Tip to avoid condensation when coming indoors

I have a handy tip to help those shooting in both cold weather and indoors where it is warm and humid. I have used the Ziploc method of keeping condensation from my camera and lenses for years but I tried something this weekend and it worked great.
We went to the zoo for a day of shooting and though some animals were outside, most of the shooting was indoors. In the past we would go into the tropic house and have to wait sometimes 20 minutes or so before I could take the lens and camera out of the Ziploc else suffer immediate condensation. Well this time I put one of those hand warmer packets into each Ziploc and it kept the lenses and camera nice and warm. Another 5 minutes or so once inside the house and I could easily take the camera from the Ziploc with zero condensation. Of course, taking the warm camera out into the cold poses no condensation risk so after I take my outside shot I would put the camera back into its nice toasty bag while walking to the next house. The pack lasted for about 4 hours or so and were pretty cheap.

Good tip, and a process I've used for years.

Mark

Excellent tip!

I actually ran into the opposite problem:

Coming from an air conditioned interior to a warm, humid outdoors: Fogged everything, lens, viewfinder, etc... I couldn't take pictures for about 30 mins outside. Kind of a bummer when you have an opportunity to shoot something really cool, but fleeting.

MRaiford wrote in post #2514231
Excellent tip!

I actually ran into the opposite problem:

Coming from an air conditioned interior to a warm, humid outdoors: Fogged everything, lens, viewfinder, etc... I couldn't take pictures for about 30 mins outside. Kind of a bummer when you have an opportunity to shoot something really cool, but fleeting.

Ya know, the hand heaters would work in that case as well. The whole trick is to keep the temp of the equipment above the dew point. I was surprised at how toasty those things kept the equipment. Probably saved two hours throughout the day not having to wait for the temps to equalize.

GjL....could you give us a brand name and where to purchase?

Not familiar with the product.

Thanks in advance

You can get the hand warmers in most sporting goods stores. Walmart has them in sporting goods.

Jon, The Elder wrote in post #2514528
GjL....could you give us a brand name and where to purchase?

Not familiar with the product.

Thanks in advance

The ones I used were called "Hand Warmers" That link shows all of the products and it's specs online but my wife picked them up at our local Sport shop and she said it was less than the online price. They come to about 50 cents per heater. There are many other brands as well and I'm sure that they will do the same thing, but those are the ones I used.

Well if you are shooting outside in cold then put your camera and lens in a zip bag with a hand warmer. Isn't that the same thing as going from cold to warm?

pagefile wrote in post #2516999
Well if you are shooting outside in cold then put your camera and lens in a zip bag with a hand warmer. Isn't that the same thing as going from cold to warm?

Well, I'm not a physicist or meteorologist so I’m kind of guessing why it worked so well. I figure it's not the warm air that is the problem. You can take something cold and put it into a warm place without any condensation as long as there is no moisture to condense out. The Ziploc contains the dry outside air so there is not enough moisture to condense out when you put the cold equipment in there. Also, when you open the Ziploc, all of the hot air escapes and the air is replaced with the cold outside air. Sealing up the bag then allows the air and your equipment to slowly warm. By the time you walk over to where you’re going, the equipment has had a chance to heat up and when you take it out inside, no condensation. That’s my best guess as to how it works, but work it did, and wonderfully.

Good tip about Ziplock bag + hand warmers, thanks for sharing!

Tried it today at the Detroit Zoo Butterfly room. 22° outside and 75°+ inside and humid. Was shooting in about 5 minutes.

MRaiford wrote in post #2514231
Excellent tip!

I actually ran into the opposite problem:

Coming from an air conditioned interior to a warm, humid outdoors: Fogged everything, lens, viewfinder, etc... I couldn't take pictures for about 30 mins outside. Kind of a bummer when you have an opportunity to shoot something really cool, but fleeting.

This is especially tough in hot humid places where your gear sits in air conditioned comfort through the night.

The only way that's given me moderate success is to put the camera bag into a hard suitcase for the night. That way, it didnt get so cold through the night.

kram wrote in post #2521495
This is especially tough in hot humid places where your gear sits in air conditioned comfort through the night.

The only way that's given me moderate success is to put the camera bag into a hard suitcase for the night. That way, it didnt get so cold through the night.

I have also found that I can put my bag by a window or slider that has sunshine towarm up the "package" before I go out, Does not cure the problem completely but sure helps it:p

I wonder if this is something a 1 series camrea is immune to? Assuming the lens also has weather sealing?

Just wondering.

I got a lot of those hand warmers, looks like im going to put a few im my camrea bag.

StealthLude wrote in post #2533188
I wonder if this is something a 1 series camrea is immune to? Assuming the lens also has weather sealing?

Just wondering.

I got a lot of those hand warmers, looks like im going to put a few im my camrea bag.

I would figure that weather sealing would help keep condensation from forming on the inside of the camera and lens, but I do not believe weather sealing means air tight so the air inside the can still have some humidity. But the outside surfaces would suffer just the same. This helped with the surface of the lenses as well.