I have fog on my Nikon 5000 lens when I go from the cool indoor air conditioning to the humid outdoors in Florida. (I am in Ft Walton Beach.) Thus far, I just wait and it goes away. Is there any problem with this? Is there any precautions I should be taking? I haven't had this happen before in less humid San Antonio, Texas. At least I presume that the higher outoor humidity is the cause of this condensation. Thanks for the help.
From what I've read, waiting a few moments like you do is the best solution. Trying to rub it off runs the risk of scratching the glass or leaving a smudge or dirt/lint/crumbs/whatever from the material that you use.
I've heard it suggested that if you are in this "mode", then keep your camera in the bag as you leave the AC and let it aclimate inside the bag for a few minutes in the elements before taking it out. (i.e. the air inside the bag equalizes in temperature slower than just taking the camera straight out of the A/C.) I've also heard to "double bag" it, like put it in a ziploc or similar to acclerate the process. So, it won't get AS cold AS fast and will aclimate faster when introduced to the heat again. I had this happen in similar extremes.... 17 degree Chicago outside in December vs. the inside warm and humid Brookfield Zoo animal houses.
Flash, I'm assuming some of the fog is inside the lens, as well as on the surfaces. Some lenses are hermetically sealed; others not. I'm not familiar with that lens. I know that, when a hermetically sealed lens had a seal failure, it was essentially ruined for professional work, as deposits would eventually form on the inner surfaces. There's little you can do about it except wait. Back in the early 70s, when I was producing TV news with 16mm cameras, we had that problem not just with lenses but also with the film inside the magazines. You couldn't shoot low contrast film (desirable) in many locations because it was just too susceptible to temperature and humidity--it broke too easily. Ektachrome was gorgeous when projected on a screen, but not so good when put through a video chain. We also had problems with cold, especially in Canada. You can try to equalize temperature and humidity, but it's hard. The old Halliburton cases actually did a pretty good job but, man, were they expensive! We used to have custom-fitted "blimps," or blankets, around cameras to cut the noise and also to give us a few more minutes in Arctic conditions.
Invest in a filter to put over your lens - like a UV filter (which will not cause any exposure problems). What happens as the condensation dries, it tends to "set" the dust and dirt on your lens. You can't see it for the most part, but when you clean your lens it could cause scratches. With the UV filter, when you need to clean it you can just unscrew it, vacuum it, and then use a lens cloth or lens tissue to clean it. If it scratches, you buy another to replace it for 10 bucks.
Welcome to my life of going to sea. I've always shot with Nikons and the consensate would disipate within 5 minutes. The suggestion of using a filter is a good one. Better yet the use of a lens cap on both ends works better. Just give the lens enough time to climatize (10-15 minutes) Fergie
Welcome to the Land of 100%+ Relative Humidity, at least in Summer. :sad: Tim and Fergie are right on for us non-professionals.:thumbs_up:
My only concern is if there is condensation in the lens, there's surely condensation inside of the camera body itself that you can not see. This happened to my old Minolta 35mm camera and rusted the mechanism that operated the shutter.
I have shot some pictures with the fog in place, thinking that what I was seeing through the SLR viewer was due to my poor eyesight. It really messes up the photos! This with UV filter in place, too. The only solution that works, as has been stated, is wait till it dissipates. :teeth:
I heard that the new Canon DSLR (Rebels, etc.) body's were sealed with a dessicant inside...hope it's true. I know they claim their new lenses are sealed.
Not true about the dessicant. Even if it were, dessicants will eventually become "water logged" and have to be dried in an oven or with a heat source. As for the lenses being sealed...most of the new ones for DSLRs are but they are sealed against dust, not moisture. The zooming of the lenses suck air and thus dirt into the chamber.
One way to avoid the condensation is to put the camera in a zip loc bag. Take the whole setup and venture into the warm and humid air and let it acclamate to the warm temperature before opening the bag. The condensation will form on the surface of the bag and not your camera.
More than 30 years ago, there was a pharmaceutical "baggy" product that allowed air through, but not water. I was making a promotional film for a small drug company, and the marketing director gave me a roll of it, after I told him on a shoot that I had to let the camera acclimate to the muggy New England weather. I got out of film (yes, film back then) production shortly afterwards, so I never had a chance to test it. And I can't remember what it was called.
Pete, possibly the bag was made of Gore-Tex or similar material. G-T has been adapted for all sorts of extreme environmental uses including backpacking, so a camera "Baggie" is a logical product....?
I was thinking the same....GoreTex. A lot of outdoor products use it for just that purpose, air but not water.
It was similar to the inside layers of GoreTex. My canoeing bag (for cameras, lunch, etc.) is GoreTex. It wasn't on my mind because that bag gets left in Alaska.
