inside of camera fogging, even when climate acclimated

[KellyLynne1968]

hello!! I have a Canon 7D, and typically use my sigma 24-70 lens on it.  I moved to NC from MI six years ago, and I do a ton of beach shoots. This time of year, same thing...i put my camera in my car overnight before a shoot, make sure no AC, typically get to the shoot early and set the camera outside next to me for a half hour. Should be good right? NOPE. Getting low to the sand is like putting my camera over a pot of boiling water steam. instantly fogs up on the inside and out. Yesterday, i was standing doing a family shoot. started out okay, I could tell by zooming in on the images that the skin was a bit grainy from the moisture in the air. Then half way through the shoot, camera was totally fogged up on the inside, even more than the outside of my lens. Humidity was 80 percent yesterday and this coastal area of NC often gets "waves" of high humidity and ocean mist that the camera only tends to pick up. But nothing subsided the inner fogging of my camera, until i walked back up to the parking lot. This happens every summer and quite honestly, this never happened in Michigan and im about fed up with it, lol. any advice?

[kvbarkley]

Sounds like you have moisture in the lens. You might have to send it to SIgma to be dried out.

[KellyLynne1968]

thank you. i think i figured it out finally after four years. Called a camera shop back home where i used to live, he said when using zoom lenses in severe humidity, when i "zoom" i could be actually pulling that air into the lens/camera body. Makes sense i guess.

[RobertTheFat]

---

@KellyLynne1968 wrote:

hello!! I have a Canon 7D, and typically use my sigma 24-70 lens on it.  I moved to NC from MI six years ago, and I do a ton of beach shoots. This time of year, same thing...i put my camera in my car overnight before a shoot, make sure no AC, typically get to the shoot early and set the camera outside next to me for a half hour. Should be good right? NOPE. Getting low to the sand is like putting my camera over a pot of boiling water steam. instantly fogs up on the inside and out. Yesterday, i was standing doing a family shoot. started out okay, I could tell by zooming in on the images that the skin was a bit grainy from the moisture in the air. Then half way through the shoot, camera was totally fogged up on the inside, even more than the outside of my lens. Humidity was 80 percent yesterday and this coastal area of NC often gets "waves" of high humidity and ocean mist that the camera only tends to pick up. But nothing subsided the inner fogging of my camera, until i walked back up to the parking lot. This happens every summer and quite honestly, this never happened in Michigan and im about fed up with it, lol. any advice?

---

Condensation collects on objects that are cooler than their surroundings. So cooling down the camera in your car overnight, then bringing it into a very humid environment, may be exactly the wrong thing to do. Try leaving it in the house all night, then warming it in the sun before the shoot to drive off any moisture that's in it. You want it to start off as dry as possible and warmer, not cooler, than the environment at the beach.

[RobertTheFat]

---

@KellyLynne1968 wrote:

thank you. i think i figured it out finally after four years. Called a camera shop back home where i used to live, he said when using zoom lenses in severe humidity, when i "zoom" i could be actually pulling that air into the lens/camera body. Makes sense i guess.

---

Right, and if the lens is cooler than the air, water will condense in the lens.

[KellyLynne1968]

well my camera stays in my car overnight if i have a beach shoot, or i put it outside hours before. So does it make sense that it could be the zoom lens just pulling in moisture by the simple act of zooming?

[RobertTheFat]

---

@KellyLynne1968 wrote:

well my camera stays in my car overnight if i have a beach shoot, or i put it outside hours before. So does it make sense that it could be the zoom lens just pulling in moisture by the simple act of zooming?

---

Unless it's foggy (i.e. the humidity is 100%), any moisture pulled in will be dissolved in the air. It should not condense if the inside of the lens is warmer than the air. I think you're letting the camera cool down in the car overnight and then not giving it enough time to warm up in the sun.

When you were in Michigan, did you ever take pictures outdoors on a cold day; then when you came in, your lens fogged up? Same principle.

[diverhank]

---

@KellyLynne1968 wrote:

well my camera stays in my car overnight if i have a beach shoot, or i put it outside hours before. So does it make sense that it could be the zoom lens just pulling in moisture by the simple act of zooming?

---

There is some of that but the fact remains that if the lens is of the same temperature as the ambient air, there should be no condensation.  In high humidity condition such as described, usually people put the camera/lens in a sealed plastic bag and wait until the temperature equalizes.  The temperature in the car is a lot cooler than outside and by leaving it there overnight you effectively have cold-soaked your equipment big time...

[KellyLynne1968]

no, trust me its outside for a long time . yesterdays shoot, it was in the MIDDLE of the shoot that the inside of the lense started fogging up. now clouds were moving in, and covered the sun, it happened right after that. ive been shooting professionally for 13 years, so im good about giving a camera time to acclimate to temps. But this stuff, this is weird.

[KellyLynne1968]

im going to try a prime down there. i ran this past some other pros, some said "that shouldn't happen" and some said "yeah i had that issue with zoom but not with prime. And I do not use prime so ive ordered a nifty fifty just to see if that solves the issue. It is very frustrating!! i use silica packets and everything, have just not found an answer.