Best Cold Weather Camera

Timmyjoe · Apr 7, 2022

I'm looking for a 35mm cold weather film camera that meets the following criteria. Wondering if any of you have suggestions? I've always struggled with cold weather, can't ever be too hot for me, but when the mercury dips below 32ºF my body starts to stiffen up.

So I'm looking for a 35mm film camera that I can use with heavy gloves on. Manual focus and manual exposure is fine, if I can manipulate it thru gloves. SLR or Rangefinder. Point and Shoot possible, but I really like manually focusing with a film camera.

So, any suggestions? What do any of you use when the weather outside is frightful?

Thanks in advance for any and all input.

Best,
-Tim

gone · Apr 7, 2022

Timmyjoe said:
but when the mercury dips below 32ºF my body starts to stiffen up.

That's me at 60 degrees, lol! Honestly, just get away from Chicago, the cold there is too extreme for humans. I once walked out of the Chicago airport during a layover in January when it was 17 degrees below zero. I'd never felt anything like that in my life, it was scary. Stayed about 30 seconds and scurried back into the warmth inside.

I put some gloves on and had no problem focusing any of my cameras.......in my 80 degree home in Arizona

benjiboy · Apr 7, 2022

Canon F1's are designed to work at down to minus 30 degrees, if the temperature drops below that metal starts to change it's molecular structure and become weird and brittle.

Timmyjoe · Apr 7, 2022

momus said:
That's me at 60 degrees, lol! Honestly, just get away from Chicago, the cold there is too extreme for humans. I once walked out of the Chicago airport during a layover in January when it was 17 degrees below zero. I'd never felt anything like that in my life, it was scary. Stayed about 30 seconds and scurried back into the warmth inside.

I put some gloves on and had no problem focusing any of my cameras.......in my 80 degree home in Arizona

I hear you, unfortunately I'm stuck here for another 5 years, then hopefully the wife and I will head to warmer climates. Was walking the dog just now, it's snowing/sleeting with a twenty mile per hour wind, gusting to 30 mph, and in the mid-30's. Nothing more pleasant than ice crystals smacking you in the face at 30 mph as you start losing feeling in your extremities due to wind chill.

Best,
-Tim

Nicholas Lindan · Apr 7, 2022

I think what you are looking for is a camera that can be used with heavy gloves on rather than a camera that works in arctic temperatures.

The only camera that comes to mind is the Nikonos. But that's a pretty specialized camera.

You might find "shooters' gloves" to be a better solution - they are gloves or mittens with a slit in the upper palm that let you get your fingers out for pulling/pushing the trigger. Thin silk gloves inside the shooters' gloves will help keep your fingers warm when they are outside the gloves. Amazon, an outdoor goods dealer or a gun shop will have a selection.

You might also consider electrically heated gloves - they keep my hands warm enough that the occasional naked fingers excursion into cold air isn't a problem. I find chemical handwarmer packets to be a great help - the chemicals are iron powder and salt with a bit of water, when the packet is opened and the mixture encounters oxygen the iron rusts releasing a fair amount of heat over the space of four hours.

Timmyjoe · Apr 7, 2022

benjiboy said:
Canon F1's are designed to work at down to minus 30 degrees, if the temperature drops below that metal starts to change it's molecular structure and become weird and soften.

I regret selling my Canon F-1n back in the 1990's, it was a really sweet camera, but I was changing over to Nikon for work. Had another Canon F-1n in the early 2000's, but unfortunately it got stored in a container with a lens that I didn't realize had fungus, ruined all the optics on the F-1n. I've got an Ftbn that I might dig out. Not as robust as the F-1, but it might do okay.

Best,
-Tim

Nicholas Lindan · Apr 7, 2022

Timmyjoe said:
snowing/sleeting with a twenty mile per hour wind, gusting to 30 mph, and in the mid-30's.

Ha! These parts, including Chicago, that's a mild spring day - a good day to tend to the garden.

Timmyjoe · Apr 7, 2022

Nicholas Lindan said:
I think what you are looking for is a camera that can be used with heavy gloves on rather than a camera that works in arctic temperatures.

The only camera that comes to mind is the Nikonos. But that's a pretty specialized camera.

You might find "shooters' gloves" to be a better solution - they are gloves or mittens with a slit in the upper palm that let you get your fingers out for pulling/pushing the trigger. Thin silk gloves inside the shooters' gloves will help keep your fingers warm when they are outside the gloves.

