Gloves for winter photography

[Jyda]

Here in the northern hemisphere we're in the middle of a bitingly cold winter. So what gloves do you use when you step out from the comforting warmth of your house and go out photographing?

I've tried quite a few types but like camera bags the perfect cold (as in nordic cold) weather glove seems elusive.

(Edit by Bjørn Rørslett: I changed the thread title to make clear the topic is about winter photography)

[Bjørn Rørslett]

There will be almost as many answers as there are photographers. Basically, one needs several different approaches depending on the ambient temperature and your own propensity for getting cold fingers

A layered approach with thinner inner and thicker outer gloves is what I normally use. Depending on the camera UI, one might need to work practically bare handed which is not pleasant in true cold conditions, thus having an inner layer of medical cotton gloves gives finger dexterity to operate the camera yet prevents contact with cold metal. These are way too thin to keep you warm more than in brief intervals so plan ahead and remove the outer (Thinsulate  or similar) just for the short time it takes to work the camera. Needless to say, really cold weather is NOT a condition optimal for moving through camera menus and suchlike brain-dead interfaces. You really need good old-fashioned dials that stay put after being moved into position.

Our esteemed Arctic photographer Bjørn J hopefully shares his vast experience on this topic. This is his home turf so to speak. Our expat in Alaska, Øivind Tøien, has a vast knowledge of working under harsh temperatures (down to the -40s if I remember correctly) so is sure to contribute his golden nuggets of insight .

My main problem used to be glasses and view finders fogging up in the cold, these days hypersensitive airways and cold-induced asthma put an effective end to how cold weather I endure for photography.

[Erik Lund]

Smooth leather gloves with fingertips cut off...

[Bjørn Rørslett]

These work to slightly below 0C, for colder conditions they might not suffice.

[Asle F]

I use wool mittens inside wind stopping cotton mittens. If the camera isn't usable with this, I don't want that camera.

[Erik Lund]

I would say it depends on many factors how cold to go... 
How much physical work you do, wind and what else you do with your hands...
Here are mine, both Black Diamond the one with inner glows are goretex and fantastic

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Designed for cyclists? They look nice and probably are expensive too ...

[Erik Lund]

Black Diamond 'Stuff' is originally designed for climbing or that's where I came to know them, harnesses and other safety equipment...
I use them for cycling and skiing etc. as well

Don't know the price but the leather and general quality is top

[simato73]

It depends on weather conditions.

In cold dry (subzero down to -30) I use thick wool/thinsulate covertible mittens with leather reinforcements o the palms, and a thin polypropylene liner. They work well if there isn't too much wind. You can even add a disposable hand warming sachet in the mitten (many of these mitten have a small internal pouch for it).

This setup is moderately wind resistant and does not cope well at all with water.
It has kept my hands warmer in Canada at -20 than in Scotland at -1. The difference was dry and light breeze in the first case vs wet snow and gale wind in the latter)

In wetter and windier conditions (near 0) I use a normal insulated waterproof glove whose outer material is not too stiff. Dexterity however is much worse than in the other case.

If it is less cold a simple polypropylene liner or other kind of thin glove should do it. Better if of a material that does not lose much insulating power when wet.

[Tristin]

I like Freehands gloves.  Nice to have my important fingertips available when needed without removing my gloves.

[Bjørn J]

I normally use a pair of thin wool or woolmix thin inner gloves (Lowe Pro Photographer's glove with rubber "dots" for better grip), then wool mittens, and a pair of shell mittens with wind stopper as the outer layer. Thinsulate or similar synthetic material is nowhere as warm or comfortable as pure wool.

[Airy]

Very thin inner gloves (7€) with touchscreen-compatible tips when temperatures around zero, otherwise additional mittens with "tiltable" extremities, made in Iceland, which should be OK even in Norway...

[Jyda]

For dry and moderately cold (about -5-10C) weather I use hunters' gloves.

Not exaclty theese, but of the same kind.


If it's colder I do use mittens with liner gloves, but find it a bit cumbersome to take them off and on.

For around 0C I use finger gloves. I've tried some type of neoprene gloves, but they just made it feel even colder!

[PedroS]

Moose Peterson on his site, has an interesting article on glooves

[Jan Anne]

I use Sealskinz Ultra Grips as long as I can remember for any activity outdoors, from hiking, canoeing, abseiling, chopping wood to photographing and anything in between. They are great for temperatures between -10 and +10C when active in the outdoors as they are totally waterproof, have a warm merino wool lining, tough nylon outer shell, rubber dots for maximum grip (hence the name) and have great dexterity for handling cameras, lens changes and working those big buttons and dials on the Nikon cameras, etc.

Still have the older model but the new model has touchscreen tips which solves the one caveat I had with them, they are very tight fitting so taking them off all the time to check the iPhone was a pain. I had a little accident with a sharp knife while wearing them and cut my triggerfinger, the good part of that story was that I could now take the tip of my trigger finger off when needed to check for messages without taking the gloves off 

Here's a link; http://www.sealskinz.com/UK/gloves/ultra-grip-touchscreen-glove

For colder stuff I have Low Alpine Gore-tex gloves but use them rarely, the Dutch winters are rarely cold enough for them to be more pratical than the Ultra Grips.

Some of you will probably remember this image; me wearing the Low Alpine gloves while pretending to be a seal, and yes the other gloves would have been more appropriate name wise