What does everyone do to protect their cameras, lenses and laptops from high humidity if they're not staying in a hotel with AC?
Our hotel in Lembeh doesn't have AC. I won't have a pelican case with me, so I can't seal my gear in one of those with some silica gel. Any ideas on what I can do to protect my gear? What about fogging? Is there a chance the housing will fog up on the inside due to the high humidity? I've only ever stayed in hotels/LOBs with AC, so this is new for me. Any tips would be appreciated.
Your gear will survive. IMHO, people do more damage to their cameras & lenses by taking them out of a cold, A/C room into the warm, humid air outside - causing internal condensation. Many of the camera rooms at the resorts are not air-conditioned and the equipment does just fine. It won't hurt to throw a new desiccant pack into the housing before you seal it up, but it usually isn't needed.
Laptop and camera should work fine in tropical locations. Remeber that people in asia carry cameras and laptops around too and they don't always have the AC on. It's rather the condensation caused by sudden change in temperature that can short the circuit.
If you are worrying about the condensation forming inside the housing underwater, as jlyle suggested, put a pack of silica gel inside the housing and allow about 30min to absorb the humidity inside, depending on how big is the cavity. Or if you don't have it and desperately need one then ask somebody to start up a car and turn on the AC, let the cool dry air go inside the housing and it should do the trick. The condensation may form outside the housing afterward but nothing to worry, your housing is waterproof. Be careful not to open the housing again outside though.
Thanks everyone: I guess I'll bring along some silica gel just in case. I'm going to have to open the camera housing during the day to change lenses and/or cards anyway.
Don't leave your housing/cam in direct sunlight between dives. The moisture within could condensate. Otherwise, there should be no problem in high humidity location like SE Asia. At least for me (other than the one-time encounter with condensation due to direct sunlight).
What does everyone do to protect their cameras, lenses and laptops from high humidity if they're not staying in a hotel with AC?
When we go to Lembeh each year for 2 weeks, our cameras/housings stay in the non-airconditioned camera rooms.
Never had a problem!
Yet !
Hi Natalie
We have a purpose built camera room at KBR in the Lembeh Strait. It is not air-conditioned quite deliberately. As others have said, leaving cameras in the ambient temperature and humidity is better, by our experience, than moving them from AC to non-AC. Taking a couple of silica packs is a good idea just in case of fogging.
Similarly no-one seems to have problems with laptops etc. What can be a problem is the longer term charging and re-charging of equipment when the power supply is not a reliable, steady voltage. This can impact on the longevity of the battery. But this should not be a problem on a relatively short dive trip.
Ditto. It's a non-issue. But as stated above, keep stuff out of direct sunlight. Less chance of condensation if everything stays at the same temperature. No or minimal temperature differential = no condensation.
Actually, the hotter the temperature of the camera the less condensation you will have inside. The problem occurs when the temp of the camera reaches the dewpoint temperature.
A good guide is to never take a COLD camera into a warm humid environment. If you must take your camera out of a cold area, keep it inside a sealed container (ziplock, camera bag, housing, etc until it warms up.
Cheers
James
Breathing gas is of course very dry and if there is a risk of fogging I purge my housing using a blow gun attached to the LP hose.
