Shooting in -20C

[JanneJansson]

Hi, I have just done a shoot in Sweden in -20C and all working perfect!
There are some you must do to make it work. I keept the harddrive at about +30C at all time. I had the drive in my pants when we where not shooting. I had the camera on 12V car battery and turned on at all times.

The camera was so cold, that the fans did not turn on for about 1h. But another surprise is that when all fans are off, the fan STARTS when record starts. Normal is that the fan go slower, but I guess bug testing in -20 is not normal :)

The changing in temp is dangerous. The gear must go slow from hot-cold-hot so you don't get condensations. ..and be very careful, all is very sensitive and fragile in cold temp.

But the R1 is a TANK!!

http://www.sfe.se/coold2.jpg

http://www.sfe.se/coold1.jpg

[Sanjin Jukic]

Janne,

thanks for a nice report because is good to know some things before you jump in to shoot at extreme cold weather ...

[Vico Martin]

non-stabilized 12V car batt to lemo power in??

this sounds more dangerus than -20º

[sander kamp]

non-stabilized 12V car batt to lemo power in??

this sounds more dangerus than -20º

A car battery is pretty stable and as far as I know the voltage falls right in the safe zone of powering the camera. Have had the camera powered like that many times.

Maybe you are thinking of non-stabilised generator power, which is something completely different.

[JanneJansson]

non-stabilized 12V car batt to lemo power in??

this sounds more dangerus than -20º


hehe, should be safe. 12v is stabilized and exact same as the power out from the AC-DC converter. Camera run 10h on a batt and I usually have 3 with me.

Have you have any problem with car batts?

[Roberto Lequeux]

How did the lens mechanics perform? Did you have and RPPs?

[XiaoSu Han]

Looks like you didn't use the EVF :)

Isn't it dangerous to switch the drive from cold to warm all the time? How can you take it out and put it in your pocket all the time without changing the temperature constantly?

[Roberto Lequeux]

Looks like you didn't use the EVF :)

He probably didn't want to put his face against it. He he he! :)

As far as I understand you don't want HDDs to get too cold, but I wouldn't worry too much about the rapid changes in temperature since the internals are what's important and the swing wouldn't be so rapid with the plastic casing and all. Just don't let it get cold through and through and then try to make it start spinning. There must be lubrication that could freeze and that could destroy the articulation of the arm or the mounting of the disc if you know what I am trying to say.

There are custom travel/packing pouches for Red accessories, posted by the manufactured on a thread somewhere. They are basically snug cloth pouches. I requested the design of one for Red Raids that can be un-zipped in a way that you can keep it mostly covered but also plug it in, and, possibly mount it as well. That could help slow down the cooling, and trap the heat from the HDDs and RAID controller. Coupled with keeping them in your internal jacket pocket while standing by should carry you through the coldest of days.

That said I am planning on using nothing but Red RAM and CFs to shoot in Fargo and Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, in the dead of winter.

[JanneJansson]

How did the lens mechanics perform? Did you have and RPPs?

The lens (RED PRO 18-85) performed extremely good. No major difference in drag. I was very careful moving it in to the cold, letting it adjust to the temp slowly.

No, no EVF :) I was afraid the it would perform unpredictable, draw more power, get wrong colors, or just freeze and get damaged.

The LCD almost froze, and was pretty funny looking for a few minutes, but after it heated up it got normal again.


My biggest worry was the flash/HDD. I know freezing a drive is a sure way of destroying it. I did not want to use flash because I was afraid they would get slow in the cold and drop frames. So a HDD in my pants was the safest way I figured :)

[Ryan E. Walters]

I have not shot in -20, but I have shot at temps from 10 - 20 f. I was using batteries, and the biggest thing to be aware of is keeping the camera body and the batteries warm. If the camera is too cold before you start it up it will hang on boot up. And having cold batteries shortens their life. But once the camera is powered on and running, it runs like a tank with no issues at all. After the camera is on, there doesn't seem to be a problem with it being in the cold for hours.

Great idea on the car battery!

[JanneJansson]

How can you take it out and put it in your pocket all the time without changing the temperature constantly?

It was tricky, but I used my hand and felt the temp of the drive constantly, and adjusted with some cloth around the drive when on camera.

[Jeremy Torrie]

Nobody has seemed to notice Janne is standing on ice.

BTW -we have shot as far north as the Artic Ocean -yep, shot right on the ocean...standing on it, kind of like Janne above with a CDN icebreaker in the background (deliberately frozen into the ocean for science experiments). We've used a Porta Brace Polar Bear cover on Sony cams on this and two movies and it worked great. Just pop in the hand warmer pouches and everything's nice and toasty...I haven't checked to see if I can mod this to fit around my R1 yet, although I do need to shoot some winter stuff in Jan.

Alternatively, we have used hair dryers on set hanging off the dolly to give the Sony's and Panny's a little heat blast when there's night shooting. Unconventional? Absolutely.

[JanneJansson]

Nobody has seemed to notice Janne is standing on ice.

hehe, that's why I have a floating survival suit on. it was no worry, the ice was at least 7 cm thick ;) If I have time, I probably make a heated/insulated bag for the HDD with just the drive cable sticking out, never exposing it to cold at all. It was a fun shoot and I enjoyed it aloot.

[Roberto Lequeux]

It really doesn't look promising. Please let us know if you figure out a way!

http://www.adorama.com/images/large/PBPOL3.JPG

[Peter Strietmann]

I recently was shooting outdoors in michigan, the temps ranged from the teens to the twentys Fahrenheit. I had the classic EVF freeze up so I used the sleve from the Camrade EVF cover that is designed to cover the EVF and put a hand warmer inside it and all problems ceased to exist. I use to tape hand warmers to batteries back in the day when you would light them, the new ones that are chemical based need to be in an enclosed area, like a pocket, to work.

[Dylan Macleod, CSC]

Perhaps a third party manufacturer could make battery operated "drive socks"...

http://workingperson.com/brands/1/Nordic+Gear.html

[Jannard]

Every electronic device has weather and temperature limitations... but you can extend those limitations quite a bit with some careful planning and common sense. Nice to see what smart people CAN make RED do. Great post. Thanks.

Jim

[Nikolai Pigarev]

yeah the coldest we took it was -25... the talent could not handle it... RED was fine... only the EVF gave us some trouble. To my surprise both the LCD RED monitor and apple display worked fine the entire day

[Brook Willard]

Nice to see what smart people CAN make RED do. Great post. Thanks.

Jim

Well put, Jim. With proper planning, there are very few limits to this camera system... or any other. Hell, almost three years later I've still never had one overheat and power down... ever. So many [read: almost all] of the problems that plague people's shoots can be eliminated with knowledge and proper planning. Camera problems, climate problems, accessory problems, power problems, data problems, color problems, consistency problems, workflow problems, apparent resolution problems, focus problems, startup time problems, firmware and hardware bug problems... all of it.

If you're properly prepared for the shoot and environment you're heading into and your DIT possesses the knowledge and experience to fix the hiccups that might pop up on the way ... there will be no problems. Period.

[Jannard]

Well put, Jim. With proper planning, there are very few limits to this camera system... or any other. Hell, almost three years later I've still never had one overheat and power down... ever. So many [read: almost all] of the problems that plague people's shoots can be eliminated with knowledge and proper planning. Camera problems, climate problems, accessory problems, power problems, data problems, color problems, consistency problems, workflow problems, apparent resolution problems, focus problems, startup time problems, firmware and hardware bug problems... all of it.

If you're properly prepared for the shoot and environment you're heading into and your DIT possesses the knowledge and experience to fix the hiccups that might pop up on the way ... there will be no problems. Period.

Can I quote you? Oh, you just did. :-) Well said.

Jim

[KETCH ROSSi]

possesses

That is a lot of esses in there Brook, he he.

Very well put! Bravo!

BTW, BUON NATALE every one.

[Roberto Lequeux]

Anyone else happy about the EVF Bomb being heated? Probably an industry's first, is it? Thank you again for that one Jim. Red listens!


hehe, that's why I have a floating survival suit on. it was no worry, the ice was at least 7 cm thick ;)

Try coming back when it is 2-4ft thick and a few degrees warmer, and with more accumulated snow. :cheers2:

What were you shooting? I'd love to see some grabs or video.

