Telescope Reviews: Canon 40D and TC80N3 in extreme cold performance

For the lunar eclipse I had the pleasure of spending 5 hours outside in -26C weather with a windchill bumping it to -41C, colder than a _______. I had my FSQ mounted on the 1200GTO and given their pedigrees, no issues at all.

From previous experience knew that the TC80N3 does not like cold weather at all. The display packs it in and you can't make setting changes or see the time counting down. I prempted issues with this unit by putting a Kendrick LX200 control pad heater onto the timer with a couple supplied rubber bands. I've also noted that a 1.25" EP heater attached the same way is an excellent fit as well. The heater did its job and I could change the settings on the timer with no lag in the numbers, it worked like it was supposed to.

I had my 40D mounted with a couple fresh batteries in a battery grip. These packed it in within about a half hour. Thankfully I had a Hutech 12 volt kit with me and installed it. The only thing I would recommend is that you install this before you get into the cold as you need to bend the cord around a corner so that you can close the battery door, when the cord is more like a stick, it is hard to bend. Running off the 12V power tank is nice as you don't have to worry about running out of juice at all.

I had the camera set to take an exposure every 2 minutes and after a little while I changed it to take one every minute. In all I snapped 170 picures that evening, so it was in excess of three hours in extreme conditions that the 40D stretched its legs.

The small LCD on the top of the 40D did get a bit slow, you couldn't start spinning the wheel to change things quickly, you had to let the display catch up with about a 1-2 second lag. I found it much easier to look in the viewfinder and use the numbers at the bottom of the display to check ISO and exposure times rather than the LCD as it reacted in time with the corrections made.

When I was done shooting I wrapped the camera in a towel and placed it in a plastic Rubbermaid container. This allowed it to warm up slowly and prevent a layer of dew/frost from forming when it was brought inside.

Considering it would take a very unique astronomical event to get me out in conditions that harsh again, I'm happy to have proven that my gear, and myself stood up to some of the worst that Mother f___r umm I mean Nature could dish out.

Thank you Canon.

-Don't be scared to use your 40D in -25C conditions
-Do use a 12V or 120V conversion, batteries will die.
-Do use your TC80N3 but it MUST be heated with a Kendrick pad or..?
-Do wrap your gear up in a towel and put it into a container to minimize thermal shock and formation of dew and frost when you bring it inside.

Photo credit to Jennifer West, 20Da hand held!

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A-P 1200GTO
14" LX200R OTA
FSQ106ED Tak .75 reducer +1.6 extender
AT 8" F4. astrograph
WO ZenithStar 66 Triplet ED APO
EQ 6 PRO
Astrotrac TT320, Manfrotto 475&488
DSI PRO II W/filters, Orion SSAG
Hutech 40D and Unmodded EOS 5D MkII
16-35mm f2.8L II, 24-70mm f2.8L,70-200mm f2.8L IS 300mmf4.L, 400mmf5.6L
31T5,22T4,13E,9T6,8E,5T6,3.5T6
5’X8’ Wells Cargo trailer to haul it in!!!

Edited by PGW Steve (02/23/08 08:54 PM)