You're right, I probably won't be shooting in temperatures cold enough to effect camera function. And I am looking for is a camera that can be used with heavy gloves. I have an old Nikonos, I may dig that out and see how it works. My first thought was a camera I used when scuba diving, a Nikon 1 J1 in a Nikon underwater housing. It is quite easy to use with heavy gloves, but at 10MP with the sub-par Nikon 1 10-30mm zoom, the image quality is not really there.

I've bought four different pairs of "shooters" gloves in the past three months and none of them really work for me. For years I had a pair of gloves I used for covering High School football in late fall/early winter. They worked pretty well, but the palms were synthetic leather, which after about 8 years completely deteriorated and became really sticky. Have not been able to find a replacement for those.

Best,
-Tim

Huss · Apr 7, 2022

Yeah, I was going to suggest a Nikonos as well. Big chunky everything to make it easy to use underwater, fantastic above water with the 35mm lens.

Paul Howell · Apr 7, 2022

You might want to think about a Minolta Weathermatic duel, Konica Mermaid, or Canon Splash. I think all of the buttons can be pushed with gloves on. The weathermatic came with a sports finder that can be used on dry land so you don't need to even use the viewfinder. Hard to find the Chinon Splash, only one button the shutter release, 35 4.5 lens, point and shoot, fixed lens no AF.

https://www.butkus.org/chinon/minolta/minolta_weathermatic_35dl/minolta_weathermatic_35dl.htm

Sirius Glass · Apr 7, 2022

I used Minolta SLRs for years when I went skiing. Every two years I would send them back to Minolta in California to be CLA'd for cold weather. I never had a problem. I learned quickly that the light meter reading would capture the shape of the moguls and everything else in slide was a shade of black, so I learned to meter the palm of my hand and close the aperture down a stop. Coulda used an incident light meter.

Timmyjoe · Apr 7, 2022

Well I dug out my old Canon FTb-n with its 50mm f1.4 lens. I put on a Tom Abrahamsson Mini-Softie and it works pretty well, even with my gloves on. So I think I'm gonna try this for a while. Funny how what you are looking for can be right under your nose.

Thanks for everyone's input and suggestions.

Best,
-Tim

Huss · Apr 7, 2022

I'm just confused by all this cold weather talk. It is 90 here today at the beach.

Timmyjoe · Apr 7, 2022

I hate you.

Sirius Glass · Apr 7, 2022

Timmyjoe said:
I hate you.

The weather is always like this here in Southern California. Its a tough life to live but someone has to do it. So just eat your heart out.

flatulent1 · Apr 7, 2022

At the start of cold weather season I head to Big 5 (or some other such shop) to buy a pair of inexpensive heavy fleece gloves. I cut off an inch of the forefinger and thumb and have no problem using a camera in cold wet weather. Of course, we don't have Chicago winters here, so your mileage may vary.

Timmyjoe · Apr 10, 2022

Finally had a nice day, took the Canon FTb-n out for a stroll. It certainly is a nice camera, and even easy to manipulate with gloves.

Best,
-Tim

Jim Jones · Apr 11, 2022

While photographing in temperatures down to -60 F, I wore a pair of thin gloves inside of mittens. The mittens were tethered to my coat sleeves, and could be removed for the brief times they were needed for adjusting the fairly new Leica. The camera still had original lubrication, and never failed. Other necessary precautions were advancing and rewinding the film very slowly to avoid static electricity marks, and avoiding exhaling on the camera.

Sirius Glass · Apr 11, 2022

Jim Jones said:
While photographing in temperatures down to -60 F, I wore a pair of thin gloves inside of mittens. The mittens were tethered to my coat sleeves, and could be removed for the brief times they were needed for adjusting the fairly new Leica. The camera still had original lubrication, and never failed. Other necessary precautions were advancing and rewinding the film very slowly to avoid static electricity marks, and avoiding exhaling on the camera.

Gloves or mitten on tethers are a great idea, I even used them when skiing [I hated dropping a glove while on the ski lift] but as kids we called them "dumb-dumb straps."

Chuck1 · Jul 17, 2022

Atlas therma fit are great liners,
I always called mitten keepers idiot cords.
Today it's 90, trying not to move.
It is a good idea to take a breath before putting any camera to your eye, then take your eye away before exhaling...

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