“I see the light”
A7s + Samyang 14/2.8
ISO 8000, focal length 14mm, f/2.8, shutter speed 20 sec
Our reader “Gift Of Light” worked with the A7II and A7s in extreme subzero temperatureconditions. These are soem of the pics and a short report of his adventure. The full reportage can be seen at SonyAlphaForum (Click here).
“Tracer”
A7s + FE 70-200/4
ISO 100, focal length 200mm, f/4, shutter speed 1/5,000 sec
“At lake Baikal, the average temperature is around -15 to -10 degree Celsius. All of my stuff, as in list, worked well, except the battery life. As all of us can expect, the battery life in a bit extreme cold weather should not be long. However, there is something more than that. Sometime I found that the battery status abruptly decreased from many percentages to exhausted, occurred in both A7II and A7s, but after the battery was changed both of them can work normally.
“Burning Cave”
A7 + FE 16-35/4
ISO 100, focal length 16mm, f/19, shutter speed 1/10 sec (HDR blend with +2 and -2 stops photos)
By the way, the exhausted batteries were found that they didn’t really exhaust because when I put them in the chargers, they didn’t charged from the zero. Moreover, I encountered a big problem once about this issue during the trip. At one morning, I went outdoors early since 4:00 AM and stayed there until 8:00 AM. At around 8:00 AM, my A7II abruptly showed exhausted battery status. I tried to replace the battery with many of unused batteries in my bag several times, but each time the A7II showed exhausted battery status after take a few shots. And as I told you earlier, all of them didn’t really exhaust. I don’t know what is the problem between the battery or the camera, but I think the latter is most likely. Otherwise, there is nothing to complaint about my Sony stuff.
“Dawn of The Coldest Desolation”
A7 II + FE 16-35/4
Blending two shots of
ISO 400, focal length 16 mm, f/16, shutter speed 2 sec (for a man)
ISO 100, focal length 16mm, f/16, shutter speed 8 sec (for whole photograph)
However, I want to request something from Sony. First of all, if it is possible, please make new battery with larger capacity. The A7 series is growing day by day and make attention from many professional photographers who want to use a smaller and lighter system for their work but still get image quality of full frame camera. But, to think that if you want to travel to remote areas without electricity for a while, you must bring a huge pack of your batteries to make sure that you will have enough power supply during your trip. That is not good. Another request, could you please add depth of field scale (or even hyperfocal distance) into the camera, just like when we turn the focusing ring and then the focusing distance pop up in the camera. It should be a great feature for landscape shooter like me. These are all I want to request for this time.”
“A7 Mk II on Ice”
A7s + FE 55/1.8
ISO 100, focal length 55mm, f/11, shutter speed 1/60 sec
A lot more images can be seen at SonyAlphaForum (Click here).
29 Responses
Gorgeous pictures, really great work. However, these are hardly extreme conditions.
Some very nice pictures. Maybe we get a Batis 16mm prime with DOF OLED display in the future, too?
I hope so, but it could be better if it will be 14mm or 15mm (f/2.8). 😀
Nice shots! I agree 100% with the battery problems when the temperature is low, I had the same problem with 0-4ºC.
Woo
Last one scared me…. didn’t know a7ii was so water resistant !
Lot of great pictures here
How perform the samyang 14 compared ton the 16-35 on real world conditions ?
Thanks 🙂
As I know, it’s not completely sealed. However, the camera didn’t directly contact with snow.
About Samyang 14mm VS FE 16-35, sorry to tell you that I didn’t ever shoot comparative shot. I only used the Samyang 14mm for night shot and I used it at full 2.8 aperture which is not the best aperture of it. However, I think it is OK. 🙂
Why does that photo scare you?
The snow is perfectly dry until its melts. Just make sure that the temperature of your camera is below the freezing point before you put it on the snow. And when you take the camera up, make sure to brush any snow off it so it doesn’t melt later.
After hearing all these horror stories, I did an engagement shoot with my a6000 at -22c, probably well under -30c with the windchill. I had a pocket full of batteries inside my coat where they could be warm. After 35 minutes and well over a hundred shots, my battery was at 89% when we finished. Not much worse than my usual battery life.
Once I regained feeling (after the painful resumption of pins and needles), I finished shooting another hour on the same battery indoors, and didn’t even get down to 50%.
Apparently mileage may vary.
Wow, that is really very very extreme condition than I faced.
As a side note: although my gear didn’t fail, I didn’t fair very well in those temperatures 😉
“Gift of Light”‘s problem is that he think of low temperatures as something which is causing the batteries to drain faster. And consequently he thinks that he just need more spare batteries.
That is not what happens. In a low temperature, the battery is still charged, but the battery can’t “release its charge” to the camera. Making the charge into useful current is a chemical process, and chemical processes usually go slower at low temperatures.
So instead of many cold spare batteries, he needs to keep his spare batteries warm (in a pocket near to his body, that is). Many photographers who photograph in cold weather will also take the battery out of the camera between shots and keep it warm in a pocket.
Thanks for knowledge and suggestion 😀
Firstly some excellent images here, well done and thanks for sharing. I haven’t had too many problems with the battery life on my A7r as long as I keep my spare batteries in a coat pocket when in extreme cold (Arctic Norway).
Thanks for your suggestion 🙂
Hyper focal button would be great!
Just buy more batteries please. It’s not a DSLR, and I’m glad I can use my batteries from my nex and a6000.
Oh, what I want is a higher capacity battery in the same size. I think nowadays battery technology has been developed so far since the beginning of smart phone era. Thus, I said “If it is possible, please make battery with larger capacity” 😉
Actually, batteries have not been developed much. It is computer technology that has evolved to the point that it takes less space and uses less energy. If you take a look at teardowns over the last ten years, it is pretty revealing.
Thanks for information 🙂
Your pictures are an order of magnitude better than mine, though…and I can’t just blame the cold 😉
Nice pics, but I am a bit surpriced you did not know how to handle batteries in sub zero temperature. I did a video job outdoors in -30C in Lapland for a whole day. Had my A7R in a pouch in the tool belt for BTS footage. Shot about 400 shots during 16 hours. Had two batteries, one in the camera and one in my inside pocket where it was warm. Cycled the batteries whenever the level was too low. At he end of the day, the batteries had about 60-70% left.
Thanks for your suggestion 🙂
These are excellent shots!
Get a dummy battery to d-tap cable, a 6′ d-tap extension cable, and this battery from SWIT and keep it in your jacket near your body heat:
http://www.swit.cc/productshow.aspx?id=209
1 will run your camera for probably a week of low intensity stills work.
Thanks for your suggestion 🙂
I second Allen’s suggestion. I shoot in temps as low as -30 °C regularly during the winter. The key is keeping them warm. I keep two in an inner pocket. I cycle through them as needed.
Sometimes, I’ll put the battery in baggie and put the bottom two thirds my mouth to warm one up more quickly. This will bring a battery from 0% to 75% pretty quickly. This is only necessary when it gets especially cold.
Thanks for your suggestion and trick too 🙂
Those first 2 shots are amazing!!!!
That is exactly why I never buy A7 stuff, keeping two A-mount A900 that never showed any problem with batteries even in very cold weather.