drboss56

This is probably a strange question and likely unaswerable but I will ask anyway. I live in Houston which is the air conditioned city. Consequently me and my camera go from air conditioned house to car. Aside from waiting until the camera “heats up” or forgoing air conditioning in my car, is there another way to prevent fogging and condensation buildup when going from air conditioned space to unair conditioned space? I am going to Galveston in a few weeks to take sun rise and sunset photos and at this time just plan to leave the camera in the car overnight (which I don’t want to do over concern over theft) so the camera will become acclimated and just not use ac when I go to my shoots. Any suggestions or tips will be appreciated.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I would try putting the camera in the trunk of your car the night before. That way it would acclimate slowly to whatever the outside temp is. If that isn't doable, then put it in your car an hour before you leave.

bedouin Loc: Big Bend area, Texas

Never leave photo equipment visible inside a car. Or anything of value.I temporarily live in a high humidity environment but a gated community. I leave all my cameras and lenses in the car except for shooting and never deal with fogging. Shooting during a sunny day I avoid parking in direct sunlight for any lengthy period.

enygy Loc: LI, NY

Put it in an airtight plastic bag with most of the air squeezed out.

It will take longer to warm up from an A/C environment, but the condensation will occur on the outside of the bag, not on your equipment.

hankswan

I keep my cameras in their padded cases, and the lenses ect. in my rolling photo case. If possible store as high as possible in your home, highest temperature spot. I look around for where I want to begin taking photos they are start unloading gear as needed. It will take a little experimentation to find the right combination of containers and time to wait before using the equipment. I always run the a/c both going out and coming back. I live in Corpus Christi, so I understand the problem.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

When I shoot swimming I case my gear. Then I arrive and hour or so early before the competition starts. I do not open either the case or the camera until that hour is up. This prevents fogging for me. Since I shoot professionally I find that the fog inside a lens can lead to an expensive professional lens cleaning. Apparently Houston is quite humid. Doing what i do seems to fix my problem. If I do not case my gear I do not take off the lens cap nor change my lens until my camera has acclimated to the pool environment. I think the chlorine is bad for the camera but I make money doing this and is why I use a D7200 and not a D810 or any other expensive body.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

When I travel to very humid areas, as if this part of Pennsylvania isn't a very humid area in the summer, I put bodies and lenses in freezer bags with a desiccant packet. This limits the excess moisture exposure to when the gear is in use.
Excessive moisture accumulation in lenses may result in nasties growing inside that could etch the glass.

drboss56

Thank you everyone for great suggestions

CaptainPhoto

I Googled the question and here is one solution:
https://digital-photography-school.com/tips-for-avoiding-a-foggy-lens/

tomad Loc: North Carolina

Be careful, the real problem is not the fog on the outside, it's the fog on the inside. I lived in a very hot humid tropical climate for a year with a supposedly weather sealed bridge camera. I was frequently going from air condition to 90+ temp and 70+% humidity and my camera ended up with mold growing on the inside of the front lens.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Condensation, under the conditions you have just mentioned is a fact that we all know. The remedy you know it already, let your gear adapt to the new temperature by waiting, I would say about 20 minutes before you use it. No reasons to leave camera and lenses in your car overnight with the risk of a potential theft. Just follow what I just said the following morning. The only drawback is that you have to wait like those 20 minutes once out of the AC car before starting shooting.
Condensation could play havoc with your gear. Be safe.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

Freezer bag. I blew a camera going from botanical conservatory to freezing outside temps. Even after a trip to Nikon, the camera was never the same.

crabman

This is my first post ever so here goes. I am a general contractor and know about relative humidity. Relative means the amount of moisture in the air is relative to the temperature and quantity of air it is able to hold. The dewpoint of the air is the point at which it is 100% relative humidity with minor exceptions. Good rule of thumb though. Think about moisture condensing on a glass of iced tea. The surface of the glass is below the dewpoint of the air. The glass is probably 45-55 degrees. Any air that has a dewpoint above that will condense moisture on the glass. I am in South Texas. Today is brutal. This morning it is 80 degrees and 90% relative humidity. I have downloaded a free app on my phone called Psychrometric Lite. It calculates the properties of air. If I plug 80 degrees dry bulb and 90% relative humidity into my phone I find that the dewpoint of the air this morning is 76.8 degrees. That means that unless I can get my camera gear up to 76.8 degrees then I will condense moisture on the glass and all plastic and internal parts. My house is 72 degrees so it will instantly fog if I go outside. I can warm it up gently with a hair dryer for just a few minutes and be fine. Notice the outside temp is 80. ONce I go outside it will never get cooler than 80 so the fogging will not occur again.
The whole phone app thing to figure out how warm to get your equipment might seem like a pain but I do stuff like that all the time as part of my job so it takes me less than 15 seconds.

SteveLew Loc: Sugar Land, TX

I live in Sugar Land, TX and keep my car in the garage. A few hours or an entire night, if I have an early departure, I deposit my camera gear in the trunk of my car. I have never experienced any fogging of my lenses. If my car was kept on the driveway I would place my camera gear in the trunk for an hour or two before my morning shoot.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio