How does your camera behave in hot weather?

1) How does your camera behave in hot weather?

2) Do you take steps to keep the heat down while in use?

3) Do you take steps to keep the heat down while traveling?

4) How would you design a camera - compact or dSLR or other - to stay as
cool as possible in use in the heat?


--
It Came From Corry Lee Smith's Unclaimed Mysteries.
http://www.unclaimedmysteries.net

Unclaimed Mysteries wrote:
1) How does your camera behave in hot weather?

2) Do you take steps to keep the heat down while in use?

3) Do you take steps to keep the heat down while traveling?

4) How would you design a camera - compact or dSLR or other - to stay as
cool as possible in use in the heat?



Depending on the model, some will expose themselves (sorry about that)
Dave Cohen

"Unclaimed Mysteries":

1) How does your camera behave in hot weather?

Badly. I found myself out in the Hiroshima prefecture summer blazing sun
with a black camera and a black bag and a black tripod hiking on the hills*
with almost no shade, and the camera, bag, and tripod temperatures all went
through the roof. There was no way I could leave the camera (Mamiya 645Pro)
on the tripod long enough to take a panorama, and the tripod got too hot to
touch. Presumably, the 5D would be the same story, if not worse.

*: Here's the neighborhood in a cooler season
http://www.pbase.com/davidjl/image/41640617/original

4) How would you design a camera - compact or dSLR or other - to stay as
cool as possible in use in the heat?

White bag, silver camera, white tripod. Unfortunately, there are no such
things any more. Sigh.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

David J. Littleboy wrote:
"Unclaimed Mysteries":

1) How does your camera behave in hot weather?

Badly. I found myself out in the Hiroshima prefecture summer blazing sun
with a black camera and a black bag and a black tripod hiking on the hills*
with almost no shade, and the camera, bag, and tripod temperatures all went
through the roof. There was no way I could leave the camera (Mamiya 645Pro)
on the tripod long enough to take a panorama, and the tripod got too hot to
touch. Presumably, the 5D would be the same story, if not worse.

*: Here's the neighborhood in a cooler season
http://www.pbase.com/davidjl/image/41640617/original


Nice smooth pano. Stitched? No way.

4) How would you design a camera - compact or dSLR or other - to stay as
cool as possible in use in the heat?

White bag, silver camera, white tripod. Unfortunately, there are no such
things any more. Sigh.


But, what about the BWLs? Won't somebody think of the BWLs?

--
It Came From Corry Lee Smith's Unclaimed Mysteries.
http://www.unclaimedmysteries.net

In a time of deception telling the truth is a revolutionary act. -
George Orwell

Dave Cohen wrote:
Unclaimed Mysteries wrote:
1) How does your camera behave in hot weather?

It behaves well.

2) Do you take steps to keep the heat down while in use?
3) Do you take steps to keep the heat down while traveling?

I just cover it with a towel or a shirt, but that is mostly to keep dust off
the camera.

4) How would you design a camera - compact or dSLR or other - to
stay as cool as possible in use in the heat?

What about the age-old standard method: use white color to reflect the sun
light

jue

Unclaimed Mysteries wrote:
1) How does your camera behave in hot weather?


Just fine in the heat, but I rarely go to cold places, so I don't know
about that. Note that smaller sensors will probably have more noise
when warm than cold, so avoid high ISO settings.


2) Do you take steps to keep the heat down while in use?


It gets rather hot here in Texas, so I have a metallic colored camera,
and I try to keep it out of direct sun, and remove it from the car when
I stop for a long period of time.


3) Do you take steps to keep the heat down while traveling?


See above, and I have, in the past, put it into a cooler to slow the
heating if I have to leave it in the car. Note, NO ICE in the cooler,
it is just to slow the heating.

4) How would you design a camera - compact or dSLR or other - to stay as
cool as possible in use in the heat?

Definitely NOT a black case. Plastic case insulates better than metal.

David J. Littleboy wrote:
"Unclaimed Mysteries":

1) How does your camera behave in hot weather?

