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Minimum Operating Temperature A6300/A6500


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Hi all,

 

New to the forum and new to photography.  I'm upgrading my current camera (Iphone 6, I know I know.. lol) and have decided to wait for the A6500 to release in December.  I know Sony is known to have a reputation for rugged cameras and I like the fact that the A6300/6500 are able to stand being splashed (not submerged... also, side question... does the Sony weather guard mean that I can continuously shoot in the rain with it? ), but I often find myself in below freezing temperatures.  The Sony website gives a range from 32-104 as the operating temperature, but I wanted to ask the actual users of the camera to see if anyone has taken their 6300 into below freezing temperatures and how well the camera did.  the Canon M5 is rated at 14 degrees, and yes do find myself at those temperatures often especially now that winter is upon us.  I live in California and the majority of my free time is spent in the Sierra Nevadas at altitude.  I'd hate to buy such a nice camera only to have it not function at the time I need it most.  I understand that one of my problems at those temperatures is going to be condensation on the lens, but that's going to happen no matter what camera I have.  I want to make sure that the internals of the camera still function at below freezing temperatures and that photo quality is not compromised. 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Fares

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First of all, the Sony mirrorless cameras do not have a reputation for being rugged. If anything, they're less rugged than a regular DSLR.  

The a7r2 that I use does, however, work fine in extreme cold, down to -30ºF, where I set it up for a long timelapse outside. So you figure that the a6500 will probably perform about the same. 

The weather proofing is not all it's cracked up to be, and Sony doesn't call them "weatherproof," but rather "weather-resistant." So if your camera is damaged in the rain, you're out of luck on a warranty repair.  I recommend taking precautions and considering the weatherproofing of the camera only as a last line of defense. 

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Guest Jaf-Photo

I think most camera manufacturers rate operating temperatures above freezing, to avoid liability. Older cameras with a lot of mechanical moving parts could stop working in freezing temperatures. Newer, mainly electronic cameras are less vulnerable. I've shot all my digital cameeas in freezing temperatures. The worst things that have happened are loss of battery power and one seized autofocus motor in a lens.

 

That said, A6000 series is not the most robust, as stated above, which should be taken into consideration.

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  • 2 years later...

My 6500 would not shoot when I was outside more than 10 minutes in 20-degree weather.  I would push the shutter release and nothing happened. Then the screen went dark. I then switched to my 5000 and it fired away with no problem.

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  • 1 year later...

I used my Sony a6300 in Yellowknife, NWT, Canada in December 2018. The temperature was between -20F and -35F.  This is actual air temp, not wind chill factor, which would have been even lower. The camera worked just fine and the batteries, which were new at the time, lasted about an hour each while I was shooting randomly the aurora borealis.

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