Gloves

fingerz

fingerz

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Are there any gloves that will actually do a decent job of keeping hands warm without drastically increasing the risk of fumbling the camera onto the pavement?

The current cold weather, coupled with me taking the 20D everywhere, has hammered home just how cold hands can get when exposed to the elements for a few hours.

Since I'm going to be spending all of this coming Saturday and most of Sunday shooting outdoors I thought it might be worth investing in some gloves, assuming someone makes gloves that aren't going to result in me breaking my camera. All help appreciated. Cheers.
 
Thin leather driving gloves or cycling gloves (which have no fingerz from halfway down) ?

;)
 
I use fingerless gloves mainly but when the weather gets really bad I use a pair of those thin cotten gloves underneith, they still allow full control and the feel of the camera in your hands but help keep the cold out.
 
Totes do some thin gloves with small grip patches on the fingers and palm which are quite good. I sometimes use these inside a pair of fingerless jobbies, which have some rubberised strips on to give some grip. You really can't have too much grip when you have no feeling left.

Although most of the time I forget to take them with me and just freeze instead. :rolleyes:
 
I had to use thick gloves the other morning.

It was a little difficult at times to alter camera settings.

Life was made easier by having a wrist strap attached.
 
Wrist strap's a way of life for me now. Especially walking around the less desirable parts of London.

Buying gloves on the net... Not the best of moves. Time to get to a shop and try some on, I think. Cheers for the help all.
 
fingerz said:
Hmm... those Totes ones sound about right. Time for a Froogle search.
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Let us know what you come up with Jamey. Another possibility is shooting gloves. They're usually thin supple leather and full fingered with little grip patches in all the right places. The index finger folds back onto a Velcro patch for better feel of the trigger - shutter?
 
Wrist strap was one of my better buys.........the Nikon one is expensive but fits better and more securly than the Canon one I had.
 
Oh right. You mean an actual wrist strap. I just wind the neck strap around my hand in an intricate manouvre reminiscent of boxers taping up their hands before a fight. I've got it down to a fine art.

CT - good tip, cheers. I think what gloves I buy will largely depend on what shops I can get to this week. Probably not many. Tesco (big one) and anywhere that's located in Shepherds Bush will be the favourites.
 
I am sorry is there only me that sees the irony of fingerz asking about gloves :LOL:
 
I guess RobertP noticed it too, judging from the spelling in his first post. But you're quite right. I ought to be a glove expert, or glovspert, as I call them. I'll make more effort in future.

:)
 
I use normal cheap wooly gloves. I did have some fingerless gloves but can't find them for some reason.

I also have recently invested in a couple of 'Hotpods'. Basically gel sachets with a little disc in them. Break the disc and the pad gets nice and hot. Good to stick in your pocket, and stay warm for a short while.
They don't get mega hot, which is a shame, but it's enough to take the edge off, and they're reusable too. Just stick them in boiling water to return the gel to its original state...Magic :D

I think I may look into the some new gloves myself that I can keep on, I like Steves idea of thin cotton gloves underneath fingerless ones.
 
There are gloves whee the ends fold back, revealing the shutter finger. Don't know who makes them, but will try and find out
 
i used to work in a bike shop and we sold a pair of endura gloves that would probably fit the bill. the best thing about them was that they were almost totally windproof and quite thin.

linky
 
milou said:
Extra-woolly-slippiness-whoops-I've-dropped-it might come as standard!
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Doesn't that add to the excitement though ? :whistling
 
Those LowePro ones look almost exactly like the Totes ones I mentioned, perhaps a tiny bit thicker.

Only the Totes would probably be about half that price, although that's only any good if you can find some. It would be very easy to waste £10's worth of time and effort looking for them.
 
Those thinsulate ones can be found on any good pound shelf or pound shop :D
I think they have them in at my local shop. Might bag me a pair tomorrow.
 
depends on the temperatures. I use a pair of leather flying gloves when it's above -2C, but below that, it's woolly mittens with slots for fingers under gore-tex outers and silk liners.
Frost-bite is stupid and it's only photography - not worth losing body parts over...
 
I was wondering this myself too. This will be my first winter season with my camera. So I will be in need of a pair of warm gloves as well. As far as the camera goes though. Is there a certain temperature when the camera shouldn't be outside? I"m not sure I want to trek around with it when it is -30 out there. Do you all take them out in the blistering cold and snow?? How do you protect your baby? :) Today it is blistering cold and alot of whiteout conditions. It's quite nasty if your driving. Kids love it though. would make for some nice piccies though I would think. :snowman:

Jewel.
 
Well its pretty cold here Jewel, I think we're down to +6 today. Brrrr!
 
I've taken my camera out just below freezing (think it was -1) and it was fine but I wouldn't want to go much colder.

You have to be extra careful not to touch or breathe on the lens and batteries run down quicker in the cold. I read somewhere that you should keep spare batteries in a pocket near your body to keep them warm - that way they'll last longer, apparently.
 
