Pushing Camera Gear Beyond Its Limits: Shooting at -30° C (-22° F)

There are parameters within which a camera is supposed to work, and one extreme I had not tried with mine was the severe cold. So, I headed to Northern Finland, where I would experience temperatures I had never felt before. Here is what happened to my camera.

Most of us, at one time or another, want to use our cameras in environments that they are not designed for. 15 years ago, I had a camera break after shooting in a sandstorm, and 30 or so years ago my SLR was the only camera to survive a trip to a semi-desert in Namibia. The other 30 people in our party had compacts with motorized zooms and autowinders that all seized with dust,

I read a few articles recently where people’s photographic gear has failed because they have been exposed to conditions where they should have coped. Most manufacturers claim some level of drip and dustproofing, and one recent release says its camera is freezeproof. However, these are usually cheap marketing claims, and not backed up by legal definition, real data, or warranties. It is like when manufacturers write “healthy”, “natural”, or “wholesome” on food packaging; they are meaningless terms. Where there is no legal meaning to terms used in marketing, regard them with skepticism.

I do not doubt that, in time, other brands will start to copy them, but as far as I am aware, and at the time of writing, only OM System offers the IP53 standard for its interchangeable lens camera bodies and lenses. (Please correct me if you know of an ILC from another brand that offers the same.)

I’ve previously tested my cameras with water, both accidentally and deliberately. The accident was when my tripod fell over in a river. The camera bounced off a rock and landed underwater. I fished it out, cleaned the water off the glass, and carried on shooting. The second occasion was when I was capturing lightning in a torrential downpour.

There’s another extreme that the OM-1 can cope with. It is designed to operate down to -10℃ (14°F). This is much lower than other ILCs.

Check Your Camera's Specs.

Before using your Camera in extreme conditions, it’s worth checking the manufacturer’s specifications. I cannot list them all here, but the Canon R3, the upcoming Sony a9 III, and the Nikon Z7 II all claim 0℃ as their lowest operating temperature. Although, the Lumix GH6 and the Fujifilm GFX100 manage -10℃.

For most situations, those specifications are probably sufficient. However, some people live where temperatures drop below freezing point. I often take photographs at temperatures below freezing, but I wanted to find out how my camera performed in more punishing conditions. That’s one of the reasons I headed up to Oulu in Northern Finland in the middle of winter. When I got there, I ended up testing it at various temperatures, including some far lower than its minimum designed temperature. Did it live up to its promises?

Hints for Photographing in the Extreme Cold

There are things to consider before considering photographing in Arctic temperatures. I grew a beard specifically for the cold weather; chinsulation I call it. Throughout my visit, the moisture from my breath was freezing to it.

When it is that cold, it’s better to breathe through your nose to warm the air before it goes down to your lungs, but you can end up with icicles in your mustache if you have one.

You want several layers of clothing. I had merino wool leggings beneath my microfleece trousers, and insulated skiing salopettes over those. My body was similarly layered but with a down-filled coat on top. On my head, I had an insulated mountain cap pulled over a fleece balaclava.

I used thermal mittens over the top of my gloves. At first, that was a little clumsy. It took some practice, but I was soon able to adjust the camera’s settings and shoot while wearing them. It is something I will continue to do at home, as when photographing the sunrise at the beach on cold winter mornings. Previously, I’ve removed my gloves and ended up with painfully icy fingers. On my feet were thermal socks and winter boots.

I'm not recommending any brands here, as there are many good manufacturers. I will say though that you get what you pay for. It’s worth investing in good quality clothing.

When we arrived in Oulu it was -21° C and there was a stiff breeze, so the wind chill factor made it feel far lower. KLM had lost our luggage and so, apart from my down-filled coat, I didn’t have any thermal clothing with me. That was not a great start, but it was interesting to find out what it was like without adequate clothes. It’s not something I would recommend.

Camera Performance Tests

Camera Performance Test #1: -20 C, Windy, Clear Skies

Despite my lack of suitable clothing, I ventured out for a short while because my host was taking us to see an unusual visitor: a Stella’s Eider. At those temperatures, without thermal clothing, 20 minutes was more than enough time to feel pain in one’s extremities. Sadly, the bird was too far away to photograph successfully, but I shot a couple of other images of landscapes. The camera and lens performed admirably, and certainly far better than me.

One thing I did on the first shoot was to remove and replace the lens outside. Even the driest of houses can have relatively high humidity and, especially with weather-sealed systems like the OM-1’s, moisture trapped inside will condense on the cold surfaces. This happened almost immediately when I stepped outside into those conditions; the cold viewfinder partially fogged up. But removing the lens and placing my ungloved finger on the outside of the viewfinder to warm it up soon drove the moisture off and I had no further issues.

The viewfinder on the camera has a very small surface area and is thin glass. Therefore, it cools down very quickly and any airborne water trapped inside the camera will condense onto it.