[JanneJansson]

We where shooting a commercial for a energy corp. That day was the shortest of the year, so we just had daylight a short time, and the sun was on the horizon during the entire shoot.


Anyone else happy about the EVF Bomb being heated? Probably an industry's first, is it? Thank you again for that one Jim. Red listens!

Pretty cool, red designed this camera from scratch and got it so good immediately. I can't wait and see what the new cameras can do, now red have all the real world knowledge from R1.

Here's some grabs.
Merry Christmas!
Janne

http://www.sfe.se/skridsko2.jpg

http://www.sfe.se/skridsko.jpg

[Martin Weiss]

Last week I also shot in -20C, the only "trouble" I had was that the LCD cable became completely stiff, which was quite funny to see.

Flawless.

[Roberto Lequeux]

Merry X-Mas and happy holidays!


We where shooting a commercial for a energy corp. That day was the shortest of the year, so we just had daylight a short time, and the sun was on the horizon during the entire shoot.

I was loving the sunsets in Fargo a few weeks ago. You had a good hour of magic with about two more or so of VERY low sun. Gorgeous long shadows cast onto the snow by the bare trees. Not once during the the whole day did the sun get too high. Must help with continuity. I also keep thinking that it will really help that we'll be able to shoot a little bit of our night stuff every day and spread it out, while working 12hs a day, and mostly avoid night shoots, which will only be necessary based on other factors like locations and background.

Nice colors. Thanks for sharing those grabs. Please post motion if/when you can.

What filters did you use?

[JanneJansson]

Last week I also shot in -20C, the only "trouble" I had was that the LCD cable became completely stiff, which was quite funny to see.

Jepp me too :) I was worried I break it off, so I really avoided bending the cables. But I have not seen any cable handle cold in a good way. If a cable is bending in -20, they probably are like jello on normal temp. ;)

[David Battistella]

Janne,

The images are beautiful. In 2000 I filmed a movie all across Canada in similar conditions as we told the story of the game of Shinny (a slang for non professional pick up hockey games). We had 25 shoot days in similar conditions and at times were on think ice and very thick ice (7 feet in the arctic).

Seeing these shots reminded me of that shoot.

Wish the RED was around then....

[Peter Johnson]

We also just shot in Michigan. Our solution was to gaff tape hand warmers to the body and cover all with custom cut, silvered emergency blankets. We did the same for the EVF...it looked like a Chipotle burrito. For the drive and battery we used the warmers with self adhesive and simply stuck them on. The LCD looked pretty funny with two "pads" stuck on the back. I'd post pictures if I still had them.

We never had a problem all day and the camera performed without a hitch. We even strapped the camera to a tree and shot straight up the trunk with the snow falling...simply gorgeous.

RED + Master Primes + 20 degrees F = some winter wonderland goodness.

[Roberto Lequeux]

Peter, how did the adhesive fair? Did it leave residue? I know different warmers will use different stuff, but I have been thinking about only using the self adhesive ones for speed, just don't want to deal with any permanent damage. I have had nasty sticky messes to clean up with "goo-gone" after using gaffer tape in extreme heat (black surfaces under direct sun in California or Florida)... would the heat from the warmers do the same?

[Jay Silver]

just finished a feature film in Chicago...we shot for 3 weeks out there and the only problem I had was the EVF...that thing does not like the cold. Our fix was to ask wardrobe for a sock and cut the end off. Put the sock around the EVF, then grab 4 of those hand warmers and insert into the sock. This worked pretty good. We were also shooting onto CF cards. The coldest it got for us was 2 degrees. Most of the time it was around 10-20 degrees F. The assistants would bring the camera body and lenses and batteries in at night to charge and keep from freezing over night on the truck.

When the EVF got cold, before we did the hand warmer sock combo, it didn't work very good at all. wrong colors and all sorts of crazy things going on inside that thing.

[JanneJansson]

..it's in sweden now! -40C (-40F) Dalarna. Dam, all thise cooooold winds from Russia in rollin down to Europa.

[Peter Strietmann]

One problem I had was with the Anton Bauer block batteries charging. They have to be a certain temperature to charge, I think it is above 30f, but they perform well in low temps (10 to 20 f) even without being heated.

