Camera fogged up

[Greg4502]

I found out when cruising to a hotter climate, that taking the camera from the colder cabin or inside the ship, to the hotter outside the lens would fog. It would take some time to

clear up. I now wrap the camera, with a plastic cloches bag from the cleaners, then a towel and put it on the balcony about an hour before getting off the ship.

 

Have any of you had the fogging problem and what it your solution?

[CameraHappy]

I can so relate. I’m impressed with your solution. Wish I had a better one. I’m anxious to see what others say. 

[Jojiboy]

I don’t know of a way to completely eliminate the “fogging” problem. What I do though is keep packets of silica gel in a large bag ziplock bag. I’ll stick my camera and lenses in the ziplock bag, stick it out on the balcony with a towel draped over it. The silica gel packs absorb the moisture so they defog quicker. I find my equipment is ready to go in 15 minutes or so.

[AL3XCruise]

I've left the equipment I plan to use in ambient conditions ahead of time.  Depending on the lenses and conditions it can take 15 minutes to over an hour.  In very humid conditions I'll try to keep it sealed to minimize condensation as temperature equalizes.

 

I also have a dew heater that I use for astrophotography.  I may experiment with that next time I don't have an hour to let my telephoto acclimate.  

[pierces]

A few minutes with a hair dryer works in a pinch. I hold the camera with my hand is in the air stream so I can tell if it is applying too much direct heat while I rotate it to hit all sides. 

 

Normally my routine is to take along a small ReptiTherm terrarium heater pad. I put it in my bag next to the camera and plug it in when I'm in the cabin for any length of time and overnight. Very low wattage and since it is designed to not to cook your iguana or turtle, it's heat output is safe for your equipment.

 

On the last cruise, I found that Celebrity had installed a camera equipment heater drawer above the mini bar.

 

I'm not 100% sure this was truly a camera warming drawer (nowhere close to 100%, actually) , but the drawer kept the cameras at about 80° and I never had a fogged lens!

 

Dave

[CameraHappy]

What a great idea. Love it.

[ski ww]

Some times the fogged lens gives a special effect.  Early morning on the Amazon. I  was going to delete the pictures but kept them.

 

[Mr. Click]

When you can't have a camera heater drawer and dont have time to bring the camera up to temp brefore you head out stick the camera inside a ziplock bag before you go out. That way the moisture attracted by the cold camera forms on outside of the bag and then you can take the camera out and it is nice and dry and ready to go.

[sportsphotos]

They make a plug in mat that lays in a cage for lizards that keeps them warm.  They are inexpensive.

 

[zackiedawg]

I always just keep my cameras and lenses wrapped in a blanket - often inside the camera bag - when in the cabin.  Before heading out for a shoot, I'll stick the gear I'll be using on the balcony for 15-20 minutes before planning on heading out (just be aware of whether it's raining that day, if the seas are rough and there's lots of salt spray pounding up, or you're in port and the ship crew decided it's time to clean the sides of the ship!).

Living in South Florida, it's not something I only experience on cruises...I experience it almost every day for 8 months of the year, and every trip to Disney World except during winter.  It's become a regular habit of mine to have to equalize my gear in advance of shooting.  At home, I wake in the morning and put my gear in the trunk of my car, then shower, have breakfast, watch news, get ready, and then by the time I'm ready to drive out to the wetlands, the gear has been sitting in a warm trunk for an hour or two and is all ready to go in the heat and humidity of the Everglades.

[kenevenpar]

On 1/13/2020 at 2:06 PM, pierces said:

A few minutes with a hair dryer works in a pinch. I hold the camera with my hand is in the air stream so I can tell if it is applying too much direct heat while I rotate it to hit all sides.

 

I have absolutely no chance of surviving this method pre-dawn.  😮

 

 

[Turtles06]

On 1/13/2020 at 2:06 PM, pierces said:

A few minutes with a hair dryer works in a pinch. I hold the camera with my hand is in the air stream so I can tell if it is applying too much direct heat while I rotate it to hit all sides. 

 

Normally my routine is to take along a small ReptiTherm terrarium heater pad. I put it in my bag next to the camera and plug it in when I'm in the cabin for any length of time and overnight. Very low wattage and since it is designed to not to cook your iguana or turtle, it's heat output is safe for your equipment.

 

On the last cruise, I found that Celebrity had installed a camera equipment heater drawer above the mini bar.

 

I'm not 100% sure this was truly a camera warming drawer (nowhere close to 100%, actually) , but the drawer kept the cameras at about 80° and I never had a fogged lens!

 

Dave

 

Dave, on some Celebrity ships, the safe is where that drawer is, and it heats up so much that I've always been concerned about putting any electronics or memory cards in it for any length of time.   There's a drawer next to the safe that gets hot as well; if you put your socks in that drawer, you'll have toasty feet. 

[DarkJedi]

When you get out of bed put the camera in the bed under the covers. This will warm the camera up without a lot of moisture and should keep it at a decent temp until you take it out of the room. If you keep the room really cold, after it warms up under the blanket put it outside (balcony) wrapped in a towel.

[ski ww]

The problem is now you have a nice warm camera which you have to carry through the cool ship to get to the out side, I guess you could leave it all wrapped up in a blanket in a bag until you get on deck.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I wrap my camera in a big beach towel and place it in the closer on a shelf until I am ready to get off the ship or just go out on the verandah or deck to take pictures.

 

Works for me.