuck down in southern Sweden with rain & rain and some rain all winter (We might get 30-40 cm of snow if we're really lucky ;9

 

[big_swede]

Most important things have been said I guess. But try to get a batterypack with an extension cord. I know there are some for canon, think nikon have it too. Keep that batterypack inside the clothes.

Also let the optics adjust to the temperature when you move from indoors to outdoors and vice verse.

Use a high ISO-setting as it will be little light. Usually the automatic settings are a bit dodgy in snowy enviroments, cos the snow is so highly reflective. But modern cameras shouldn't be affected.

 

[sandbender]

I assume that you're off on the Woodlore course?

Yep, looking forward to it

 

[sandbender]

Many thanks everyone, lots of really useful info here.

I will post a link to any images I manage to take when I get back in February.

 

[Stuart]

all the most important info has already been imparted but bear in mind that extreme cold makes things very brittle.

in extreme cold the battery life can be reduced to the point where you put in a fresh pair of batteries in the morning, carry the camera inside your jacket during the day, expose it to the cold for a few minutes to take a picture, and the batteries die.

the camera and other sensitive electrical equipment you will be sure to keep in your jacket because of the battery life problem, but be aware of other electronics which you might not have given so much thought to:

I had a SM memory card for my camera which I was keeping in my bag to replace the one in the camera when it was full, it got so cold that when i did try to insert it into the camera it snapped

I also had a digital watch that I attached to my suspender loop so i could see it without having to take my mittens off and roll up my sleeve; the cold killed it stone dead

 

[Adrian]

Another option that I'd forgotten, is to take some heatpacks - you get them in any outdoor shop - and on the Woodlore site I think, and tape them to your battery chamber/pack if you have to leave the camera out for a long exposure. Always take a small roll of duct tape with you! Instead of a tripod - perhaps a monopod +head(smaller and lighter) braced with some branches using cord/duct tape to make an impromtu tripod?

 

[big_swede]

Another option that I'd forgotten, is to take some heatpacks - you get them in any outdoor shop - and on the Woodlore site I think, and tape them to your battery chamber/pack if you have to leave the camera out for a long exposure. Always take a small roll of duct tape with you! Instead of a tripod - perhaps a monopod +head(smaller and lighter) braced with some branches using cord/duct tape to make an impromtu tripod?

I'll be honest with you, duct tape is useless in cold (at least all brands I've tried). The get hard, and usually don't stick so well. Get that tape you use on hockey clubs instead.

 

[baggins]

Cold Cannuk on the Lean-to, (from calgary), takes some amazing photos in sub 25 conditions using a mid range digi slr. When i last spoke to him, he said the trick was using handwarmers on the battery pack, not letting the lense get near moisture, (keep it in a good quality camera bag with additional hand warmers), and if yo take self portraits;- hold your breath. Some of (sorry, most of) his photos are superb, and it's not just the locations he chooses.
Have a great time and look forward to seeing your results
Leo

 

[Woody]

Sandbender,

How's it going mate? .... Lots of good advice there, the only thing i would add would be to invest in some good filters and save all your images in RAW format, this will allow you to "tweek" them on the pc at a later date.

What date are you flying out? Stani and I are in town for a while doing some training before heading up to Norway, It would be good to meet up if you have time

Regards ...... Woody

 

[sandbender]

Hi Woody

PM Sent

 

[Abbe Osram]

Hello all

I'm off to Kiruna, Sweden at the end of January, has anyone had any photography experience up there?

I understand that it's a bit dim up there at that time of year

Also worried about how the cold may affect my equipment.

I'll be using...

Nikon D200
Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8

Hi mate,
I live near to Kiruna.
You have to have your batteries near to your body. For me it was not enough to have them in the jacket pockets but I have them inside the jacket near to my body. You will have to take the batteries with you into the sleeping back too.
I am talking here about the batteries for gps and digital camera. Funny so that I had never problems with the small batteries of my petzl head lamp. Even going the whole night sitting on topp of my head in minus 25. I am not a tech guy, so I dont know why that is.

At the moment we have it quite warm up here, minus 5 to minus 8. It should be 10 degrees colder right now. So lets see how cold it get when you are here.

have fun
happy bushcrafting
Abbe

 

[outdoorgirl]

Hi Abbe! It does look very warm up there right now - I am off to Levi in Northern Finland on Sunday and we were expecting -20C, but right now it's still only -5C, some days even just 0C! I'm hoping it will snow some more and get colder...

I have not yet decided whether to take my DSLR camera (Sony DSC F-828) or just take the smaller 'quick snap' camera... I figure if the temperatures are going to be relatively 'warm' (not below 10C-15C) then I can risk taking the more expensive camera... I was looking forward to taking plenty of pictures of the area while out cross country skiing, or on any of the 'safaris' that the tour operator organise... (Snowmobiling, husky/reindeer safaris, etc.)

ODG/Pip

 

[Abbe Osram]

Hi Abbe! It does look very warm up there right now - I am off to Levi in Northern Finland on Sunday and we were expecting -20C, but right now it's still only -5C, some days even just 0C! I'm hoping it will snow some more and get colder...

I have not yet decided whether to take my DSLR camera (Sony DSC F-828) or just take the smaller 'quick snap' camera... I figure if the temperatures are going to be relatively 'warm' (not below 10C-15C) then I can risk taking the more expensive camera... I was looking forward to taking plenty of pictures of the area while out cross country skiing, or on any of the 'safaris' that the tour operator organise... (Snowmobiling, husky/reindeer safaris, etc.)

ODG/Pip

It should stay for a while this warm, we have lots of snow. When its not so cold we get more snow and that is what happend. Only that it is too warm.
I hope too that it gets colder. Today it is -7.5 celsius.
Have a good trip and lots of fun.

yours
Abbe