Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: torger on October 10, 2011, 05:50:07 am

Title: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: torger on October 10, 2011, 05:50:07 am
I have trouble with my hands getting cold. I have noted that my hands are considerably worse handling cold than for the "normal" person, while most can operate the camera with thin gloves or even with bare hands when it is a little cold, I get cold and numb fingers within a minute, so photographing in the cold for me is more about managing my hands than managing my camera. So I'm thinking about heated gloves. I need gloves that heat the individual fingers, a single heat pad in the palm does not really work (tried that).

However, it does not seem easy to find. Heated gloves for motorcyclists are quite easy to find, but not gloves designed for dexterity. The only alternative I've found so far that might work with photography is Gerbing's camouflage heated glove (designed for hunting), it is very hard to come by in Europe though.

Any tips or suggestions?
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: Greg D on October 10, 2011, 01:51:05 pm
Any tips or suggestions?

Shoot only in the summer  ;D
No, seriously, I don't have any glove suggestions, but I have the same problem.  For me it's a condition called Reynaud's syndrome, wherein the blood vessels in the extremities close down at the slightest hint of cold (or vibration).  You might want to see a doctor about this if you haven't already.  There are drugs to deal with it, but they affect blood pressure, so may not be a good thing.  Some people get some help from taking capsicum (as in hot peppers) or ginger in capsule form, though these have not helped me.  I live in southeastern US, so serious cold is not a problem very often.  Thus even if my hands do go numb, I know I'm not going to lose them to frostbite, so to an extent I just put up with it.  (Obviously not an option in temps well below freezing for long periods.)  Gloves (short of mittens like most people would need only in the Himalaya) don't really help, in fact sometimes they hurt - the slight restriction seems to trigger the reaction even if the cold doesn't.  The best thing I can do is keep the rest of myself warm (warmer than comfortable sometimes) to encourage lots of blood flow to the extremities.
Sorry, I know this doesn't really answer your question, but may give you some other food for thought.
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: torger on October 10, 2011, 03:24:01 pm
Thanks, very interesting. I've read about Reynaud's syndrome, but I'm fortunate to not have that big a problem so I think my (dis)ability to handle cold is within natural variation (I don't have any other symptoms than just getting cold easily). Here in Sweden winters are fairly cold, so it would be nice to be able to work with the camera in -20 degrees Celcius (-4 degrees Farenheit) which is indeed a challenge. I start to have trouble with cold hands already in +5 Celcius (40 F) when there's some wind, which is the current weather around here so I just got reminded that I don't really have any good way to shoot outdoor in the winter.
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: UlfKrentz on October 10, 2011, 04:06:05 pm
They promise up to 8 hours warm hands with one charge, might be worth a try. No idea if it´s crap...
(but you could send them back in case) They promise 8 hours warm hand with one charge.

http://www.proidee.de/concept-store/nach-kategorien/reise-persoenliche-accessoires/reiseoutfit/beheizte-handschuhe-mit-akku-6?HI=suche_factfinder&ID_KATEGORIE=&KOMME_VON=suche_factfinder&FLAG_SIS_WECHSEL=0&SID=SID_RwKTrZ8hrjjgZJjwJ47PjHmhj8pM

Cheers, Ulf
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: David Sutton on October 10, 2011, 05:07:47 pm
I have been looking for good workable gloves for cold weather for the last year. This works well for me down to at least minus 12:
A lot of heat is lost from the wrists. I cut the ends off old socks and wear them round the wrists.
As you note, you can have gloves that keep your hands really warm, or gloves that you can wear and use a camera, but not both. A good compromise for me has been to buy a pair with a fold-back mitten such as these http://www.manzella.com/index.php/products/detail/mz-021
The secret is to have an effective light weight glove underneath. I use possum/merino gloves. Very light but warm, and I can work the camera controls.
When I'm not actually using the camera my hands stay inside my jacket pockets.
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: BradSmith on October 10, 2011, 10:58:14 pm
I've gotten along pretty well photographing in the Rocky Mountains and Sierras in the winter using a two layer system:  thin polypropylene gloves (I think they are called glove liners) with fairly thick woolen gloves on top. The woolen gloves do not have full fingers.  The last inch or so of each finger extends out of the woolen glove.  So my finger tips have only the polypropylene glove liner and the rest of the hand has the two layers....polypropylene under mit and wool above.  If my finger tips started getting cold, I'd just pull the wool glove down just enough to cover my finger tips till I needed to set up and shoot again.
Brad 
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: bobtowery on October 11, 2011, 01:02:03 am
My wife has Reynaud's and we have tried a lot of things. Some ideas:

Find gloves that have have a thumb, index finger, then three finger mitten.

But the best idea is these small heat packs. About the size of two packs of sugar. You give em a little smack and then they put off heat for about 3 hours. You put these in the glove with your hand (she puts it on the back of her hand, often between the inner glove and the outer glove). They are great.

