Icy Road Truckin'

The weather here in Broad Ripple was bitter cold yesterday. There was only a dusting of snow on the ground, but the air temperature was in the mid-teens and not looking to get any warmer when I snapped this photo on the way to lunch.

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV & EF 24-105mm f/4L IS

Canon rates the EOS-1D Mark IV to function from 32°F to 113°F, but this is conservative and likely has a hefty bit of ass-covering safety margin built in.

The single-digit pro bodies from Canon and Nikon are expected to function in the harshest environments where photos must be taken. National Geographic photographers in the Himalayas and Sports Illustrated shooters on the sidelines of January NFL playoff games can't just go "Well, it's cold. Guess I won't take any pictures today."

Are there cameras I won't expose to this kind of weather? Sure. The lenses of the Nikon 1 series of mirrorless cameras, for example, have very fragile aperture diaphragms. Since they're essentially unrepairable at this point, I certainly don't expose them to sub-freezing temperatures, lest I brick them.

I'm wary of exposing older point & shoot cameras that I use for fun to extreme temps as well. I may not have a lot of money sunk in them, but why take chances?

I have several old vintage professional bodies: the Nikon D1X, D2X, and D3, the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II, 1D Mark III, and 1D Mark IV, as well as the Olympus E3 and E5, all of which are the rugged, photojournalist-grade bodies from their respective manufacturers. I know it's silly to anthropomorphize gear, but I like to think that they relish getting out in awful weather because it reminds them of their working days.

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