[Martin Weiss]

Yesterday I spent a few hours at -20C (-4F).

Camera, Batteriers (GMP 190WH) and the 7" LCD performed flawlessly. Again, the cables were stiff, but the only minor problem were cold feet. Hope that will be resolved in the next build :)

http://abitofmagic.no/reduser/-20a.jpeg

http://abitofmagic.no/reduser/-20b.jpeg

http://abitofmagic.no/reduser/-20c.jpeg

[Eirik Tyrihjel]

Beautiful images Martin, I had -21c outside my house this morning, too busy editing to test my RED today though.

[Roberto Lequeux]

Nice shots Martin. Winter FTW!

Did you bring up the blacks?

[Martin Weiss]

Thanks !

Did you bring up the blacks?
As far as I remember only a wee bit on the first still.

[Martin Weiss]

Vimeo upload is now complete. About 90 seconds of cold landscapes

http://www.vimeo.com/8569866

Best enjoyed in full screen mode.

[Jeremy Torrie]

Just goes to show -winter is the prettiest of seasons...

[Marco STeiner]

we just tested our red at about -15 degrees and had following problem: we used a red brick + red hdd + a common sachtler toplight. it worked as long as we did not record, but right after pushing the record button the camera switched off and we were not able to switch it on again for a couple of minutes. without recording the camera worked fine. any ideas why? if we do the same inside everything is fine..

oh, i forgot to mention that it only switched off when we were recording and then switched on the toplight.

[Jay A. Kelley]

Now you can use your EVF in this weather and it will work perfectly! Check it out:

http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40176

Jay

[Martin Weiss]

switched off when we were recording and then switched on the toplight.
Sounds a bit like that the light and the (recording) camera were drawing more current than the cold battery can handle.

[Jay A. Kelley]

We've been considering "Warmers" for the batteries to improve their performance in cold weather situations.

Is something like this a good idea?

Jay

[Roberto Lequeux]

Jay, I've heard of people doing it with positive results. I've never done it myself.

I also saw a comment once from someone who was concerned about leakage from an overheated battery. As some batteries get down to the last 10% or so they get very hot. Not very sure about the % number but I've noticed similar behavior with other batteries. The concern would obviously be that at that point the warmers might be too much heat for the casing. Can't be too careful. Perhaps the solution, and a better workflow, would be to replace batteries more frequently and not use the warmers. Add to that some sort of pouch for the working battery to provide a bit of insulation and fast 4x charger in a running car or other heated environment and you should be golden.

Logic tells me to save the warmers for the body, LCD and EVF which would remain outside and wouldn't pose any danger. In such low temps they wouldn't run the risk of becoming overheated either. The only one that worries me a bit is the thin LCDs, but with so much un-covered surface area on the front I seriously doubt anything bad could ever happen.

I wonder if anyone has info on MackBooks, RAID arrays, RRockets, and Panasonic production monitors. We plan to have clear tents with heaters but any info would be appreciated.

[Jiří Borovička]

what about an evf, our was in -5 to -9 degrees and looks bad with solarization, when i added dark detail, picture looks better. any pocket warmers doesn't help.

[Jay A. Kelley]

There is a solution.. Sent you a PM

[Mike 'Fireman' Ross]

Try shooting at -20C, in a howling gale, being roasted on one side, to the accompaniment of airborne ash and a sulphuric acid aerosol!

http://reduser.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=189&pictureid=823

First question is will RED survive? Second question is, how many brains will I get through?!

Mike

[Anson Fogel]

I shot for Oakley (!) 14 hours yesterday in 25 below zero F, about 50% outside, but moving from -25-ish F outside (record lows, Aspen, CO) to +70f inside all day. Red MX rock solid as usual. We've learned tricks -

1. EVF needs multiple chemical warmers gaffed on. The weakest link. Use LCD if possible, too much trouble. Yesterday the DP wanted it, so hand warmers-r-us.
2. One crew member keeps track of lens "temp balance" and transitions. Hair dryers from hair and makeup always helpful moving inside.
3. Our batts seem to last LONGER in the extreme cold - odd - but our theory is limited fan usage.
4. Keep batts in pockets, as usual. Or use the expensive cold rated batts, which do actually work no matter what for the price. FWIW, our red bricks worked perfectly fine yesterday for hours in -10 to -25F.

