Foggy lens

G

GregOz

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Hi all

Managed to squeeze in a few zoos while I have been in Amsterdam for work and I've come across something that doesn't happen back in warmer Oz.

Whenever I go into tropical type heated pavilions the lens on the camera fogs up immediately and I can't take any photos.

It seems to be inside the camera body on the mirror sensors, on the filter and between the lens and the filter.

I ended up taking everything apart and wiping it all but really not keen to do that in case o damage one of the components,

Any other suggestions.

Thanks
 
Keep your camera as warm as you can, within reason, while you are travelling to the zoo and walking around outdoors (for example, inside your coat rather than outside). Use a lens cap to protect the front element as much as possible. If it's really cold, the hot air hand-dryers in the toilets can help, but don't get the camera too close - 'treat it gentle' as Sidney Bechet said.

Alan
 
I'd be a bit concerned if my body's internals started to fog up - is this an SLR GregOz? Some SLR lenses are environmentally sealed, others not, so it's sometimes best to go for the former.

As a point of trivia in response to Alan's suggestion of keeping the camera warm; high ISO performance actually improves the colder the camera gets.
 
Thanks - its a Nikon DSLR so might get the lens checked out when I get home

Gret suggestion about the hair dryers. I googled last night and read to try the chemical heat packs in you bag. A bit late for thatvsincetoday in Cologne is the last day but I will try the othe suggestions

Greg
 
You will have problems going either way - from a cold dry environment into a warm humid environment or the opposite (from warm to cold). There is only one safe way to handle this. Before entering or exiting the building, you need to have the camera stored in a camera bag or pouch. Once you enter or exit the new environment, you need to leave the camera inside the bag to gradually adjust. I would wait AT LEAST ten minutes but preferably twenty to thirty minutes. Then sit on a bench and unzip the bag but leave the camera inside for a couple more minutes to be safe.

As for taking the camera apart yourself, that is really risky. I would have it checked out at an authorized camera repair shop.
 
Just meant I was separating filter from lens and taking lens off body because alnparts were fogged. I will drop the lens of to be looked at the camera repair when I get back Sydney

Cologne zoo had warmers - same as hand dryers - to warm up the camera as you went into the hippo enclosure. It am a huge different

Thanks for all the advice today went much better

Greg
 
GregOz said:
Just meant I was separating filter from lens and taking lens off body because alnparts were fogged. I will drop the lens of to be looked at the camera repair when I get back Sydney
Click to expand...

Ok, that is a bit safer - glad for the clarification. I asume you have a UV protective filter when you say you removed the filter. This of course is a highly personal and subjective choice and if you want to start a debate on a photography forum, just type in pros and cons of UV filters. Personally, I do not use them because I do not want anything degrading the high quality lens optics and potentially causing reflections (I had some night shots ruined years ago from the highlights reflecting off the inside surface of the filter). But whether it would hurt or help with fogging from humidity, I am not sure.
 
Oh, is that the funny little circular watermarks I get on my underwater shots? The ones that look like coins?

:p

Hix
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top