Canon batteries and cold weather

I was doing an outdoor shoot in 30 degree weather. I had 5 fully charged canon batteries, and only shot for about 2 hours, when the battery in the camera went completely dead. I grabbed a replacement and realized that all the batteries were almost complete kaput. My question: I realize that cold is bad on battery life, but two hours seems pretty quick to complete kill a battery, right? Any advice or ideas? (other than keep the batteries warm, I figured that out Thanks any help is greatly appreciated.

I don't know what body--and therefore what batteries--you're using, but I can tell you that with my prosumer Canon bodies (20D, 40D, 7D) I resorted to taping chemical hand warmers outside the battery compartment to prolong the battery life. I tried this out after shooting at -20 or so in Sweden, and it worked surprisingly well. Before, my batteries weren't lasting more than 5 minutes without me having to take them out and blow on them to warm them up, but they fared much better with the handwarmer taped on.

If you are going to try this technique, it's important to get the handwarmer going and to tape it on before you go outdoors. If it's really cold, the tape won't stick if you wait to do it outside.

Throwing a handwarmer in with your spares may help as well.

Max

Max,thanks for the quick response, I was shooting a Canon 5D. The chemical handwarmers is a great suggestion! thanks

Keep the batteries next to your body. I was just in Alberta Canada with the temperatures below 0 C and no one had battery problems

Myer/Max, Just a followup, I guess my underlying concern is that I have some declining batteries. I'm using Canon 511a Li On rechargeable batteries,and I was surprised that just 2 hours in 30 degree temps would zap em.

Jeff -

I live in Fairbanks, Alaska and winter photography is a long lesson in keeping batteries warm (and keeping lenses from fogging up). Some tips:

(1) Keep the batteries warm until you use them, inside your parka, maybe even in an insulated pouch. If necessary, in a pouch with a reusable handwarmer.

(2) Make or have someone fabricate a "coat" for you camera. "Windows" to let you see what you need to see, but otherwise insulated fabric. Put a slip pouch in where it covers the battery compartment and place handwarmers/toe warmers in there when necessary.

(3) If you can, and if you aren't sweating, put keep the camera inside your coat. The cold affects more than you battery. Different camera parts contract at different rates when they get cold, and stuff can stop working or work in a way that damages parts. Consider an old, long wool sock with the foot cut off to insulate your lens, for example.

(4) When you remove discharged batteries, put them in a cold pocket. Before they are exposed to warm air, put them in an airtight bag to avoid condensation problems. The condensation moisture can shorten their life.

Hope this helps.

Jeff, I bought 3 batteries when I got my 5D. I don't remember how long they lasted at first, but 5 years later, I could only get a day's use (maybe 100 shots) at normal temps. When I got my 5D3, the batteries are good for several hundred shots over 3 - 5 days. I suspect that much of the difference is battery degradation. Rechargeable batteries are well known for holding less and less charge over time (and # of recharges). I'd suggest that you try a new battery for comparison. 2 hours at 30 degrees does not sound right to me.

Actually, I've been pretty impressed with the batteries in my 5dmkii; they're much better that the ones for my 1DsMKII. These also are doing better than the batteries for my 20D did. I make sure my batteries are all charged up before I go out. I keep them warm until I use them and I have a neoprene cover for my camera, but I have not needed to put a handwarmer in there yet.

I have spent a whole day with just 1 battery, shooting in 0 deg F weather, but I was getting in and out of a vehicle, so I was probably only spending half the time actually outdoors. I put my camera in a plastic bag every time I got into the vehicle, and put it inside my sling pack, so that actually keeps the camera cold all day.
I do notice that batteries do not hold a charge as well as they get older.Kinda like us humans, I guess.....

Thanks for all the comments, and advice. I'm leaning towards old batteries not holding the charge like they could. Bought two new batteries from Adorama, and will definitely put the battery warming tips to use. Thanks guys!