a warm camera

I've finally gotten inspired to go try some star trail photos. Where I live in western mountains of Maine codl and battery life are certainly an issue and I've been thinking of ways to deal with that.

One of my ideas was using hand and feet warmers used by skiers attached to the bottom of the camera. Has anyone tried this with a digital camera and if so did it work?

Thanks in advance for the replies.

Nick Leadley
Rangeley, Maine

The only problem I see is that what warms the battery would also warm the sensor, possibly creating a noisier image than you would achieve when the sensor is cold. In fact, a colder sensor which creates less noise is one of the main advantages of shooting long exposures in winter. How long of an exposure do you want to take? One exposure only or a series stacked in your image editor?

Thanks for the reply John. I had taken into consideration any effect the heat might have on the sensor and was another reaosn for my question.

I am leaning towards one exposure only. I tried one this summer that was approx. 90 minutes long. Of course the battery won't last that long in the cold, so I may opt for a shorter exposure to allow the camera enough battery to create the second exposure to deal with any noise.

To address the battery issue I may try a converter hooked to car battery to power the camera during the exposure, if that turns out to be feasible. Am still looking into that.

I don't know about other models, but it's never been an issue with the D2x and D300's in the Nikon line.

I'm using a D700 and D3..forgot to mention that.

"..so I may opt for a shorter exposure to allow the camera enough battery to create the second exposure to deal with any noise."

What that second frame does is actually called a 'dark frame subtraction'. It doesn't reduce noise at all, but instead maps out any hot pixels that occur with longer exposures and 'subtracts' them from the primary exposure.
For the most noise free images, I recommend taking several shorter.exposures and combining them. I've had great success using Floris van Breugel's 'Photographing Star Trails and Static Stars' tutorial (scroll down to 'Shooting Multiple Exposures').

I've taken photos for about 3 hours in 5 above zero temperature and my battery lasted. I have a Nikon and the batter is an ENL3e. The camera was carried around my waist on a strap. Probably took 100 raw photos. The battery isn't rated below 20 degrees but gosh it seemed to do OK.
the fisch

Like Hank I have used the D2X at extremely cold temperatures, -40C, and not had difficulty with the battery. It would seem to be a combination of shots taken and temperature that determines battery life. I have been out for three to four hours at such temperatures and still had battery power.