billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I used to shoot winter scenes all the time until I moved to Florida for six months. I usually just set my camera on the table for about an hour until all the condensation was gone from lenses. Never, never, had a problem. Nikon of course.

catchlight.. Loc: Wisconsin USA- Halden Norway

I'm a former Technical director and designer so I looked at this problem from a different perspective...getting rid of the moisture in the air. I found A small, inexpensive reusable silica gel device that will work year round and is a cheep insurance policy to storing your gear. I use a plastic storage box even for transport of my gear. Gun people love this as a side note. This will ensure inside of gear will dry as well (like car inside condensation on a windshield). The indicator will keep you informed and tell you when to change. It is very capable at a 500 cf rating. Have two on hand so you can simply dry and swap units. I hope it may be of value:) https://www.amazon.com/HOMY-Renewable-Dehumidifier-Dehumidifiers-Environmentally/dp/B0188Z71SW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481123570&sr=8-2&keywords=Moisture+Absorber+Device

GraveyDave

Swimming competitions in the winter time are the worst. Unless you have hot dry air coming in to warm the place up that you can immediately put your camera in front of when you come in from the cold, you have to place it in a plastic bag and wait until you feel that the camera is room temperature. I put a thin towel around the camera and then put it in plastic. It takes too long for the camera to warm up inside a camera bag. I still get there an hour early to make sure that it won't frost over when I begin to shoot. No amount of wiping will help because the smearing on the lens will distort the files. Then the divers splash a whole bunch of water on the camera anyway !!

Silverman Loc: Michigan

With all these opinions, I am kind of confused, so, keep a large Ziplock bag in camera bag, outside in cold weather, then before coming inside, I put Camera, lens, etc. sealed inside ziplock bag, then bring Ziplock bag inside and let sit until it is room temperature,.... but how do you know how long wait until opening ziplock bag? Is my understanding correct?

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

Condensation inside the lens has nothing to do with growing fungus. Fungus grows in warm and humid conditions. Sustained warm and humid conditions and darkness. UV light--even a little bit--kills it and/or prevents it from growing. If you bring a cold camera into a heated room, or take a cold camera from AC outside into a hot environment, what is happening inside the lens is that the water in suspension in air inside the lens is condensing onto the cold surfaces. As soon as everything heats up, it evaporates and goes back into suspension. Even weather-sealed lenses are not hermetically sealed, so the relative humidity of the air in the lens will eventually match that of the environment. So momentary condensation inside the lens is not going to promote fungus growth, but storing the lens in a hot, humid and dark environment certainly will.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Nope. It doesn't matter.

For one, almost no DSLR gear is fully "weather sealed".... 1D series cameras and L-series lenses have extra seals for weather/dust resistance. But they still have to "breathe".... allow transfer of air inside and out.

Unless you always use and store them inside an underwater case such as scuba divers use (Fantasea, Ikelite, Sea & Sea, etc.), they're no more or less susceptible to internal condensation than any other lenses or cameras.

Colorado is naturally a very dry climate.... Plus the typical forced air heating used in most homes make interiors even drier there during the winter months. (Several places I lived in Colo., we had humidifiers on the heating systems, to help offset the extreme dryness).

But to be really safe, even in dry climates the plastic bag & warm-up period method is still a good precaution. I used a couple large plastic garbage bags and simply put my entire camera bag inside one, sealed it up... then put that into a second bag and sealed it up. Alternatively, leave your gear out in the cold (just pull out the batteries and memory cards). LCD screens also can be slowed and discolored/darkened in cold temps... but they recover fully once warmed up.

Condensation forms on surfaces due to a combination of temperature differences and the moisture content of the air. And there can be temporary conditions effecting this. For example, if someone takes a long, hot, steamy shower in a bathroom adjacent to where you keep your camera gear, that will boost the ambient humidity in that immediate are for a while.

If condensation is forming on outside surfaces of lenses and cameras, you can bet it's also forming on internal surfaces where it can be much more problematic. Especially around electronics!

It can help a lot also to put some sort of silica packet(s) in your camera bag, to help absorb any ambient moisture. Perhaps the most ideal (i.e., dust free) desiccants to use around photo gear are the permanent packets inside metal cases that can be "recharged" by drying them out in the oven, once they become saturated. They have an indicator that changes color when saturated. Then it's just a matter of putting them in low-temperature oven for a couple hours to dry them out for re-use. (https://www.amazon.com/Indicating-Desiccant-Silica-Canister-Pelican/dp/B0018O035O/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1481130063&sr=1-4)

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

I am a professional videographer in Asia, and often shoot in extreme weather conditions--Papua New Guinea, Philippines, China, etc. I sometimes get heavy condensation inside the lenses, etc, but the cameras are stored in controlled conditions. Although I've had cases in which I could not shoot for an hour because of condensation deep inside those monstrous 21-element zoom lenses, neither cameras nor lenses has ever suffered any damage or problems from said condensation, which is a totally temporary affair.