If it were not for the EVF, I'd say red deserved an award for building a true tank!

[Marcus Struzina]

Mike, where is that volcano, looks beautiful.

[Mike 'Fireman' Ross]

Mike, where is that volcano, looks beautiful.

Fimmvörðuháls. March 2010. The first stage of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland that caused so much chaos amongst airlines and newscasters :biggrinjester:

Mike

[HD Hildebrand]

Just shot in -17 and all went well except the quick button user presets kept changing on me.

[Roberto Lequeux]

Weird. Were those the ones that are on the EVF?

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Shot for about 5 hours, starting early morning on 2/2. It was -19°F here with the wind-chill putting it close to -31°F. RED performed like a champ.

Some more things I've learned about the RED and cold weather...

* Leave the EVF at home unless you have a heater like Jay Kelly's. And if it's below -15°F, leave it and the heater at home...

* If starting up at really cold, sub-freezing temperatures, and the camera doesn't want to start, unplug everything except the battery. Make sure the battery is fully charged and not frozen. If it's not a RED Brick you might be hosed. So far every 190Wh V-Lock battery I have tried on RED doesn't hold up under high power draw situations or cold situations the way RED Bricks do. I have also had issues with block batteries in the cold. I think a lot comes down to not only the cold, but the RED One is also very finicky about power draw and what is actually coming in.

* Power connectors. Both on the camera and the LEMO cable can contract in the cold. Same with the LCD/EVF connectors, but not to the same extent. They seem to maintain themselves when power is flowing, except in extreme cold (-25°F and colder). A pocket torch can be handy for warming up such things. But don't do it unless you know what you're doing -- the last thing you want to do is scorch something or melt a small pin or part of your cable.

* At -5°F or colder, you better have plenty of warming packs (sticky-backed ones are best) stick one on the back of your LCD to keep it from freezing.

* Lenses... Ah, they suffer too. Many lubricants you find in lenses will start to freeze up at -15°F or so. Some of them in temperatures less cold. Lens components can also contract in the cold. Just watch out. If a lens starts to feel real tight or even locked up, DON'T FORCE IT.

* Clamps, components, plastics... All can contract and become more brittle in extreme cold. Rod clamps that were tightened in warm environments could become loose and slip if the temperature drops enough. Always loosen all rod clamps on frozen equipment before returning it to warmer temperatures.

* Condensation. This is a big one and effects lenses more than cameras. But when you go from a freezing outdoor shoot to an indoor area or warmer area with about the same or more humidity, you can see water condense on the cold surfaces. Typically frozen areas have lower humidity, but not always. If the humidity is markedly lower in the cold, it's not a bad idea to bag the equipment in an air-tight way and then bring it into the warm. That will keep the humidity around the equipment at a lower level while it warms up. The cold air in the bag will expand as it warms and inflate the bag. It will be easy to notice any internal condensation (use clear bags) and take any steps that may be needed to address the situation.

If it's -15°F or warmer and your RED One won't start. Especially if you know the battery is not frozen and the LEMO connector on your power cable is OK, then you probably need to have RED take a look at the camera. I've seen a handful of reports over the past year or so about a RED One not working "in the cold" and people are talking about temps that are right at freezing, sometimes even above freezing. All I can say is that someone is doing it wrong or there is something wrong with the camera.

Saw a tweet by Rodney Charters yesterday about it being too cold to start up their RED One. My guess is it's a power draw issue. Quite a few things attached to the camera, even the EVF. I should've probably responded to ask how cold it was. And maybe to offer a few suggestions. I don't know, maybe they got it sorted...

I was hoping to have an EPIC-X by now, to test in the cold. But it looks like all the cold will be gone before I get it. Will have to look to the guys on the southern half to give the cold weather reports, I think. Anyway, I'll test in the heat this summer... Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico... hot.

[Roberto Lequeux]

Fantastic summary Jeff. It should be sticky-ed.


