Cameras in Cars in hot weather

[chrisiow]

With the weather hotting up the car is getting pretty hot during the day and I like to keep at least some of my gear with me all the time as I like to try to get out at lunch times, is there any need for condern with the rising temperatures or is there a point where the gear should be left at home, it's not a case of just going from A to B but being left during the day.

 

[neil_g]

well for arguments sake a 40D is rated by canon:


Operating Environment
0 – 40 °C, 85% or less humidity

 

[Harvey_nikon]

can't you take it in to work with you?

My camera sits on my desk all day at work, wouldn't dream of leaving it in a car!

 

[Marc]

Depends where you work I suppose. The OP may not work in an office. I would imagine that it should be fine if it's only for a few hours at a time. More important would be to make sure you have insurance cover.

 

[TerryO]

I use a couple of cooler picnic boxes, particularly good use 'em in winter too, gets to -20 regular in Jan + Feb. They can sit in back all day. Have to down here, temp today 42 degrees celcius.

 

[chrisiow]

I don't like taking it into work, I share an office but access is via the shop floor and we manufacture composites and resins, far too much sticky stuff for cameras also carbon dust which can play havoc with electrics, the carpark is secure so security is not a problem.

 

[Shak]

When we went snowboarding in Finland earlier this year, I had my D300 with me. When we did the night 'boarding; at the end of the night, I whipped out my camera to get some shots at the top of the mountain, before we set off back down. Except by then, the wind had picked. Fast. Very fast. And the temperature had dropped. A lot. And I mean a lot.

I took one glove off to handle the camera. The UV filter iced up and froze within seconds, so had to take it off and quickly get some shots. I managed to keep the lens clean but the filter had pretty much iced over.

When I packed the camera away; upon putting my hand back in the glove, the glove had frozen solid where the warm air had escaped when I took the glove off.

The camera is still fine, to this day.

But man, was it COLD! We found out it had reached around MINUS 40, plus a wind chill factor!

 

[Arkady]

In short, Don't...

Whereas cold will slow a camera down due to the batteries getting sluggish, extreme heat can kill cameras stone dead...in temps over 40C (easily achievable in a car parked in the sun at this time of year), LCD screens may black out never to return.

Nikon rate their pro cameras similar to Canon, but we successfully used D2x cameras in 60C midday temps in Afghanistan in 2006 - something Nikon were quite pleased to hear about. I was more concerned that the cement holding the internal lens elements would soften and render them inoperable than I was about the camera bodies TBH...

I personally saw two Canon Pro bodies die in that heat.

 

[nigpd]

In short, Don't...

Whereas cold will slow a camera down due to the batteries getting sluggish, extreme heat can kill cameras stone dead...in temps over 40C (easily achievable in a car parked in the sun at this time of year), LCD screens may black out never to return.

Could this type of heat kill a Tomtom too? We are in France at the mo and outside temp is 36ºC. Left it in the car for a while and it hasnt worked since :bang:

 

[Arkady]

Yes most definitely...
Mine went a bit squiffy last week...I would press the screen and nothing happened apart from a 'pond-ripple' effect. The screen felt really hot as well...
I turned it off for an hour and it worked again. I will now carry it with me rather than leave it 'hidden' under the seat...