All of the concern expressed in this thread is, in my experience, totally groundless, as long as the camera is stored in the correct condition after use--which is at a relative humidity of 50% or lower and in the light.

If you keep your lenses at that humidity and store without caps in the light, you will not develop fungus no matter what the temperature, and below 20C/68F the humidity doesn't matter.

In Papua New Guinea we were living in huts for a month. The relative humidity was always between 90-100% and the temperature averaged 90F. Rain like under a shower. I often could not see rhrought the eyepiece because it was totally fogged up. This was in tape days, and even stored in a Peli case loaded with Silica Gel, the camera would automatically go into record mode when switched on in the morning because of internal condensation, until it warmed up.

True, the tripod had to be rebuilt after the documentary because all the internal plates were completely corroded, but NO lasting problems with the camera transport, the electronics or the optics.

catchlight.. Loc: Wisconsin USA- Halden Norway

Worth a watch as related to the outcome of condensation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6wbHDZVULE

MtnMan Loc: ID

Likely not a problem in CO, as in ID, due to low humidity.

The only issue in cold weather is not to breathe on cold lens or viewfinder.

Harry_in_England

Aahhhh! Thank you mcveed.
I was always aware of potential problems that can be caused by condensation but I believed that simply keeping my camera in its padded bag for a few hours when I got home would be sufficient. I've been an amateur photographer since childhood and I have never had any damage caused by moisture but it seems I was just always lucky. Your clear explanation of relative humidity and dew point has beaten any others I have read on the internet and I have finally grasped the principles.
From now on, when I go out on a cold day (or night), I will take plastic bags and seal my camera, lenses, flash etc inside them before coming home. I shall no longer unknowingly risk wrecking any of my gear. I can't afford to replace it!

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

The padded bag for "a few hours" works just fine, and you are not risking anything.

It's just very slow, that's all.

Bugfan Loc: Toronto, Canada

In the winter when the temperatures are thirty below zero bringing the camera into a humid house instantly causes all kinds of condensation you don't want. In the summer when temperatures are thirty degrees or higher walking into an air conditioned house has the same effect. Similarly taking a camera outside from an airconditioned house into a humid day is deadly and taking a warm camera outside in the winter is just as deadly.

I have some zip lock bags in my kit that I use. The camera and the lens sits in those bags before I move them into the opposite climate. I then usually allow the gear to acclimatize before opening the bag. Another approach I use is to warm the gear in the car. I have vents on the floor so I can place the bags with the gear on the floor and they will warm up in the winter or cool down in the summer. The air in the car tends to be very dry so you only have to worry about the temperature before you open the bags.

This all sounds like a lot of fussing but remember, digital cameras are electronic so if there is condensation inside the camera body you run the risk of a short. In the lenses there is electronics too that could short and there is an aperture that definitely doesn't want to ever get wet, that makes it stick instead of opening and closing smoothly. Oh yes, and of course the higher end stuff is "sealed" or so they say. It is in the sense that it manages to exclude dust and rain drops. However condensation is part of the air and the bodies and lenses are not air tight, where air can go so can humidity.

whitewolfowner

The only time keeping it in the bag will work is if the bag is water proof, but it's better than nothing. Make sure the zipper is closed. The better the gear, the less it's a problem.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

The bag does not have to be water proof. That is silly.

The bag merely needs to prevent warm moist air from entering. If the only opening is at the top, warm air will not enter unless there is something else causing the air to move. If the air is not moving it will not sink into the cooler air in the bag! The bag can sit there with the top open for hours with no effect.

The problem with a camera bag (or anything else) compared to a plastic trash bag is how long it takes the camera inside to warm up enough to remove. The camera bag is fairly good insulation. A ZipLoc bag full of air is also good insulation. The best is the trash bag, which air can be squeezed out easily. It also can be "opened", at least to allow someone to reach down inside to retrieve a memory card, without letting in warm air.

But in a pinch, almost anything will work! Wrap the camera in a towel, in newspaper, in a jacket, or whatever.

whitewolfowner

Hate to remind you but cold air falls, heat rises and condensation forms whenever the exchange takes place.