Battery in cold weather?bad?
 

I would like to start off by saying I am new to this forum and I have found it very informative already.

I just purchased a new camcorder and was wanting to take it with me when we go snowboarding. I have heard that the cold weather has a negative impact on the battery/battery life. Anyone know if that is true or any thoughts on that? Any help would be appreciated.Thanks.

-Ryan

Hi Ryan, welcome onboard!
Cold weather will reduce your batteries life, but you can do some to reduce this effect.
First of all wear the batteries under your coat/jacket when not in use. Your body heat will keep the batteries warm.
Charge the batteries fully the day you will use them.
Buy at least one spare battery.

Good luck!

Porta Brace make Polar Bear & Polar Mitten cases that you can use with heat packs to keep both the camera and the batteries nice and toasty.

A trick many still photographers use when shooting in the cold, Winter Olympics, Football, etc., is to tape chemical hand warmers around the battery. We would tape it along the bottom of the camera where the battery is inserted. Will the smaller video camera batteries this should be easier to tape or wrap it around the battery itself. It works great.

Duane

Thanks for the info guys. How drastic is the reduction in battery life? Thanks.

-Ryan

i used to shoot in cold every day, i always had only one battery, not more. I taped first layers just with tape, then put some thin alluminum paper around it(aluminum blanket in first aid kit, just cut it in smaller peace), taped again, and put some aluminum paper again, it works almost as well as when you shoot in warm weather


oh yeah, even more important than battery life, when you come from shooting in cold to indoors, make sure you will leave your camera behind the door or if its not possible, then just close it really tight camerabag, so air wont go through. Otherwise you mess up your camera...