Shooting In The Deep Freeze – Packers NFC Championship Part II
Note: This is the second of two posts from Green Bay Press-Gazette photojournalist Corey Wilson, a friend and former co-worker. Corey and I worked together for a couple of enjoyable years in Decatur before he moved to the frozen north to become a snowman.
After I got all bundled up for that Jan. 20th NFC Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants I headed down to the field about 30-minutes prior to kickoff. Wow. Nothing like minus-25 degree wind chills smacking you in the face as you walk down the same tunnel as Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Reggie White and Brett Favre.
My photo staff at the Green Bay Press-Gazette was given all brand new Nikon to test out at the game (and possibly the Super Bowl) by Nikon Professional Services. Unfortunately, all the beautiful D3 cameras failed the cold test. Upon kickoff I realized that NEITHER of my D3 camera bodies were working. I had one driving a 400mm lens and the other on my 80-200mm lens. Both cameras starting flashing “err” messages and when they would fire they would fire black images. Some of the images were half-black…similar to when you sync your flash at too high of a shutter speed and part of the shutter curtain casts a shadow on your image.
Uh oh. Not a good sign at the start of a huge game. What the heck am I going to do?
My boss came down to the field and gave me one of his D3’s that was operational. I quickly mounted that to my 400mm lens. Our ‘runner’ for the game also brought me one he’d had slung over his shoulder. Okay, I’m reloaded and ready to go. Well, one of those quit and I got frustrated. So now it’s the second quarter, I have basically no images, and I’m headed for our media workroom upstairs for reinforcements. I darted upstairs, as the Packers had the ball on offense, and grabbed my older Nikon D200 body. I only brought this for a spare! The batteries that were in it were all I had for that camera too! I’m actually sweating in a bit of panic at this point.
That camera lasted into the second half until the shutter literally froze in mid-burst during a key drive. Another one bites the dust (or ice). Our ‘runner’ brings me yet another D3 to replace my D200. He believes this D3 is operational…for now. It actually held up pretty decent, except for replacing a battery in the fourth-quarter. It held up long enough for me to get legendary quarterback Brett Favre slinging a cape over his head as he ran off the field after a 23-20 overtime defeat. Is it the last image of Brett Favre ever at Lambeau Field? We’ll see. Personally, I don’t think so.
So the biggest game of my life was filled with much frustration. I enjoyed the opportunity but trying to stay focused while cycling through SIX camera bodies was the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced while shooting an NFL game. So what’s my opinion of the D3? Beautiful. The images were drop-dead gorgeous and needed no toning at all. Just don’t plan on having much success with a D3 in the Frozen Tundra! I learned another sobering lesson? Turns out the Good Lord makes things better than we humans make things. Here he designs a human body that with proper planning (using the brain he gave us) can survive the most wicked cold temps in the United States. And we humans can’t even design a piece of ($5,000) camera equipment that can last 15-minutes in the same elements. Truly amazing.
For more images from the game, please visit The Press Gazette photo galleries from the game.
Photos copyright Corey Wilson, the Green Bay Post-Gazette. The opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the Press-Gazette or The Decatur Daily.
[...] Jonathan Daniel wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptMy photo staff at the Green Bay Press-Gazette was given all brand new Nikon to test out at the game (and possibly the Super Bowl) by Nikon Professional Services. Unfortunately, all the beautiful D3 cameras failed the cold test. … Read the rest of this great post here [...]
Super Bowl Freaks For Big Football Fans » Blog Archive » Shooting In The Deep Freeze - Packers NFC Championship Part II
January 24, 2008 at 10:16 pm
[...] sixteenfeet wrote a fantastic post today on “Shooting In The Deep Freeze – Packers NFC Championship Part II”Here’s ONLY a quick extract20th NFC Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants I headed down to the field about 30-minutes prior to kickoff. Wow. Nothing like minus-25 degree wind chills smacking you in the face as you walk down the same … [...]
Football » Shooting In The Deep Freeze - Packers NFC Championship Part II
January 24, 2008 at 10:19 pm
[...] Here’s another interesting post I read today by A Little News [...]
NFL » Shooting In The Deep Freeze - Packers NFC Championship Part II
January 24, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Hello,
Very good post/article.
Keep up the good work.
Grtz.
Theo
January 25, 2008 at 11:26 am
Ok, you answered my question. I sat in my warn house (where I’d later be weeping over that loss) seeing some of you on the fringes and I wondered how well DSLR’s performed in those conditions.
Great write up, and amazing images. Well done.