Badly. I found myself out in the Hiroshima prefecture summer blazing sun
with a black camera and a black bag and a black tripod hiking on the hills*
with almost no shade, and the camera, bag, and tripod temperatures all went
through the roof. There was no way I could leave the camera (Mamiya 645Pro)
on the tripod long enough to take a panorama, and the tripod got too hot to
touch. Presumably, the 5D would be the same story, if not worse.

*: Here's the neighborhood in a cooler season
http://www.pbase.com/davidjl/image/41640617/original

4) How would you design a camera - compact or dSLR or other - to stay as
cool as possible in use in the heat?

White bag, silver camera, white tripod. Unfortunately, there are no such
things any more. Sigh.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan


One can get silver colored cameras, and a wood tripod would work well,
although I wouldn't want to carry one far. A white bag is no problem,
but one would have to color it white as I have never seen such a color.
There are, however, cases for camera gear that are aluminum, and
insulated...

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:12:14 +0000, Unclaimed Mysteries wrote:

David J. Littleboy wrote:
"Unclaimed Mysteries":

1) How does your camera behave in hot weather?

Badly. I found myself out in the Hiroshima prefecture summer blazing sun
with a black camera and a black bag and a black tripod hiking on the hills*
with almost no shade, and the camera, bag, and tripod temperatures all went
through the roof. There was no way I could leave the camera (Mamiya 645Pro)
on the tripod long enough to take a panorama, and the tripod got too hot to
touch. Presumably, the 5D would be the same story, if not worse.

*: Here's the neighborhood in a cooler season
http://www.pbase.com/davidjl/image/41640617/original


Nice smooth pano. Stitched? No way.

If you look closely, you'll see that it's apparently three photos stitched
together - I note that the left and right one have similar lighting, while
the center is slightly darker.



4) How would you design a camera - compact or dSLR or other - to stay as
cool as possible in use in the heat?

White bag, silver camera, white tripod. Unfortunately, there are no such
things any more. Sigh.


But, what about the BWLs? Won't somebody think of the BWLs?

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:52:56 -0500, Ron Hunter wrote:

One can get silver colored cameras, and a wood tripod would work well,
although I wouldn't want to carry one far. A white bag is no problem,
but one would have to color it white as I have never seen such a color.
There are, however, cases for camera gear that are aluminum, and
insulated...

In case you were referring to silver colored P&S cameras, some
silver DSLRs were also produced, such as Nikon's D50. Wasn't
Canon's 300D or 350D somewhat silvery?

Bags are no problem if you can get to B&H. Many brands, many
colors, although I don't recall seeing anything whiter than a light
tan. I have several genuine camera bags, but the one I use most
often for the D50 is a small one I found in Rite-Aid, designed
probably for food or a six-pack of 12oz. cans. It's a pretty well
built zippered, insulated nylon bag, brand name "Cascade Ridge",
just large enough to hold the camera with any of my lens except for
the 75-300mm zoom. It has one more thing going for it, it only cost
about $6.00. I'd also trust it more than many other bags to keep
the camera dry in a downpour, thanks to the insulation's lining
being a waterproof plastic.

Any bag, though, can be carried within one or two white plastic
shopping bags. Advantages are that they're free, and help disguise
the fact that you're carrying photographic equipment worth far more
than what they usually contain when leaving the supermarket.

"ray" wrote:

*: Here's the neighborhood in a cooler season
http://www.pbase.com/davidjl/image/41640617/original

Nice smooth pano. Stitched? No way.

The lack of immediately apparent stitching artifacts is because it's grossly
downsampled; each of the three frames started out at 8800 x 5600 pixels =
49MP. No wimpy digital cameras involved.

If you look closely, you'll see that it's apparently three photos stitched
together - I note that the left and right one have similar lighting, while
the center is slightly darker.

It's three frames with the same exposure, Fuji Reala 120, 35mm equivalent
lens (55mm actual focal length) so it's close to 180 degrees.

The sun is off to the right just out of the frame so the sky at the right is
brighter and the foliage almost backlit. At the left, the foliage is in full
frontal sunlight, so it's brighter.

But I could have messed up the scanning exposure or photoshoping the
individual images prior to stitching; wouldn't have been the first, or last,
time.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan