Tricks for fogged up lens??

L

Lou

Member
Really frustrating when I want to take early morning pics and my lens gets fogged up. Are there any tricks to get around or fix this? I use a Canon Rebel XTI with mostly a Tamrom 18-200 lens. I mostly get this in the morning, but it also happens when leaving a very cold building too and going outside.

Thanks. ;)
 
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The best thing is to prevent the condensation. Taking camera equipment from a cold environment directly to a warm one not only causes the lens to fog up, but it also can cause condensation on the inside of the lens which will eventually lead to fungus inside the lens.

The best thing is to give the camera as long as possible to equalize with the outside temperature. The slower the temperature change, the less chance of fog or condensation. If I'm going to shoot on a cold day, I like to pack my camera bag the night before and then leave it either in my uninsulated garage or the trunk of my car. If I can't do that, I at least leave it in the trunk of my car on the drive to wherever I'm shooting.

Likewise, when I finish shooting outside on a cold day, I remove the flash cards and batteries from the camera, put everything else back in the bag and zip it shut before I go inside. Then I let the camera have a couple hours to warm up to room temperature before I open the bag.
 
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I've never tried this tip but it sounds feasible. Got this from Geoff_M on the DISboards.

Fun with condensation!!!

If you've been to WDW in the summer, you know what I'm talking about! You leave your nice cool hotel room and 5 minutes later get your camera out of the bag/case/fanny pack/etc. and "Presto!" the front of the lens fogs up, as does the viewfinder... and the surface of the camera "sweats" moisture. You can't take a picture for a couple of minutes until all of the fog disappears. If you wipe it off of the lens, more just takes its place.

This is due to the "cold" camera hitting the hot humid Florida air. Until your camera's temperature is close to the ambient air temp outside, that suckers gonna fog up. In some cases the condensation can cause electrical problems with equipment (I had a camera once that would refused to turn on for a while if it developed severe condensation). Here's a simple way to avoid this...

1) Before you leave your room, place the camera in a ziplock bag.
2) Place it in the camera bag or other carrying case, but leave the zipper cracked so air can get inside it easier. This will prevent the case from acting like an insulated cooler. With the case cracked for air, any condensation that develops as the camera warms up will form on the outside of the ziplock bag.
3) When you pull the camera out for the first time, make sure the camera doesn't feel "cold" in the ziplock bag. If it does, let it warm up inside the ziplock for a couple of minutes before you pop the seal.
4) Once the camera is no longer chilled, you can pull it out without fear of it fogging up.
 
Any hints on what to do? We are leaving for DL tomorrow and staying at a hotel. The weather has been cold and will be warming up to mid 60's to low 70's during the day. At night they are saying it will be around 45 degrees. How do I protect the camera and lens?
 
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I think the ziplock bag thing will do the trick. Not sure how humid it will be in SoCal, since that makes FL worse for condensation.
 
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