Fog/Condensation issues

MDJAK wrote in post #10649735
I respect the answers here, but they're not that helpful. Why?

I find myself presently in South Carolina. My camera gear is in my condo at 68 degrees. It's close to 90 outdoors and very humid. The moment I take my stuff out, condensation/fog all over.

Airtight bag? Where is one to get that? I have the 5DII and 200 f2L. That'd be an awfully large ziploc.

I've taken almost no pictures because of it. I guess if I took it out for an hour or so it would disappear, but I'd have to be walking around and not riding in my car, that's for sure.

Sucks.

A kitchen garbage bag will work, just tie a knot on the end. When we're at the beach I put my camera/lenses outside on the porch first thing. Most are in a Pelican but I use the trash bag approach for the 500mm which is too big for my Pelican.

I'm going to put my gear, which is in my Lowepro backpack, in my trunk right now, as we are heading down to Charleston, SC tomorrow morning to experience that old southern charm.

Hopefully two hours in the trunk of the car with the AC on in the car won''t cool it down.

thanks, everyone.

mark

and I wrapped the backpack in a big garbage bag.

Alok-saks work great. I've been able to find some that fit each of my bodies and each of my lenses. I use these when I go to the Caribbean and live on a sailboat for several weeks at a time.

j.

MDJAK wrote in post #10650605
I'm going to put my gear, which is in my Lowepro backpack, in my trunk right now, as we are heading down to Charleston, SC tomorrow morning to experience that old southern charm.

Hopefully two hours in the trunk of the car with the AC on in the car won''t cool it down.

thanks, everyone.

mark

Have fun, it's a great city! Probably my favorite place to go!

MDJAK wrote in post #10649735
I respect the answers here, but they're not that helpful. Why?

I find myself presently in South Carolina. My camera gear is in my condo at 68 degrees. It's close to 90 outdoors and very humid. The moment I take my stuff out, condensation/fog all over.

As long as the temperature of your equipment is below the dew point you will have condensation when you venture outdoors in humid climates. You really have only three choices, seal your equipment in a container in the dry indoor air and don't open the container until the gear's temperature is above the dew point, leave the gear in the trunk of your car or get accustomed to a higher temperature inside your condo.

Keep in mind that the bag does not need to be fully airtight. A trash bag sealed with a twist tie is more than sufficient. Your equipment will warm rapidly in the sun, especially if the bag is clear plastic. The gear will also quickly warm up in the trunk of your car while driving to your shoot site.

Those of us that shoot in extreme cold conditions have condensation issues as well when bringing our equipment indoors. The gear needs to be sealed before going indoors and allowed to warm up to room temperature..

Beachcomber Joe wrote in post #10653015
As long as the temperature of your equipment is below the dew point you will have condensation when you venture outdoors in humid climates. You really have only three choices, seal your equipment in a container in the dry indoor air and don't open the container until the gear's temperature is above the dew point, leave the gear in the trunk of your car or get accustomed to a higher temperature inside your condo.

Keep in mind that the bag does not need to be fully airtight. A trash bag sealed with a twist tie is more than sufficient. Your equipment will warm rapidly in the sun, especially if the bag is clear plastic. The gear will also quickly warm up in the trunk of your car while driving to your shoot site.

Those of us that shoot in extreme cold conditions have condensation issues as well when bringing our equipment indoors. The gear needs to be sealed before going indoors and allowed to warm up to room temperature..

The doesn't just need to be warm to the touch, it needs to be (internals as well) at temp. If the inside is below the dewpoint but the outside is not, then you just can't see the condensation. It takes considerable time for a thermal mass the size of a camera to come to temp.

Dewpoint is dewpoint regardless of whether you are going from AC to humid outdoors or cold weather shooting to warm inside. The more dangerous situation is the first however because there is more moisture available by a long ways. Indoors in cold climates during the winter the absolute amount of moisture available in the warm air is still far lower and condensation is significantly less.

J.

Well, I don't understand the scientific end of things, but I did as suggested by Mike, the Mod. I put my camera bag in my trunk last night, went out today, went on a ferry to Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC., where the Civil War started. No condensation problems at all.

Thanks, one and all.

mark

well let's see some pics!

One problem prevents me posting pics. Besides my utter lack of talent, though that never stopped me before, I failed to bring a card reader and I never have a cable. Almost bought one in an Apple store yesterday but for forty bucks I resisted.

Dumb question but is there any rule of thumb for knowing when the camera temp has risen above dewpoint? I mean, if I'm going from 70 degrees indoors to 95 degrees outdoors how long can I expect it to take for it to rise above dewpoint, assuming the camera's in a clear bag within a black Domke bag?

TheArchitect wrote in post #10663966
Dumb question but is there any rule of thumb for knowing when the camera temp has risen above dewpoint? I mean, if I'm going from 70 degrees indoors to 95 degrees outdoors how long can I expect it to take for it to rise above dewpoint, assuming the camera's in a clear bag within a black Domke bag?

No way of knowing for certain, simply because the dew point is simply the temp at which the air can hold no more moisture. And that can vary considerably, based upon the humidity.

Wilt wrote in post #10664805
No way of knowing for certain, simply because the dew point is simply the temp at which the air can hold no more moisture. And that can vary considerably, based upon the humidity.

That's what I expected the answer to be but it doesn't hurt to ask. Thanks.

TheArchitect wrote in post #10665993
That's what I expected the answer to be but it doesn't hurt to ask. Thanks.

Almost all weather services report it. If you have a smart phone, weatherunderground.com does a great job in providing good mobile weather data and dewpoint is included in current conditions reporting. With that, who needs a rule of thumb?

J.