Fog on lenses

I have a problem that most of must also have, when the temperature of the water is much colder than the housing, when there are thermoclimates the housing lenses port gets like foggy (I dont know the word in english) I've tried to put silica gel inside the housing , tried to get it fresher with wet towel or in some boats bring it underwater but sometime it still hapens.Can you tell me about your experience with this.

Thank you

hmm... luckily i have never had this problem (i avoid cold water....)

are you using a metal or plastic housing? i think that could have something to do with it.

I know when I am in tropical areas and the videocam is inside the air conditioned room, the second I walk out into the humidity, everything fogs up. I then have to let it sit for 30 minutes or so till the humidity equalizes and the condensation dries up.

If I am in a hurry, then using compressed air hose to dry things off has worked.

Lula

What's happening is that the heat from your camera is causing the moisture in your housing to condense as the lens port cools from the water. Basically, silica gel and using a anti fog coating like in masks or car windows. A polyurethane housing suffers from this a lot more often due to the poor heat conductivity properties. I know some people who use a hair dryer to push out the moist air and then close the housing.

This seems to be a common problem for some. I have only had it once and the cure is simple if you prepare in advance. This will happen as Dru said because of heat differences. The answer is a simple zip lock bag. Place your cam in the bag and allow it to sit for 10 minutes to acclimate to the temperature. Then, in the housing it goes and you should be fine. This works great especially if you are taking your cam from an air conditioned room to a hot outside area or into warm water but it should work the same from a warm room to a cold environment.

Steve B)

This is a very common problem with polycarbonate housings. Here are a few pointers:

1) If there is space, insert some silica gel packs into your housing, between the camera and the housing wall. These acn be bought for a few dollars from camera shops.

2) When going into cold water, point the lens up, and introduce your camera into the water slowly. Condensation will tend to form thinly and almost invisibly on the back of the housing instead of the front (i.e. the port).

3) If you're using an external strobe triggered by your internal flash, set your flash compensation to the minimum (e.g. -2.0). This is done by pressing the Lighting +/- sign on your camera. Only do this if you're using a non-TTL external strobe.

Good luck!

On Britannic 98 the guys with (metal) Amphibico VH1000 housings were getting this problem. They solved it to some extent by purging dry air from their tanks into the housings as they closed the door.

Hi,

first of all thank you all for the helpfull awnsers.

I use a Ikelite housing, I usually load the camera into the housing in the hotel room or at home.Sometimes like the last time I was in Cabo de Palos in Spain the humidity was very high.I use some small silica bags.The dome port in my housing attaches to the camera inside the housing with a sponge o-ring, so I don't know if the silica in the housing has any effect.So, my biggest problem is taking the camera from a warm enviroment to a colder one, sometime depending on the water temperature it only happens at 20-30 meters depth

Thanks

use silica gel, but use the kind with the blue/pink color indicator, so you know it's good. It goes bad pretty quickly in a big housing. it can be recharged.

Matt,

You said something very interesting...."Polycarbonate housings seem to have more of this type of problem."

I did not know that it was housing type particular.....why would it be so for Polycarbonate? I had an Aqua Video housing in 87 with an old Minolta 8mm. Don't remember ever having that problem then tho.

Steve B)

the part of the housing which gets cold the fastest, and hits the dew point temperature the fastest, will get the condensation. In a polycarbonate housing, the poly is a better insulator than the thinner glass in the port, so you may get condensation on the port. You may also get it on the metal buttons which should cool fast.

There are long threads on this in the archives, and I got on a soapbox... I say, even if you aren't getting condensation, you are putting your camera in a humid environment, which is bad if you want to keep it a long time, and if the environment is particularly cold/humid, your camera, on return to the surface, may be the coldest thing around and *it* may get all the condensation, even worse. So, my soapbox is, forget all the rituals, the equalization, the air conditioning, all that, and just dry out your housing with some dessicant.

Hey folks,

I have not experienced this issue with my bigger L&M Bluefin housing. However, i have had major issues with smaller housings that have less air to insulate. My most recent experience with this issue was on assignment in Idaho shooting white water rafting. The air was humid and warm. The water was frigid. So, when ever i started the day, the camera would fog for the first 30 mins of shooting. I tried Rainex, silicon packs, getting the cam to ambient termperature (all things that work well in reasonable conditions) and none worked.

The problem was that the differeince in temperature between the housing/lens and the water was so extreme that it would fog when immersed until this difference was reduced. What finally worked was progressive cooling of the housing/cam in the cold water prior to shooting. 10 -20 minutes and i was good to go.

-shawn

Hi Lula

Funnily enough I have had exactly the same problem before at Cabo de Palos. I guess it must be something in the air! Seriously though it can get very humid in that area, especially in summer.

One thing to bear in mind when using an Ikelite housing is to never ever ever leave it in direct sunlight as it will cause fogging most of the time if you do. Try to cover the housing up with a towel (preferably wet) or put it in a well shaded area. That can be a bit hard to do on a shore dive or a rib, so you may even have to use your own shadow on occasions! It will solve 95% of you problems though and stop you missing out on getting some great footage!

Hope this helps

Cheers, Simon

Simon is onto it, keep it out of the sun.

When the air is colder than the water it can happen as well. Standing on the back of the Whale Shark Boat we are freezing by the cold winds in July but once in the water it's like a warm bath. I would dip the housing into the water beforehand and then ponit it at the sun to get rid of any fogging in the lens. Took like a minute to go away. That's the only time we have had any problems, but can see how the plastic clear types could be more of a problem with it. Have never used any silica gel packs this end.