Camera lens fogging up in humidity

[Irish Lads Mom]

I ruined a bunch of pictures on our first cruise. I had been out walking for a while with my camera, so I thought nothing of taking pictures. Does it make sense that just removing the lens cap would cause the camera to fog? Should I have taken it off much earlier?

 

I'm also going to have to remember that you're not looking through the lens of a digital camera. I wouldn't have had this problem with my dad's old Minolta.

[DaddyP]

The little silica packs don't work but the small hand warmers do. Get the ones that come sealed in plastic and you open and shake to activate. You can place one in a camera bag or small case with the camera and it will keep the camera warm enough to prevent fogging. Use the small ones and you will need to replace once a day.

[Kevin's girl]

I use the blow dryer on the camera before I get off the ship or when I know I'm taking pics on the balcony. Just enough to warm it up a little. It really does work like a charm.

[funfamilyof6]

When we went to our last family eye checkup at Walmart, I saw a lens fog preventer also used for eyeglass lens and purchased it. It was located near the eyeglass case section. It looks like folded up tissues in a very small square package. I used them on our last cruise and was surprised that the product actually work. It was really cheap, like 5 dollars.

[TPKeller]

Unfortunately, you've mistaken the crew who take pictures onboard for professional photographers. Having seen the product of their efforts in the photo gallery, I'm not sure I'd elevate their skill much beyond amateur.

You can debate the skill level of the photographers all you want, but you'd be wrong to say they are "the crew who take pictures" and not "professional photographers." The photographers are just that, photographers who sign a contract just like the rest of the crew, to do a particular job, which in this case, runs the entire gamut of the photography services on the ship. That includes posing with you in a pirate costume as you get off the ship, taking your pictures all over the ship and sometimes in port, printing your pictures and putting them on the racks, burning CDs, printing special orders, selling cameras, etc, etc, etc. They do go through training before reporting on board, and I spent some time chatting with one over the course of two or three cruises who had her own very successful studio back home, and had hired out others to keep it running while she was exploring the world as a cruise photographer!

 

Lots of good information here on the problem at hand. I've never resorted to using the hair dryer, and I have had more than one occasion of looking out the window to find something (like a passing ship) that I wanted to take a very quick picture of.

 

A couple additional thoughts: If you have a good window, as long as you keep the camera inside, you won't have the fogging issue, so if you can get your shot from inside, that may be better than a foggy lens shot from outside on the balcony.

 

Also, there is much merit to the closet/drawer for storage idea. Remember there are many different temperatures inside your room. The "average" temperature is going to ideally be what the thermostat is set to, and obviously that will be the temperature of the air near the thermostat. The air coming from the vent will be much colder, so at a minimum, keep your camera out of the path of the air coming from the vents. (I suspect that is what gets many people, as they leave their camera out in the open where the colder air is actually blowing on them.)

 

Inside a drawer or closet, you are away from the air flow, and possibly slightly warmer than the thermostat temperature.

 

Finally, one additional suggestion, if you are in a room with a fridge, and there is storage space directly above the fridge, that space might be a few degrees warmer than the rest of the room, from the heat generated by the coils on the back of the fridge. That may be a good place to store the camera, especially if you can shield it from the air coming from the vents.

 

Theron

[oneputt18]

In a camera bag , in the closet, never a problem but I will add we don't keep our room like a refrigerator. We live in South Florida and keep our home at a comfortable 76 degrees. My hobby( and sometimes for pay) is photography and I rarely have a fogging problem. Just breath on the lens and wipe with a lens tissue or lens cloth only.

 

 

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