Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/08/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> > I wonder how the digis will hold up? > > I expect the digis will hold up fine. For quite a few years now digis have been sending back photos from the far reaches of the solar system where the temperatures are far lower than any naturally occuring temperature on earth. Most electronic components actually work better in cold temperatures. Exceptions are LCDs and batteries. Electronic cameras got a really bad name in the 70s and 80s for use in cold conditions, but the problems usually originated from the mechanical components and the batteries. Those pissy little mercury coin cells as used in the M5 and the Rollei 35, etc are useless at cold temperatures. Lithium cells, specially ones of a decent size like a lithium AA cell or a CR123 cell usually provide adequate power at very low temps. It helps if they are relatively new. Photographers have gone to Anarctica with proffessional SLRs like the EOS1 or F5s as well as manual backups and found that the automatic cameras worked perfectly (with the exception of the LCDs) and were a lot reasier to use with gloves on. As has been pointed out you still have to be careful of condensation from your breath. Also some films get quite brittle at low temps.