* Lenses... Ah, they suffer too. Many lubricants you find in lenses will start to freeze up at -15°F or so. Some of them in temperatures less cold. Lens components can also contract in the cold. Just watch out. If a lens starts to feel real tight or even locked up, DON'T FORCE IT.

I've heard of front elements cracking, literally cracking from rushing a lens from warm temperatures to extreme cold. I think it was MPs and the day was around -20F with wind, but why risk it? Always acclimate lenses slowly. The outside layer of the front element can contract faster than the inside of the same element, and without warning the front element becomes two elements, or more. xP


* Condensation. This is a big one and effects lenses more than cameras. But when you go from a freezing outdoor shoot to an indoor area or warmer area with about the same or more humidity, you can see water condense on the cold surfaces. Typically frozen areas have lower humidity, but not always. If the humidity is markedly lower in the cold, it's not a bad idea to bag the equipment in an air-tight way and then bring it into the warm. That will keep the humidity around the equipment at a lower level while it warms up. The cold air in the bag will expand as it warms and inflate the bag. It will be easy to notice any internal condensation (use clear bags) and take any steps that may be needed to address the situation.

I assume the steps you mention include the use of one or more Pelican silica blocks or alternate. Putting them inside the bag just before sealing it would really help make this a very effective practice cold to warm transitions.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I've heard of front elements cracking, literally cracking from rushing a lens from warm temperatures to extreme cold. I think it was MPs and the day was around -20F with wind, but why risk it? Always acclimate lenses slowly. The outside layer of the front element can contract faster than the inside of the same element, and without warning the front element becomes two elements, or more. xP

Yep. It can happen. You also have to be very careful when shooting outdoors in the cold when sunlight is concerned. Direct sunlight on your gear can cause rapid heating and condensation or other effects. All things considered, lens elements should not crack as most are tempered glass that is then ground. But if there is a flaw in the glass or in the mounting, it could break.


I assume the steps you mention include the use of one or more Pelican silica blocks or alternate. Putting them inside the bag just before sealing it would really help make this a very effective practice cold to warm transitions.

Very good point that I completely spaced on. Using a desiccant like silica gel inside cases or with bagged equipment can be an effective way of absorbing the excess moisture. I admit I don't worry about condensation much around here as it's so dry. Usually where there's problems is if I'm shooting snow sports and then head indoors where people park vehicles or bring their other snow gear. Melting snow tends to raise the humidity a lot near storage areas, parking garages, etc.. Another factor in all of this is salt. Often the salt levels are very high in areas where it's used to help melt ice/snow or in regions with salty sea air. Condensation is doubly bad if there's a high salt content.

[Roberto Lequeux]

Good point on the salt Jeff. Never though of that. Scary.

[Mike 'Fireman' Ross]

* Lenses... Ah, they suffer too. Many lubricants you find in lenses will start to freeze up at -15°F or so. Some of them in temperatures less cold. Lens components can also contract in the cold. Just watch out. If a lens starts to feel real tight or even locked up, DON'T FORCE IT.

I recall, many years ago, lenses (and other equipment) destined for extreme (expedition) conditions, being sent out for service, to be cleaned and re-lubed with a special low-temp lubricant. Is this still done, to anyone's knowledge? Or are modern standard lubricants about as good as it gets when it comes to low-temp performance?

Mike

[Jay A. Kelley]

Hey Jeff,

We can do better than -20 degrees F under the following conditions:

Both batteries need to be set to level 6.

You have to turn the heater on when it is still above 50 degrees. (I.E. turn it on in your room, or in the car)

You have 8 hours that we KNOW OF.. Beyond that you are on God's good humor.

Truth is, our heater has yet to meet it's match. That's because the endurance model had TWO heaters built into it. Some Dense Foam insulation on top of that, and 6mm neoprene on top of that, and then soft velcro material to break up the wind on top of that.

Actually we worry more about damage from HEAT from a careless operator than we do the cold. In other words: One time a very dim AC turned on both heaters and battery levels were set to 9. Then he left it in his room for 2 hours. When he came to get it, he noticed it was VERY warm, our of curiosity he stuck his finger in the insulation, and burned his finger.

