Summer heat/Cold house/camera: How do you experts handle the transition of taking your camera outside into the current summer heat/humidity for an exposure. We keep our inside house...

aaj3 Loc: Birmingham, AL

How do you experts handle the transition of taking your camera outside into the current summer heat/humidity for an exposure. We keep our inside house temp at 70º and the condensation on the cold camera is excessive preventing use until it warms up; and also, can that condensation hurt the camera or lens. I have a Z7 and several Z lens. I have even thought about purchasing a point and shoot and just leave it outside so it would be ready at all times. Thanks in advance for suggestions.

Fred Harwood Loc: Sheffield, Mass.

Raise the house temp to 75?

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

yes... 70 is a bit too cold.

Dave327 Loc: Duluth, GA. USA

You could try keeping the lens in a sealed plastic bag in the house, but that would assume room temperature. Another suggestion would be to keep the lens(es) up high near the ceiling which would be several degrees warmer. That said, I have the same problem here in metro Atlanta on high humidity days. I just set the camera in my covered back patio to acclimate and sometimes it sits there all day (LOL). Condensation will not harm a lens. My wife keeps the house at 72, but I would be fine at 78.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

aaj3 wrote:

How do you experts handle the transition of taking your camera outside into the current summer heat/humidity for an exposure. We keep our inside house temp at 70º and the condensation on the cold camera is excessive preventing use until it warms up; and also, can that condensation hurt the camera or lens. I have a Z7 and several Z lens. I have even thought about purchasing a point and shoot and just leave it outside so it would be ready at all times. Thanks in advance for suggestions.

Get a heating pad for a cat bed. Most draw 5-10 watts and come in various sizes and shapes. They maintain about 100F. Put your camera and lens on it with a towel over it an hour or two before going outside.
Moisture on the outside of your camera will possibly do some damage over time but moisture inside the camera is a much bigger problem. It can cause corrosion and fungus. Lenses that extend externally will actually pump air in and out of your camera and lens. The air inside an air conditioned building, such as a house, is relatively dry compared to humid outside air. A few pumps of the lens when entering the building will pump much of the humid air out and draw in dryer air. Primes and lenses that extend internally move little or no air.
Chewy.com has a good selection of heating pads. You can get just the bare pad with no bedding for $20-$30.

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

aaj3 wrote:

How do you experts handle the transition of taking your camera outside into the current summer heat/humidity for an exposure. We keep our inside house temp at 70º and the condensation on the cold camera is excessive preventing use until it warms up; and also, can that condensation hurt the camera or lens. I have a Z7 and several Z lens. I have even thought about purchasing a point and shoot and just leave it outside so it would be ready at all times. Thanks in advance for suggestions.

I used to have the same issue in doing weddings, air conditioned church, they out side for the bird feed toss. Usually, if I am thinking clearly, I go out side and have my assistant (really cute) hold the couple for about 3 or 4 minutes, my lenses usually cleared in this time period.
So, just give yourself a cushion of about 5 minutes and you should be fine.

Bill 45

Both LFingar and billnikon have good ideas as what you should do.

Photec

Dave327 wrote:

(LOL). Condensation will not harm a lens.

This statement is not correct. I loaned a new 150-600 lens to a friend and got it back a while later with terrible condensation stains on the elements that etched the coatings on the internal elements that can not be fixed! That is always a problem when transferring equipment from hot to cold or cold to hot conditions.

photoman43

Use a sealed bag, plastic or a waterproof dry bag. Leave the camera in it as you transition from cold/dry to hot/humid. You may have to wait 5-15 minutes depending on the lens.

In my car, I try and leave the AC off when driving to a photo shoot.

And it is always a good practice to place a large bag of desicant inside the dry bag to absorb moisture as it can cause lenses to develop mold and fungus.

aaj3 Loc: Birmingham, AL

Thanks to all for your replies. I am thinking that maybe I should just get a large zip lock bag and take the camera outside to warm up then just leave it outside for the weekend.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

aaj3 wrote:

Thanks to all for your replies. I am thinking that maybe I should just get a large zip lock bag and take the camera outside to warm up then just leave it outside for the weekend.

That should work to prevent further condensation, but, just remember that you will leaving it outside in the higher humidity and even in a zip lock bag any humidity inside of it will stay there.

PierreD

aaj3 wrote:

How do you experts handle the transition of taking your camera outside into the current summer heat/humidity for an exposure. We keep our inside house temp at 70º and the condensation on the cold camera is excessive preventing use until it warms up; and also, can that condensation hurt the camera or lens. I have a Z7 and several Z lens. I have even thought about purchasing a point and shoot and just leave it outside so it would be ready at all times. Thanks in advance for suggestions.

We always keep the inside house temp at 80-85 F and never had condensation issues when bringing equipment from outside, even when it is well above 100 F. But it's a dry heat...

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

aaj3 wrote:

Thanks to all for your replies. I am thinking that maybe I should just get a large zip lock bag and take the camera outside to warm up then just leave it outside for the weekend.

I was going to suggest that if you have a private house with an unheated/un-air conditioned garage, put it in the garage or leave it outside the back door in a plastic bag.

MJPerini

A hair dryer for about 30 seconds will usually warm it up enough to avoid the problem.. Don't over do it.

Najataagihe

Try using a soft diving housing.

It allows you to take pictures while the camera warms up.

Rain-X windshield washer fluid will remove any condensation on the bag's lens window.

It's also great in the rain.