Posted by PTravel on 12/31/07 02:29

"Jacques E. Bouchard" <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:47781bbf$0$1348$834e42db@reader.greatnowhere.com...
> "Jim" <jimmy AT hotmail.com> wrote in
> news:4776847a$0$24270$4c368faf@roadrunner.com:
>
>> The heated sports patches you can buy at the drug store make a great
>> source of just enough heat to keep your gear safe at times.
>> They maintain their heat for a couple hours. Activate them, then wrap
>> them in a paper towel and put them in the case around your camera.
>> Also very handy to keep in your pockets for warming up the zoom hand.
>
> Those are the kind of cases ($200+) I'd like to avoid buying for using
> only
> once. I was wondering whether there might not be an alternative for
> shooting what amounts to be 30 seconds of video with a simple set-up (one
> camera, one mic, no lights), like maybe keeping the camera in its hard
> case
> with heat packs, and taking it only to shoot for a few minutes at a time.
> Is that doable in -10C weather?
>
>
> jaybee

I shot with a VX2000, not an XL-1. I've used it in cold weather down to -22
F. As others have noted, condensation upon returning to a warm environment
is a concern. I also kept my batteries under my coat against my body to
keep them warm.

Two other things: LCDs can freeze if its cold enough. Both the swing-out
LCD and viewfinder on my VX2000 got cold enough so that they started acting
erratically -- strobing and a very dim image. They returned to normal once
the camera warmed up. Additionally, plastic becomes very brittle when it's
that cold. I don't know if the XL-1 has any plastic parts but, if so, you
want to be extremely careful not to stress them when the camera is cold.

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