During that short time outside, after clearing the viewfinder, I experienced no other problems and the gear continued working admirably. I am happy to report that at around -20℃ the camera lived up to its promises.

I usually advise people to put their cameras in a plastic bag when returning inside. Most cameras are not properly sealed and the warm, damp, indoor air will condense on and in the cold surfaces of the camera. I have never found this necessary with the OM-1 because the weather seals are so good, although I don’t open the camera’s ports or remove the lens until it has properly come up to room temperature.

However, coming from -20℃ outside to +21℃ indoors where our host was cooking dinner, the camera was so cold that the moisture in the air condensed and froze to it, so it was covered in frost.

Luckily our luggage arrived. So, after lunch, my wife and I went for a walk, but better wrapped up this time.

Camera Performance Test #2– Driving and Landscapes -10℃ Windy and Snowing

The following day we went for a drive into the countryside. In Britain, if the temperature drops below zero or there is a sprinkling of snow, things grind to a halt. During winter in Finland, -10℃ is considered warm and it is business as usual. Unsurprisingly, the camera worked exactly as expected.

Camera Performance Test #3 Coping with a Huge Temperature Differential -15℃ Cloudy and Dry

One thing the camera manufacturers don’t mention is the temperature differential between different components. In this case, it was a warm camera body and a cold lens.

On the third day, I met up with fellow OM Ambassador and wildlife photographer Jari Peltomaki. Well-known in Finland and a name familiar to OM System owners, for the last 30 years he has run a wildlife photography company called Finnature. His wife Kaisa is also a fabulous wildlife photographer and OM System Ambassador too.

If you get a chance to visit Finland, going on a photoshoot with Jari is an amazing experience. The detail of the shoot is worth an entire article, which will follow later. But this is solely about how the gear performed.

Inside the heated bird hide I would guess the temperature was around +16℃, while outside it was below -15℃, so that was more than a 30℃ difference. Initially, I had the fleece sleeves of the hide's window mounted over the barrel of the lens – the sleeves prevented the very timid subjects from spotting us. After three or so hours the front element of the lens gathered some frost.

That only happened at the hide and not when I was shooting outside. I suspect that was because with having the camera and lens body in the warm hut, the camera’s internal humidity increased and when that vapor encountered the cold glass, it froze. I should have removed the lens from the body for a while to reduce the internal water vapor.

Bringing the entire lens inside and gently warming it evaporated the ice. After that, we fitted the sleeve to the lens hood and not to the lens barrel. Thus, the front element was warmer and no further condensation or frost formed.

This was the first time I had experienced a lens gathering frost and if I were continuously in these temperatures, I would buy a lens heater.

Camera Performance Tests #4: Photographing Reindeer at -30℃. No Wind or Precipitation.

The third major test was photographing reindeer at the Poro-Panuma reindeer farm about an hour’s drive North-East of Oulu. This was the coldest day of the visit. I tried two lenses on this day. One was an OM System PRO standard lens and it worked perfectly. The only difference I noticed was the zoom and focus rings became slightly stiffer to turn. I was shooting for over an hour and this was at ten degrees below the minimum operating temperature.

I also tried a non-pro lens. Initially, the aperture rings froze open. But, leaving the camera switched on and warming it in my hands, they released and the lens worked normally. This was not a fault with the lens, I was using it well below its operating temperature.

Camera Performance Test #5: Photography in Helsinki  -8℃. Wind and Snow

Walking around Helsinki with the camera in Helsinki, the camera and 12-40 F2.8 PRO lens performed exactly as it usually does.

In Conclusion

It’s worth noting the minimum operating temperature of your camera. The internal seals will harden in the cold and lubricants will thicken. In the coldest conditions, I was very gently using the zoom and manual focus rings, and the tests were at my own risk. I’m relieved to say my OM-1 behaved admirably, especially when partnered with professional-grade lenses.

Although I tested my camera at these temperatures, I can’t speak for your gear. So, it is worth checking the minimum working temperature of the model you use before trying to use it in the severe cold; I have met someone whose lens autofocus broke when shooting in the Antarctic and it wasn't covered by the warranty. The operating temperature information is often hidden away very low down the list of the camera specifications on the cameras’ webpage. I am not endorsing or recommending you use your camera beyond those temperatures. Severe cold will thicken lubricants, putting strain on the moving parts. It will also harden seals and cause water to condense within the lens and camera body.

Nevertheless, I did see other photographers with different brands of cameras when the temperature was well below freezing. So, although their cameras were officially rated to work down to around 0℃, using them below that temperature for short periods was a risk they were happy to take.

It will be interesting to hear what your camera is officially capable of and see some shots you’ve taken in low temperatures in the comments. I’m hoping my next trip will be to the Sahara so I can test the maximum temperature and the dust-proofing.