Derek
January 25, 2008 at 8:18 pm
http://www.idderweb.org
thank you sir
idderweb
January 26, 2008 at 12:31 pm
>>>…”the Good Lord designed a body”…
Yeah, but unlike Nikon, the Good Lord had millions of years to design us.
Michael
January 26, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Hey Michael, give God his due. The Bible says He did it all on Day 6!
sixteenfeet
January 26, 2008 at 2:45 pm
You are very great in illustration . I hope I can do like you.Very talented website and design….. Keep up good work! http://zobibiseo.harenatv.com Mr Zobibi
zobibi
January 26, 2008 at 11:03 pm
[...] ihm sechs (6) D3 Bodies die Arbeit bei Temperaturen um -25°C. Hier sein etwas frustrierter Bericht zum [...]
Strohsilo » Blog Archive » Nikon D3 verträgt keine zu tiefen Temperaturen
January 31, 2008 at 12:31 am
If he were shooting with Canon 1D Mark II he would have gotten all the shots he wanted. Good luck with your D3.
Me_XMan
February 4, 2008 at 4:26 pm
You seam to have a great portfolio of work using Nikon equipment. Will you migrate to Canon after this experience?
jaime
February 5, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Jaime, I have shot both systems over my career. I began with Canon, an AE-1 and moved to Nikon F3 and later added an FM2. When the AF era began, I stayed with Nikon and bought an N90 which was an awful camera. I went through several variations and was missing all kinds of pictures due to AF trouble so I switched to Canon. I shot Canon for about three years before our paper went digital. They supplied Nikon gear so I was back and am still back in the Nikon camp. When I bought a digital camera for my personal freelance work I bought a Canon EOS 5D for the full frame and high image quality. Nikon has now narrowed that gap so it really doesn’t matter what you shoot. I have a slight preference for Canon but no system is perfect.
sixteenfeet
February 5, 2008 at 4:22 pm
By the way, thanks for the compliments on the work.
sixteenfeet
February 5, 2008 at 4:22 pm
[...] those of us who think the other brands don’t have problems.. Yikes:Shooting In The Deep Freeze – Packers NFC Championship Part II A Little News Sounds like a bit more cold weather testing is needed by [...]
For those of us who think the other brands don't have problems.. - Leica User Forum
February 7, 2008 at 2:01 am
Great shots, sixteenfeet!
On the subject of the failed cameras, were they allowed to acclimatize to the cold before shooting, or did they go straight from media lounge to freezing field?
Trevor
February 8, 2008 at 2:41 am
[...] von Dan States Yikes:Shooting In The Deep Freeze – Packers NFC Championship Part II A Little News Sounds like a bit more cold weather testing is needed by Nikon. Perhaps they should talk to [...]
For those of us who think the other brands don't have problems.. - Seite 2 - Leica User Forum
February 9, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Nice shots. -25F is -32C, right? Where was that, north of the Arctic circle? By the way, did the cameras recover after being warmed up?
Great article, though!
Axel
–
http://www.fastpictureviewer.com
Axel
February 11, 2008 at 6:12 am
I would guess it wasn’t just the camera, but the fact that it was taken from a 70 degree setting to a -30 degrees. a difference of around 100 degrees. Probably was condensation that froze it. I wonder if they would have been refrigerated, or even frozen ahead of time, or had a very slow transition to the cold, if the results would have been different. Possibly kept in a car trunk over night and never taken inside previous to shooting.
I know I have had issues in tropical weather with the lenses and prism fogging up, I’d imagine it could be the same sort of thing. Could it be from simply breathing on it?
Layne
February 12, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Layne said: “Probably was condensation that froze it.”
Correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t condensation happen when you take something FROM the cold TO a warmer environment?
Wonder if the Canon folk were having any problems ;P
Charlie
February 13, 2008 at 9:51 am
I have a D3 and the first time I took it out in cold weather I had the same experience. Sent it back to Nikon for repair. Took it out to shoot an ice fishing tournament and again the mirror stopped lifting. Black frames and ‘err’ blinking. My D2x performs flawlessly in subzero weather.
Tom
February 17, 2008 at 5:08 am
Charlie said: doesn’t condensation happen when you take something FROM the cold TO a warmer environment?
It happens when warm air cools. Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air. So when warm, moist air gets cold the moisture has to leave the air as rain, sleet or snow. Perhaps the moisture in the camera body air turned into water, then ice. Might have helped to put the camera in an air conditioned area, or put it in a bag with desiccant and let it cool.
Clem
February 19, 2008 at 5:22 am