gitano48 Loc: Houston

Bringing a f3.5/85-205mm lens out f retirement, I noticed visible moisture in between the elements making the shots foggy. Any ideas on how best to dry it out (besides putting it in the oven)??
I would appreciate any suggestions.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Jar of rice

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

There are drying bags for humid closets, putting the lens in a sealed box with one of those may do the trick... but remember they drip wet calcium chloride so isolate the lense in an open-top plastic container.
Lowes, "Damp Rid" for $9

I bought a lens 100 mm macro that had mold inside the outer lens. It cost me $20 to buy a spanner wrench to take the outer lens off and clean the mod... worked out well.

Good Luck

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

gitano48 Loc: Houston

Good adsorber, thank you.

gitano48 Loc: Houston

Will certainly try it; thank you.
BTW, my wife has family in Tampa. I’m sure they’re happy about the playoffs.

TallTree

Rice.

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

I am not in favour of using rice to dry anything. Oh yes, rice does take up moisture, however, rice can also be very dusty. Because of the dust, using it may solve one problem and cause another one.
I have been saving the little packets of dessicant that are packed with many items you buy these days. Before using them, put them in the oven at low heat (100 degrees F, 40 degrees C) for an hour or so to make sure there is no moisture left in them, then pack them with the item to be dried in a container and leave it overnight or longer.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

If it is a good, sharp, high-quality lens that you were satisfied with weh it was clean, do not attempt DYI cleaning, do not place it in an oven or put it in a jar with foodstuffs. Send it into a proper repair service and have it
professionally cleaned.

Even if you manage to dry it out, the moisture will probably leave residue behind- possible mould.

Desiccants such a silica gel will prevent a build-up of moisture but it won't' remove the damage case by existing moisture.

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

Great advice!!!

riderxlx Loc: DFW area Texas

I completely agree this is exactly what I would do.
Bruce

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

To Opine is Divine, but misleads people. Rice, is not one the comparison chart, certainly rice stored is already saturated at the normal range of air %Rh. However, placed in a jar and shaken over the lens as one chants; it is great drama. Placing the lens in Rice as it is cooking, not good. None who glorified the use of rice specified White, Brown, or Black Rice when it is used as a drying agent. Oh, rice is a bit dusty from removed rice bran removal.

"After 24 hours, the sponges were weighed again to see how much weight had been lost. And would you believe it—according to the results, uncooked white rice placed dead last in effectiveness as a drying agent." Regardless of what your Aunt Sally told you ... Rice ain't Good as a drying agent.
https://smartphones.gadgethacks.com/how-to/myth-debunked-uncooked-rice-isnt-best-way-save-your-water-damaged-phone-0154799/

I know many in UHH hate science... a shame... check out the real desiccants listed at:
https://www.sorbentsystems.com/desiccants_charts.html

E.L. Shapiro said in part: "Send it into a proper repair service and have it professionally cleaned." Bunk! On the way to and back from the repair it will be dropped, pitched across the room and perhaps delivered to someone's uncle.

Get real, get a little brave, with the Amazon lens spanner the outer ring unscrews easily, and the inner cavity is exposed and will dry with air overnight. In reassembly, the position of the removed parts is fixed by the lens construction. $16
https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-Professional-Spanner-Repairing-Stainless/dp/B00J5F73GA/ref=asc_df_B00J5F73GA/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312111900416&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=811696185807786500&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9053100&hvtargid=pla-405661153168&psc=1

If cleaning is needed [spots, dust etc] then one cleans with the same Zeiss cleaner you use when lens cleaning the outer surface of any assembled lens:
https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/us/photography/lens-accessories/cleaning-products.html

Carl1024 Loc: Kaneohe, HI 96744

My wife uses them in our linen closet 2 eliminate moisture?
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E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

OY!!! Bunk? Such language The OP could always send his lens to you via an armed and bonded courier service- so you can fix it for him.

OR- He could dip in a solution of Liquid formaldehyde combined with ZnO clycerine- a mummifying agent- that'd dry it out real good!



Seriously, I don't know if the OP is a skilled repair technician or NOT. If he is asking this question, I assume he is not. If he has the lens I am thinking of, it has many elements and a complex zoom floating component with many paper-thin spacers and shims and a helical focusing structure- not a job for an amateur. I did preface my comment by suggesting that if the lens is valuable to him, he should have it properly repaired. I won't make suggestions that might lead to the destruction of a good piece of gear.

Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA

Exactly right. Its the invisible stuff that grows after you assume its clean. We used rice one time to try and dry out a tent stored in a metal box. Months later we discovered the rice had sprouted into a plant surviving on the moisture from the tent box! LOL