Left camera out in cold weather. Help please!

[brody16]

I left my camera out for at least 6 or 7 hours. I didn't realize I left it outside until 2am. I ran outside to get it quickly and its was cold. The temperature is around 40, and my battery was already somewhat dead and turning off when I tried to turn it on. After I had gotten it inside I checked to see if it was working and it turned on for a second and shut off like usual when the battery is dead I kept trying to be sure and now it won't come on at all. This is just because the battery is dead right? Not because I left it out? Please give me some good news and tell me my camera or battery is not messed up. Should I wait to recharge until it has warmed up? I also left out my charger because it was in the bag..will that be alright?!

[mjs1973]

The cold isn't going to hurt anything. Cold weather will drain your batteries faster, but that's about it. 40 degrees isn't very cold at all, and I wouldn't worry about it.

The only real problem with the cold is when you take your gear back inside where it's warm. The cold camera plus warm moist air from inside can cause condensation to form on your camera. That's not good. You should always put the camera back in the case before taking it from a cold environment into a warm moist one to avoid condensation. Once inside, let the camera sit in the bag and warm up slowly.

I wouldn't consider 40 degrees to be that cold so I don't think you have anything to worry about. Charge the battery, and start shooting again.

[Liz]

I agree with Mike. I've left my camera out in the car overnight at different times when it's been colder than 40. I just don't take it out of the camera bag for a few hours after I take it into the house. It's always fine. Just charge the battery - it should work fine.

Liz

[another view]

Bottom line is I agree with above - 40 really isn't cold enough to need special precautions, although it never hurts.

If it was below freezing you'd have a bigger chance of condensation forming as Mike describes above. Simply leaving it in the camera bag and not opening the bag for a few hours is enough protection against condensation. If you need to warm it up quicker, while you're outside take the camera out of the bag. Put it into a ziploc bag, push the air out of it and seal it, and then bring it inside. This way it will warm up quicker but that's not always necessary. In this case you may want to take the battery out of the camera before putting it in the ziploc so that it can charge while the camera's warming up.

[freygr]

I have to agree that unless it was raining there shouldn't be any problems, other than dead batteries. If the camera did get wet, then a trip to the repair shop is in order.

[brody16]

Thanks everyone for helping. I think I may have over reacted because this is my second camera. It cost quite a bit of money and the first one I had only lasted a week because my camera had dropped with the lens open.