-30 degree shooting with the HPX!

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DM_rider

Veteran
I was out shooting in -30 weather today, so I thought I'd let everyone know my experience with the cam.

A few things to be aware of when shooting in weather this cold.
-Focus ring was absolutely worthless. It was so stiff I couldn't even move it without giving it a good hard twist. So, if you plan on shooting in these temps, forget using the focus ring. I had to use the push auto button for all my focusing (meh).
-LCD and EVF freeze up. The EVF is your best option in these temps, it was still usable.
-Zoom ring was pretty stiff, but still worked fine. Definitely don't want to be using the servo if it's very cold old.

Most of this stuff is already known, but I was amazed at how well the camera operated in these temps and thought some users might be interested in this. Towards the end of the day near sunset, I'd say temps were pushing -40 with the wind chill.

Other than these small little issues, the camera worked good in such extreme conditions. If you're planning on shooting anything where you're going to need to do any precise focusing, you're going to need a polar bag or something to keep the cam toasty, otherwise, forget it.
 
Nexis said:
Did you have anything to keep your battery(ies) warm?
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I was able to have my truck with me while I was filming. So I'd drive to a location, shoot, drive to next location. I was keeping all my batteries, gear in the truck so they stayed warm. But what I have done before is buy those hand warmers and throw them in my jacket pocket with the batteries. You can also sometimes keep the batteries warm by taping a hand warmer to the battery being used. That's worked for me also.
 
Driving in between shoots, did you allow the camera to acclimate to truck interior with heater running and then back out in the cold again? I've never been to Pluto before and can't even imagine -40 temps being from the South
 
Brian G said:
Driving in between shoots, did you allow the camera to acclimate to truck interior with heater running and then back out in the cold again? I've never been to Pluto before and can't even imagine -40 temps being from the South
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I was getting in and out so much that the truck never warmed up, so it wasn't a big of enough difference in temps. Also, it went straight into my camera backpack which keeps the camera insulated extremely well. After the 2 hour trip home, the camera was still as cold as it was when I put it in before the drive home.
 
I shot down that low with the DVX (on DV tape!) in Russia a few years ago with no problems other than the fore-mentioned stiff focus ring and batteries that died quicker than usual.

I also kept the camera in an insulated bag to keep it cold while jumping in and out of the truck.

I think shooting at just below freezing is worse, because there's still a lot of moisture in the air and it condenses much more quickly. At much lesser temperatures the air is very dry -- even in a warm truck -- so there's less problem.
 
DM_rider said:
I was getting in and out so much that the truck never warmed up, so it wasn't a big of enough difference in temps. Also, it went straight into my camera backpack which keeps the camera insulated extremely well. After the 2 hour trip home, the camera was still as cold as it was when I put it in before the drive home.
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Sounds like you live in either Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba.
 
I'm shooting soon here in Toronto, all outdoors in a forest.

We're trying to pick a date where it's not impossible to film out side (we want the crew and actors to be as warm as possible without freezing)

With that being said, I'm guessing these cons you had in the -30 degree weather would fall under the DVX camera also? Cause that's the camera I might be using, or an HVX.

AND it won't be -30...Maybe just above 0. :)

Robbie
 
What the guys did at the Iditarod with the HVX200, where temps got as low as -67, they rubberbaded the little handwarmer packets on the backside of the LCD and that seemed to solve that part of the issue. You could do a similar idea with the focus rig or you could get a "snow suit" for the little guy which has the pockets on the inside to put the hand warmer packets and your hands could fit in there as well. Check out the ones from Portabrace.

Best,

Jan
 
cold.gif


C-C-COLD!!! You guys got the brunt of that cold spell didn't you! haha, I thought of you the night before last when we saw the map on CNN... hahaha, crazy cold weather huh?!

Hope to go through all of that together with you soon Alex! :thumbsup:
 
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