Letzring
Active member
Spring-time in interior Alaska.
Not all that cold (compared to January) but a solid -5 to -15 F all day with an evil little wind. In and out of a poorly heated helicopter for about 6 hours and then a long ride home in a super cub with a big length of vacuum cleaner hose attached to a furious heater so that I could roast one foot at a time.
The AF100 performed superbly, never a problem, not even a hiccup, and I was using it without a polar-bear or cover of any sort. 1 battery change. Lenses were another issue altogether. The Tokina 11-16 on the Novoflex adapter did great, same with my Canon FDn telephotos. The one Lumix zoom (14-45) locked up at about 2:00 pm, couldn't focus it anymore. Generally the grease in big focus helicoids will freeze up in cold weather and IF designs are your friend.
Working the AF100 with gloves is a little tricky, the WB and Gain switches are way too exposed, they need little raised surrounds to keep them from getting hit unintentionally, but I like the size of the iris wheel (when you have an unfrozen lens for it to talk to).
Intermittently I would get "dropped off" along with one of the helicopter doors when the biologists needed to do some technical flying. Chilly willy.
Not all that cold (compared to January) but a solid -5 to -15 F all day with an evil little wind. In and out of a poorly heated helicopter for about 6 hours and then a long ride home in a super cub with a big length of vacuum cleaner hose attached to a furious heater so that I could roast one foot at a time.
The AF100 performed superbly, never a problem, not even a hiccup, and I was using it without a polar-bear or cover of any sort. 1 battery change. Lenses were another issue altogether. The Tokina 11-16 on the Novoflex adapter did great, same with my Canon FDn telephotos. The one Lumix zoom (14-45) locked up at about 2:00 pm, couldn't focus it anymore. Generally the grease in big focus helicoids will freeze up in cold weather and IF designs are your friend.
Working the AF100 with gloves is a little tricky, the WB and Gain switches are way too exposed, they need little raised surrounds to keep them from getting hit unintentionally, but I like the size of the iris wheel (when you have an unfrozen lens for it to talk to).
Intermittently I would get "dropped off" along with one of the helicopter doors when the biologists needed to do some technical flying. Chilly willy.
