Gloves + winter + photography

[stoogest]

Hi all,

With the onset of winter, can anyone recommend some good gloves for use when taking photos?

I'm leaning towards getting some hobo gloves (the ones with the fingertips cut off), has anyone had experience with them? I'm a little concerned they won't actually keep my hands warm though.

Ideally I guess I'd be after something that only left the very fingertips exposed, or perhaps fully covered but with a thinner material at the fingertips.

Any ideas??

Andrew.

[Son of a Beach]

I can't commend too much on photography, but I've got some "thinsulate" gloves. They're a very fine knitted material that is quite warm, but thin enough to do fine fingertip work, and still be able to feel what you're working with. About the same thickness as a merino wool thermal, I think. Actually, the fabric looks almost exactly like merino thermal fabric.

I've not tried them for photography, but I think they'd work well.

[stoogest]

Sounds good. I'll see if I can track some down in the camping shops. Do you reckon they'd have them at Salamanca markets?

[north-north-west]

Very thin gloves - polyprop, thinsulate, the Manzella windproof thingies - are usually OK for camera work. I've used that sort of thing in blizzard conditions without being frostbitten or losing the feel for the camera.
The fingertipless gloves are warmer than you might imagine, though a good fit is even more essential than with normal gloves. A lot of my tech-diving mates use them, though I've always prefered lighter full-length gloves. And anything that can keep your hands usable in 7C water after 60 minutes, is quite effective.

[photohiker]

I've used some ski-glove liners labelled 'Reusch' and apparently made from 'Gore Wind Stopper' They are very light fleece, probably about 25 or 50 but they are wearing out, so they might have been thicker when I bought them about 8 years ago. Anyway, a good light and warm glove that doesn't destroy dexterity completely. I still find I need to remove them sometimes as they do not grip well.

Casting about for replacements, Sealskinz caught my eye. I have ordered some Chillblocker Gloves, will report when they arrive. Apparently they have little sticky dots on the outside that improves the grip. We'll see about that, I guess...

Has anyone here tried the sealskinz waterproof gloves and socks?

[the_camera_poser]

I just bought some poly gloves- they are thin enough to feel the buttons, but do keep the worst of the cold off. But, they are a bit slippery- I'll be leaving the camera on the neck strap when using them.

Lowepro make gloves for photographers- they have little rubber bumps on the fingers/palm, which allow you to feel the buttons and also grip onto your camera. They are available here, for around $40 online.

[tastrax]

You might also want to consider convertible mitts - had a set of these years ago and they were great.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012QW1DU/ref ... nkCode=asn

Surely someone will make them with thinsulate inside/goretex outside...

EDIT - here you go - Stealth mittens!

http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/ ... cid=nextag

[sthughes]

I was talked into fingerless gloves for this reason - they are okay but when it gets really cold my fingers do suffer. I'd definatley go with one of the ideas above, or even thin polypro or whatever with some thicker fingerless over the top. I do like my possum wool gloves a lot, just they could do with fingers when it's really cold!

[flyfisher]

If I had known in time I could have loaned you the other $2.84 for some fingers
ff

[stoogest]

Plenty of options!! Looks like I'll be trawling the camping stores this weekend!

Not so sure about those convertible mittens. Looks a bit fiddly to me. I'll try and get my 'hands' ( ) on some and see how they go.

[lexharris]

If it's cold enough to need gloves you'll need to pay attention to keeping your camera warm too. Batteries don't like low temperatures. On field trips in Antarctica we used thin synthetic gloves (they were called Thermolactyl back then, early polypro I think) under heavier outer gloves or mitts. And camera inside jacket and at body temp at all times when not shooting. To take a shot, outer gloves/mitts off, camera out of jacket, then reverse the process - quickly

[tasadam]

Has anyone here tried the sealskinz waterproof gloves and socks?

I have Sealskinz gloves. I don't like them much because if my hands are cold when they go in, they take forever to get warm - they fit quite tight which doesn't help the circulation either.
But they do keep the insides dry. If When the gloves get wet, your hands feel wet in the gloves. If they are already warm, they are comfortable enough, but your hands will feel wet and possibly cold as well when you wear these sealskins. I have taken them off before to see whether my hands were wet because of the way they felt.

Other people might have a differing opinion on them.