Best of luck.
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: possum merino on December 16, 2011, 11:32:46 am
Hi, I would try gloves made of merino wool and possum fur, they are lightweight, very warm and durable, try the new zealand/australia market for good buys possum gloves (http://www.nzpossummerino.com/)
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: Scott O. on December 20, 2011, 10:51:17 am
If I was planning a shoot in severe cold (and I am not!) I would consider the following, most of which have been mentioned in this thread.

1. A glove liner thin enough to be able to use my fingers.  You could even wear two pair, cutting off the index finger and thumb tips of your shooting hand liner to enhance sensitivity.  Just cut the outside liner, not both.  This would give you a single liner layer on your shooting finger and thumb, but a double layer everywhere else.
2. A mitten style glove with a flap which can be pulled back to expose finger and thumb tips.
3. A chemical hand-warmer inserted between the glove and liner.
4. A heavy-duty hand warmer which fits on a belt around the waist in front of the body.  Football quarterbacks frequently use these between plays in cold weather.

Other than these, I can't think of anything except to use my other method...avoid at all costs going outside in severely cold weather!!!
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: Rhossydd on December 20, 2011, 11:31:16 am
The only alternative I've found so far that might work with photography is Gerbing's camouflage heated glove (designed for hunting), it is very hard to come by in Europe though.
Have a look at http://www.riderz.co.uk/gerbing-heated-clothing/gerbing-t1-12v-heated-microwire-gloves.html these look thin enough to work most cameras, rather than the much thicker biker's gloves. This doesn't seem a cheap option though, with a LiPo battery pack you're unlikely to get any change from 200 euros. The company looks like it ought to be able to deliver in the EU without issues though.

My own preference is to use fleece gloves when shooting, Berghaus being my current favourites. Although they seem thick at first glance the fingers compress well enough to give good 'feel', but they remain surprisingly wind proof, warm and shrug off water for much longer than I ever expect. Plus of course they're VERY much cheaper and don't run out of charge ;-)
With respect to heat pads, I find they work better when in contact with the back of the hand, not the palm. That way it warms the veins on the top of the hand that supply the fingers, the palms don't have that sort of blood supply.
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: K.C. on December 21, 2011, 12:42:28 am
Gerbing has an entire line of heated gloves (http://gerbing.com/Products/gloves.php) including heated liners (http://gerbing.com/Products/Gloves/liner.php) that are thin and close fitting.
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: torger on December 21, 2011, 08:11:31 am
Gerbing has an entire line of heated gloves (http://gerbing.com/Products/gloves.php) including heated liners (http://gerbing.com/Products/Gloves/liner.php) that are thin and close fitting.

I actually got a pair of Gerbing's 7 volt heated gloves and I've used them for a while. They do improve things, but for freezing temperatures they're not really hot enough for my hands. Really large well-isolated mittens and thinner gloves inside and only remove the mittens for short periods of time is probably the least bad solution. I'll experiment more with the Gerbing's though to see in which conditions they are good enough.
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: torger on January 02, 2012, 03:31:19 am
During the holiday I've been out in semi-cold weather (-8 - -15 degrees Celcius, 5 - 17 degrees Fahrenheit). I used a pair of leather mittens with lamb-wool lining, and a pair of Gerbing 7V battery heated leather gloves. For my cold hands, full effect on the gloves is really only what makes a difference in this weather, and then you have about 2 hours of heat. Still I get cold fingers in these after some while.

Mittens are soooo much better in keeping warmth. My leather mittens are not that thick, but my hands are still much warmer there than in the heated gloves. So what I do is that I keep the mittens on whenever possible, and change to the heated gloves when there is some fine work. However, it seems to me that a solution with very thin "anti-contact" (avoid finger against metal contact) gloves inside a pair of leather mittens could be better. Quite much of the camera can actually be operated with the mittens on. Removing lens cap, changing lenses and adjusting tilt/shift (which are very small knobs on the Canon TS-Es) need finger gloves or bare hands, but adjusting composition and adjusting exposure parameters can be made with the mittens. Yes you do press the wrong buttons all the time with the clumsiness you get with the mittens, but I think it works "good enough" for most of the time.

Key seems to be to have the mittens on as much as possible. And when you do remove the mittens work fast as if in a hurry, helps keeping warmth and will leave you shorter time without mittens.
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: Sigi on January 02, 2012, 12:39:39 pm
Hello Torger,

have a look at these gloves. I can highly recommend them. Many expeditions - also filmcrews who work in extreme cold conditions - use them.

http://www.theheatcompany.com/areas-of-use/for-professionals.html

Sigi
Title: Re: Heated gloves for photographers
Post by: HSakols on January 02, 2012, 01:03:14 pm
I've found that an old pair of cotton tube socks are just the ticket.  ;D