Testing for cold weather operation? Methods?

[Dan Daniel]

Just cleaned a bunch of moly grease smears and such inside a Rolleiflex T mechanism. The problem was that in colder weather, below ~40F/4C things would bind up. I applied a much lighter grease in smaller amounts in a few places. At room temperature, things do feel crisper, less drag.

But that's at room temperature. Any ideas on how to test mechanisms for cold weather? I am thinking that I should put the camera in a couple of plastic bags, give it time, and test through the plastic bags. Don't open bags until camera returns to room temperature.

Any other ideas? Concepts? Methods? Much appreciated.

 

[koraks]

Inside plastic bags and then into the fridge you mean? You'd still have condensation on the camera inside the bag as the temperature drops.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Inside plastic bags and then into the fridge you mean? You'd still have condensation on the camera inside the bag as the temperature drops.

Ack, then that is not good.... Maybe I need to blow air from a heater into the bag to dry it out. Or dessicant containers, but those probably work at a slow time scale.

 

[koraks]

Maybe enjoy the camera the way it works now and re-evaluate the problem when autumn comes?

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Maybe you can set up the cameras in a cold storage facility and test them there. Every supermarket should have one.

 

[reddesert]

Condensation occurs when warm air meets a cold surface. So the problem occurs when you bring a cold camera into a warm (and humid) house. If your room air is spring temps and relatively low humidity, and you take a glass jar out of the 40 F fridge and put it on the counter, you probably won't get condensation on it. You will get condensation if you take a glass jar out of the freezer, or if you take it out of the fridge into 90% RH Florida room air.

The idea about putting the camera in a plastic bag probably works if you do the operations in the right order. Put it in the fridge in an *open* plastic ziploc bag, so it fills with lower-humidity cool air. After the camera cools down, open the fridge, quickly seal the bag, take it out of the fridge, and test it before it warms up.

As I alluded above, you can test the procedure with a glass jar or similar before trying it on a camera.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Your sig. says Upstate New York. I'm sure there is still cold weather to come (unless 'Upstate' is Westchester). Just take it out on a cold day and take pictures - proof is in the pudding (or blizzard, as may be).