Condensation on lens

OK….this is for you camera professionals, which I will admit I am not! I have had the problem occasionally in hot and humid climates of condensation on the lens. I have found that usually opening the lens and letting it sit awhile does the trick, but I have had this discussion with friends who claim sometimes that doesn’t work for them. Any suggestions???

Posted: Aug 23, 2008 9:32am

I’m not a professional, but I’ve had plenty of experience with this stuff, thanks to the Florida humidity. There’s nothing more frustrating than driving through the woods and coming across a great wildlife photo opportunity, only to have the whole thing messed up by lens condensation. Ahhh!
It sounds like you have a SLR-type camera and there may be some moisture down in the camera body itself. I’ve even had the problem of moisture in the lens, which is really, really bad. It can lead to some funky fungus stuff growing inside the lens.
How do you get the moisture out? I’ve had good luck with a dehumidifer. Anything with dry heat might work, but do so at your own risk and I wouldn’t put intense heat to it (like a hair dryer).
Maybe maxfocus will chime in and give us the answer…!

Posted: Aug 25, 2008 2:39pm

Great question!! This is a problem that can sometimes be helped by paying attention to the temperature of the camera. If you have a camera that has been in an air conditioned car, for example, the lens and body will be cooler than the outside temperature and that causes big-time condensation when you enter a humid environment. Give the camera time to warm up and the condensation goes away. So – put your camera case in the back window of the car (don’t bake it!) and keep it warm if you are heading for a humid place. Living in dry Colorado I only get this problem when I go into the Humid, tropical, Butterfly Pavilion here in the Denver area! I always have to wait ten minutes or so inside the building before the lens dries out. Holding the lens in the palm of my hand seems to speed that up a little!

Posted: Aug 25, 2008 3:00pm

That AC fogs it up every time. I’ll have to leave it on the dash, thanks for the tip.
The same thing happens in the winter when you have the heat on. The camera needs to be temperature-wise close to the outside weather.
Thanks for the input!

Posted: Aug 25, 2008 4:30pm

Great advice…thanks! I’ll have to spread the word, I hear people complain about this so much.

Posted: Aug 27, 2008 8:08am