Lieb Loc: Idaho

I recently moved to Lima, Peru. I´ll be here for eighteen months. I have a Canon 80 D with three zooms lenses and a 50 mm prime. Humidity remains 80-90% year round and the air is full of dust. It never rains here. We dust our apartment at least twice a week to remove a thick layer of black dust from all horizontal objects.

I thought I noticed a post recently that humidity could be a problem with zoom lenses causing moisture to enter the lens. I assume dust could also be sucked into the lens. Is this a problem and can it be remedied?

I'm also planning excursions outside Lima to the Amazon River Basin where humidity is severe and to Machu Picchu (dust and humidity shouldn't be a problem here).

I'm using a bridge camera until I get this issue resolved.

Advice appreciated.

bgrn Loc: Pleasant Grove UT

Can't answer your question about humidity. But I can say you have to try eating out at EDO''s Sushi. We were there a couple years ago and my mouth still starts watering when I think of Lima. :).

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

A zoom that zooms externally, such as my EF100-400 L II where the barrel extends and retracts as you zoom, acts as an air pump and will draw in dust and moisture. It draws air through the camera body. Open your card slot door as you work the zoom and you can feel the air flow. No camera body is sealed air tight so that can be a problem. As far as dust, I can't give you a solution other then to suggest that you learn to clean your sensor on a regular basis. For moisture, if you are returning to an air conditioned building then once you are inside extend and retract the barrel several times. Air conditioning dries air so you will be expelling the damper outside air and drawing in the drier air from inside the building. Primes don't extend so you don't get the pumping action. Some zooms, such as my EF70-200 L II extend internally. The barrel length doesn't change when zooming so you don't get the pumping action from them either. As always, be aware of dusty or windy conditions when changing lenses.

Joe Blow

I would be more afraid of fungus inside the lenses than anything else. Fungus usually likes warm, damp, dark places.

You could prevent this, or reduce it, by drying your lenses after use. Keeping them in a warm spot, such as a window, to allow the inside temperature to vaporize the moisture inside the lens. Also, you can use desiccants, such as silica sacs, in your camera bag.

If you get fungus, you might need to have them disassembled and cleaned by a pro.

Good luck.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Would keeping camera/lenses under UV light regard fungus???

bapsey

As I posted earlier, starting in 1959 I spent two years in the jungles of New Guinea with a Nikon F and 3 lens. I kept the camera and lens in an airtight metal case with a bag of silica gel. I never got fungus on my lens but my binoculars would not fit in the case and they did get fungus growing inside the lens. Silicagel is available in convenient bag sizes and can be dried out every six months or so in a warm oven.

johntaylor333

My suggestion would be to get out of Lima to the interesting places up in the mountains - Machu Pichu, Cusco, Titicaca, Nazca, etc.