Computer in cold temperatures

[Hatunhattu]

I have dream of recording long timelapse in winter where i can see moving of the stars and northern lights. I know for a fact that my camera lens will freeze if not heated right.

And my question is would my computer survive in -20c and if not what i need to do to get it to survive the temperature, and if you ask why the computer needs to be outside it helps to get long timelapse session because more memory. Memory is ssd based. And I live in finland if that helps to think what i need to do. Thanks in advance

[venomtail]

Pretty sure you record everything on a camera first and then take the saved footage and edit it on a PC elsewhere. 

 

Do you want to edit it real time while ur there? Like streaming it? Are you gonna film it with your PC's webcam?

Otherwise I don't see why you'd need a PC with you.

[Hatunhattu]

I have canon eos 1000d and it can only take 32Gb cards. It is enough for 8 hours depends on how many pictures i choose to shoot per minute but sometimes timeframe would closer to 14h I know could take the card and swap for another one it in the midle of recording.

My idea is i could make some code or macro to compile photos in real time so i dont need to bring the card inside, move photos, make video and render it every time if I want to see sneakpeak about what is currently happening in the camera view because it can see things better than my naked eye. I can do it without pc been outside but this would be fun project and open possibilitys for different kind of timelapse and if not in winter then i could try and probably will try it not in the summer.

Edited June 13, 2023 by Hatunhattu

[Blue4130]

1 hour ago, Hatunhattu said:

I have canon eos 1000d and it can only take 32Gb cards. It is enough for 8 hours depends on how many pictures i choose to shoot per minute but sometimes timeframe would closer to 14h I know could take the card and swap for another one it in the midle of recording.

My idea is i could make some code or macro to compile photos in real time so i dont need to bring the card inside, move photos, make video and render it every time if I want to see sneakpeak about what is currently happening in the camera view because it can see things better than my naked eye. I can do it without pc been outside but this would be fun project and open possibilitys for different kind of timelapse and if not in winter then i could try and probably will try it not in the summer.

It's called shooting tethered. Works well, but you will also need to think about batteries. - 20c drains them fast, so you will want to use the ac summa battery.

 

Are you doing this in the middle of nowhere or your backyard?

[Hatunhattu]

12 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

It's called shooting tethered. Works well, but you will also need to think about batteries. - 20c drains them fast, so you will want to use the ac summa battery.

 

Are you doing this in the middle of nowhere or your backyard?

yes I have dummy battery which can provide electricity for days. And I shoot timelapses within the reach of cable extenders in my relatives property. The timelapse and camera are not my problem I have shot about 10 videos and only problem was lens freezing and that already solved with lens warmer. The pc in the cold is my problem now, I mean its not important but it would be cool if my idea would work

[Blue4130]

6 hours ago, Hatunhattu said:

yes I have dummy battery which can provide electricity for days. And I shoot timelapses within the reach of cable extenders in my relatives property. The timelapse and camera are not my problem I have shot about 10 videos and only problem was lens freezing and that already solved with lens warmer. The pc in the cold is my problem now, I mean its not important but it would be cool if my idea would work

Run tethered and leave the computer inside.

[Dabombinable]

9 hours ago, Hatunhattu said:

I have dream of recording long timelapse in winter where i can see moving of the stars and northern lights. I know for a fact that my camera lens will freeze if not heated right.

And my question is would my computer survive in -20c and if not what i need to do to get it to survive the temperature, and if you ask why the computer needs to be outside it helps to get long timelapse session because more memory. Memory is ssd based. And I live in finland if that helps to think what i need to do. Thanks in advance

This is where you will need to go through the manual/datasheets for each component to figure out what the minimum operating temperature will be. Whichever component has the lowest operating temperature is of course going to be your yes or no answer.

[DJSnow]

You can run a really long USB 2 cable.

Sometimes I like to shoot timelapses with my EOS 450D. I use a 10m active USB 2 cable. It works like a charm. Because the camera doesn't use USB power I can get away daisy chaining 2 10m active USB 2 cables

[Echothedolpin]

In field conditions we used a foam ice chest and cut holes where necessary. The heat retention was actually a little too good when the temps weren’t low enough. But that’s the beauty of a cheap foam ice chest: you can cut more holes or just get a new one inexpensively and experiment.
 

Mind you these were small SBCs with battery packs, but it might be worth experimenting with. They were in the 10-20 watt range.

 

-edit- This was only down to 0-10 F so not quite as cold -edit-