Glad to say the EVF worked fine, but there is a lot of power there.. The batteries we use are AMAZING.. They are lithium polymer and work very well in cold.

Yeah... I'm proud of it. It's not bullet proof, and I am sure it has it's limits,, But I think it's pretty cool...

Truth is, at these temps, I'd start to worry more about the other equipment than the EVF if you have an ArcticX
Jay

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Hehe.. Cool, Jay <pun intended> And I think you have said all that before, I just forgot. I would've bought one if I still had the original EVF. I'm anxious to see how the Bomb handles in the cold. It's supposed to have an integrated heater (I think). We may need a Bomb edition of the ArcitcX.

You're right about the cold temps. When it starts getting below about -25F, that's when a lot of gear starts to fail. NiCd and many types of Lithium cells begin to freeze hard. LCD displays freeze up. At -35F cells in LCD displays can actually split as they crystalize.

I'm anxious to see how the Epic with titanium lens mount holds up in the cold. I always check the FFD in super cold temps once the camera is up and running for 30 minutes or so. I haven't seen big disparities with temperatures on the mounts, but there have been two occasions where I was able to dial it in a bit better for the cold vs. where it was set in a 65F prep room.

Which also reminds me. In case anyone didn't derive it from above. Always unmount lenses from the camera when acclimating to new temperatures.

I have also found that the crew, myself included, also tends to fail at temps colder than -25F and at temps colder than about -5F, there's a lot of compulsory whining.

[JanneJansson]

Regarding condensation. I have my lenses in plastic bags with silica inside the lens case. I also have camera and drives in air tight cases with silica drying bags.

A very effective way of protecting the camera and electronics is not to power down if possible. Have plenty of power. Avoid deep freezing any gear. Try to have gear in some case or in a car or under a blanket just to save some degrees of heat.

I have also done a black balance when camera have "warmed" up in extreme cold.
My method is to have a big overall and have batteries and drives close to my body :)

[Jay A. Kelley]

I have also found that the crew, myself included, also tends to fail at temps colder than -25F and at temps colder than about -5F, there's a lot of compulsory whining.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Yes, once it's up and running, keep it running in the cold. It's much better for the equipment to keep its temperatures constant.

And I don't recommend running RED Drives or any other spinning media drives in sub-freezing temperatures. It's notoriously hard on any HDDs. The times I've had to shoot to drives in the cold, I've kept the drive(s) warm with the batteries. When using a drive, I would keep it inside my coat in and internal pocket, use the 6ft cable.

I made my own warmer for the old EVF back when I still owned it. I used a heater I found online that could power from a USB port and wired it up inside the end portion of a coat sleeve I cut from an old coat. I sewed it together on the one end and left a couple holes for the EVF mount and cable.

Black balance is always recommended before starting any important shoot. Sensor temperature can have an effect on it, hot or cold. But if you black balance with the camera indoors and warm and then take it out into the cold for shooting later, it's definitely something to check.

We keep batteries in a vehicle or in an insulated bag. Throw some hot packs in the cooler or bag.

Have had troubles with RED batteries and chargers in extreme temperatures. Batteries don't like to charge properly if frozen or if they're too hot.

[Jay A. Kelley]

An Arctic X for the Bomb? Well it has a heater built into it.. However, if it fails to really keep the unit warm, I don't think it would be too big of a deal to make something..

Hope I don't have too though.. I made the Arctic X cause I had too!

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Haha. I hope you don't have to make one either. I guess we'll see how good the Bomb heater really is. Wish I had one here now to test. I'm shooting in the mountains on monday-tuesday, nights. We're expecting -35F or lower at night with the storm that's hovering right now. Look at how excited I am. --> :-|

[Roberto Lequeux]

If the Bomb EVF does fail in crazy-extreme cold, then maybe all that will be necessary is some of that insulation foam + neoprene + wind proof tailoring. Especially since the heater is probably much closer to the electronics.

That would be nice since you'd forgo the added weight and bulk. It can't hurt to have a custom sleeve like that if you know you are going to face some wild temperatures. Better safe than sorry, especially if it comes down to a ~hundred dollar weather suit.

[Jay A. Kelley]

If it needs it.. I'll make it... But lets hope not.
Jay