As for photography, I normally wear (if I need a glove) a Goretex glove similar to these -
http://www.torpedo7.com.au/division/cle ... title/Kaos
And when I want to take a photo, I remove my hands from the gloves.
One thing about the Goretex gloves I am currently using - even if they are wet, my hands get toasty in them fairly quickly - which makes removing them to take pictures tolerable.
But the gloves work much better at keeping your hands warm if you keep them dry (your gloves and your hands).
Sometimes if your hands are damp and you remove the glove, the inner can come inside-out stuck to your fingers if they are built to allow this, so when shopping for a glove like these I would recommend finding a pair that don't allow the inner to turn inside-out.

I had a pair of them with me on the Overland Track in winter, taking a lot of icy and snow photos. For basic stuff I could often leave the glove on, but if I had to fiddle with settings, usually it was easier just to remove the glove.

[tasadam]

Having a better read of some of the other replies, I had a pair of the thin gloves with buttons on the fingertips, but the biggest problem I found was that they ened up soaked - quite often when it's cold, it's wet - either by poor weather or by touching things that melt on the glove. And when they were wet, they were very cold. That's why I gave up on them anyhow.

[the_camera_poser]

Having a better read of some of the other replies, I had a pair of the thin gloves with buttons on the fingertips, but the biggest problem I found was that they ened up soaked - quite often when it's cold, it's wet - either by poor weather or by touching things that melt on the glove. And when they were wet, they were very cold. That's why I gave up on them anyhow.

Actually, this is a good point, as I have found that my camera ends up wet from condensation from my breath when it's very cold, and this would definitely soak into permeable gloves.

[alexwise]

Lowepro make gloves but I'm yet to try them http://products.lowepro.com/product/Pho ... s,1990.htm

[stoogest]

I've found the solution!!!

Here 'tis (I hope it's alright linking to the other forum)...

http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/ ... hp?t=36995

Andrew.

[johnw]

I've found the solution!!!

Here 'tis (I hope it's alright linking to the other forum)...

http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/ ... hp?t=36995

Andrew.

That link doesn't seem to work Andrew. At least not for me.

Anyway to add my 2 cents worth, I recently bought a pair of Black Diamond Solstice gloves (WindPro lining). Will be trying them out in Tasmania over the next few weeks. I didn't get them specifically for photography, just warmth. But they are a close fit and not too thick, so hoping they'll be OK for camera work. I'll report back on how they go.

[walkinTas]

that link doesn't seem to work Andrew. At least not for me.

Its working Johnw, but here are the same gloves at Amazon Brooks' Aussie site.

[johnw]

that link doesn't seem to work Andrew. At least not for me.

Its working Johnw, but here are the same gloves at Amazon.

Thanks wT. Mmm that's weird then. I get:

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The requested URL /forum/showthread.php was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.


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Apache/2.2.11 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.11 OpenSSL/0.9.8i DAV/2 mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 Server at www.ausphotography.net.au Port 80

[north-north-west]

I was wearing my heavy thinsulate lined waterproof gloves up on the Bluff yesterday, and had no trouble handling the camera with them. Didn't even think about it at the time, although I'd always just assumed they'd be too thick and cumbersome.

[tasadam]

I've found the solution!!!

Here 'tis (I hope it's alright linking to the other forum)...

http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/ ... hp?t=36995

Andrew.

That link got me reading, and I see someone else suggested NOMEX Flight Gloves.

* NOMEX® flame, heat and flash protection
* Extended wrist and forearm protection
* Full length leather palm

Got me thinking - dual purpose - no more burnt fingers on the billy handle.

[stoogest]

I hadn't thought of that. Good idea!

[Buddy]

I purchased from the Wilderness Gallery at Cradle a perfect pair of photographer's mitts. Woollen, styled as a fingerless glove , but with a mitten section that folded over one's fingers, or velcroed back against the back of the glove, as the need arises. Reinforced leather palm as well. They work brilliantly!

[Wet]

I've been using a pair of these gloves for years, check out this review http://www.flylife.com.au/library/tackr ... loves.html

[mupperoni]

I purchased from the Wilderness Gallery at Cradle a perfect pair of photographer's mitts. Woollen, styled as a fingerless glove , but with a mitten section that folded over one's fingers, or velcroed back against the back of the glove, as the need arises. Reinforced leather palm as well. They work brilliantly!

Hi do you have a link or picture of what this looks like? Sounds interesting

[Buddy]

No, sorry. Looked at them and there is no indication as to the brand etc. Packaging long gone.