Well pro cameras can and do work on polar expeditions and at the other extreme in the Sahara Desert in soaring temperatures, that's one of the reasons they cost so damned much. These are harsh environments though, even for those rugged cameras. For most of us who work in less extreme conditions, the camera is unlikely to come to any harm, the batteries will die first, so keeping a spare set or two in a warm pocket is a good idea.

The enemy is condensation when you bring the camera in from the cold, so seal it in a plastic bag or similar on your return and let it slowly acclimatize to room temerature before you open it.
 
Better still, put the camera and lenses into an outhouse before venturing out into extreme cold (like on exercise in Norway, for example with the RM Arctic and Mountain Warfare Cadre) so that it cools to near outside temps before going out. That way any residual moisture in the camera wont instantly freeze. Same coming back in - I ususally leave the camera bag outside with all the weapons (they can't be brought inside tents for the same reason - the mechanisms freeze with the condensation).

Most pro-spec cameras will cope fine, although you may notice partial or total 'blacking-out' of LCD displays under -10C as the liquid crystal freezes up.
As long as the batteries are kept warm you should be OK.
I tend to wear lots of layers and the camera is usually shielded under the outer 'windproof' layer to keep it from freezing completely.
Cold weather-proofing for camera bodies and special cold-weather lubricants for the lenses are available from Nikon, but you need to give them advance notice and the cameras need to be packed away until you get to your (very) cold destination.
This was all with D1 and D1x bodies the year before last and our Team2 Phot is going to Norway on Monday for three weeks on Exercise with the RN and RM. I'll keep you posted as to how the D2x fares.
 
Thanks for this Arkady, it's all interesting stuff to read. None of us would get to see this side of our 'business/hobby' if it weren't for you posting :) Just wanted to say thanks, and that your posts are a great insight into an otherwise mystic area of photography.

How many of you are there?
 
Try these Trekmates Power Stretch Squid Glove

I tried a pair on last week and they felt quite good.
They're made from Polartec® Power Stretch® fabric and are Shaped for snug fit, they felt warmth without being heavy like some gloves.
They're made from a highly breathable material that has a 4-way stretch.

The fingers don't fold over at the end like some gloves, but these felt like they could be idea for photography.
 
Bought the Lowepro ones from WarehouseExpress and test drove/wore them at the beach yesterday.

gloves1.jpg


Here's an outside action shot

gloves2.jpg


They are very grippy and quite warm and there wasn't any trouble using any of the cam/lens functions whilst wearing 'em. If I were mountaineering or hiking in Wales etc, a secondary layer would be advisable.
 
I also bought the Lowepro gloves. Thought the control/feeling was really good but my hands still got cold. Just not quite as cold as they would be if I wasn't wearing gloves. Anyway I'm not about to buy any more so they'll do for now.
 
Marcel said:
Thanks for this Arkady, it's all interesting stuff to read. None of us would get to see this side of our 'business/hobby' if it weren't for you posting :) Just wanted to say thanks, and that your posts are a great insight into an otherwise mystic area of photography.
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Ark "the daddy" ady :icon_cool :LOL:
 
There are 38 full-time British Army photographers, all with the Royal Logistic Corps, spread out across the globe. All of us have done at least 5 years service in 'teeth' arms before transferring across. I did 12 years as an Infantry NCO before making the switch, at the end of which I was working as a Recce Platoon sergeant and specialising in NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) Warfare in the Battalion's Int Cell.
This ensures that we are all deployable with any UK Armed Forces up to and including Special Forces without the need for time-consuming (and expensive) training.
Each Division has a phot as do the deployable Brigades (16AA and 3Cdo (Navy Phot)). Additionally there are phots in germany, At SHAPE in Belgium, at Banja Luka in Bosnia and two in the Press Information Centre (PIC) in Basrah, Iraq.
At HQ (Land Command) Wilton, there is an Army Media Operations office with four photographer/ENG camermen available to deploy as Combat Camera Teams (CCT) to anywhere in the world at 48 hours notice.
I work at the newly-formed Defence Media operations Centre at RAF Uxbridge in Middlesex, which is a Tri-Service (or 'Purple') posting. We have two deployable teams with a mixture of Army, navy and RAF Photographers. We also have a training wing based at RAF Halton, which trains front-line commanders in Media Operations in generla and interview technique in particular and again is a mixture of Army, Navy and RAF personnel.

In the past year I've been to Afghanistan, Iraq, Iraq, Iraq and Iraq. Well, there's a lot going on there at the moment.
When not deployed on Operations, we conduct in-house training, both photographic and military and deploy on Exercise with all services, both to practice our own skills and to 'educate' front-line commanders as to our purpose and capability.

Oh and it's fun. Did I mention that?
 
As Marcel said, its all very interesting and informative. Always interested in how the "pro" half works :)

So thanks :)
 
Warspite said:
As Marcel said, its all very interesting and informative. Always interested in how the "pro" half works :)

So thanks :)
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Definately, even more so when it's a job that's not part of the norm, (ie weddings, portraits etc)
 
I use a pair of gloves from my mountain biking days, made by a company called north wave, they are windproof and thin enough to still give you the "feel" so you can operate the camera.

For non photo work my paws are firmly inside my goretex ski gloves :snowman:
 
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