Every time I go out in subzero temps the great race begins once again. What will freeze first, my toes or fingers? Thankfully my new bunny boots are keeping my feet nice and toasty warm this winter. But let’s face it, if your fingers go numb you can’t work your camera….everyone can walk around with freezing feet! If you can’t hit those small buttons on your camera you have a major problem.
I am always on the lookout for new gloves and mittens to try, but not much has changed for me with my choice of gloves/mittens. I’ll start with the lightest (and least expensive), and work into the warmest mittens if you are planning on photographing a winter Denali expedition (check out the book “Minus148 Degrees”, epic winter Denali climb!).
For mild temps in the twenties and above I use Heat Company Merino Liner Pro lightweight gloves (liner gloves in pic above). These gloves are warm, have great dexterity, and have a convenient pouch on the back of the hand for a hand warmer to be inserted. You can use touch screens with these gloves, and they have sticky patches to help hit those small buttons. I sometimes use these in very cold temps, I just stuff my hands into my parka pocket which has a large hand warmer inside. But if you have your hands exposed and shooting a lot, you will need something warmer. Retails around $70.
Vallerret Tinden Photography Glove is the next step up. These gloves have more insulation and windproof qualities including Primaloft insulation, Merino wool lining and goatskin fingers and palms. They have sticky material that helps you spin those camera control wheels. They also have “flip-tech fingertips’, meaning you can flip the thumb and index finger tips off you finger to exposure your actual finger for better dexterity. I actually don’t like this feature as these flaps let in cold air, and I don’t want to exposure my skin at all in really cold temps. That said I do like these heavier duty gloves for shooting in the 10-20F range. They have a pouch for a hand warmer. At $120 they are a good value.
My go-to cold weather glove/mitten system is the Heat Company Shell Full Leather Pro combined with the merino liner pro used as an inside glove. The full leather pro mitten is all goatskin leather lined with Primaloft Gold insulation. There is a pouch on the finger section to hold a large chemical heat pack. On the palm section there is a zipper to allow your fingers to get outside and work the camera controls, then quickly zip the palm back up. What I am amazed with is how great the goatskin leather allows me to work my camera in really cold conditions. At -25F last night shooting aurora I set up my composition, and I was able to press the shutter button without ever having to unzip the mittens. I used my thumb to hit the playback button (no need to exposure fingers). I had a heat pack in my liner glove, and a larger heat pack in the leather pro mitten…my hands were toasty. The Heat Company does make a polar shell that can go over the Full Leather Pro mittens, but I have never used one. The shell looks like a good option to hike around in really cold weather, and take it off so you can operate the camera when you get to your destination. The Heat Company Shell Full Leather Pro goes for around $175.
There are a few other options for subzero shooting you might be interested in trying. Another strategy I use in -30F or colder is attaching a cable release to my Z9, and pressing the button while using heavy winter mittens. I have a pair of discontinued North Face Himalayan Mitts, an incredibly warm mitten that uses Primaloft and down for insulation. I wear a light liner gloves inside these. The downside here is you loose your dexterity, you really can’t do much other than press the button on your cable release. But if you have your camera, composition and exposure dialed in, you can use these mitts with a cable release in crazy cold weather. Currently RAB sells a similar mitten…these mitts are designed for Everest, so if your hands get cold it is time to go inside.
Another style of winter mitten/gloves I like is using a large insulated over mitt on a leash and wearing my merino liners inside. I use Wintergreen Plunge Mitt Expedition Mittens with a leash as seen in the photo above. I work my camera with my liner gloves and then stuff my hands into the heavy fleece over mitts if I am not shooting. It’s great having these huge mitts dangling at your side always ready to warm up your fingers, and the leash doesn’t let them blow away. The Wintergreen Purge Mitt retails for $239.
Of course there are a lot of other choices out there, and you can find a lot of great gloves at local outdoor stores. Just keep dexterity in mind, and how cold you think you are going to get. I use loads of chemical heat packs during the winter with my glove system. There are rechargeable versions out there, but they don’t fit into my glove/mitten pouches. But don’t let the cold temps stop you from shooting, winter is one of my favorite times to photograph.