Fog problem's...!?

Hi Everyone!

I've just gotten back from a great trip to Malaysian Borneo...truely a Great place both above and below water!

Got some Great shoots...BUT I did however expirince a strange phenomena:

I do most of my photografy while Freediving witch means that I tend to spend longer in the water to obtaine the same nice shoots as the bubble divers..

I have 2 Silica gel "bags" in my original Fuji UW-Housing..and I do change them every 5-6 dive..

I clean my gear after every trip and if need be +I always rins my gear, tjeck my O-ring status, grease up etc after every dive...Still when ever i spendt longer than 1 hour and a half in this tropical water my lins(UW-Housing) would slowly but shurly fog up..!??? This a new problem for me...

I've spendt up to 2 hours+ in Egypt with NO problems...

Only difference is the humittety on land...but surly thats not a factor UW??+ I take care of my Silicagel not exposing them to moist until I put them in the Housing and I only open it when needed..I have the Fuji f31 so that's after app. 3-400 shoots app. a full day of diving ore a seriously heavy session...like Mandarin fish mating... fast little buggers(P&S camera)..he he!

What to do?? do I need to clean the inside like a mask..with soap and water ore what's the magic cure???(I do that after every trip!)

Thanks up front

OOH

forgot to mention that I never leave my equipment in the sun and rearly stay in AC hotels.

The Humidity in the Air will definitely be getting into your housing if you are assembling it outdoors.

Silica packs will be helping you out for the first hour .. but then as the water cools the housing down more and the humidity condensates more on your housing the silica packs will find it hard to keep up.

If you want to prevent this you will need to put your housing together in the comfort of AC where the air is dryer.

I am guessing the reason you are just noticing this now and no one else has ever brought this up is that

a) you are in a higher humidity area.

b) no one has spent as long as you in the water going down deep and back up many times.

c) set up your gear outside.

d) maybe have a plastic based housing which conducts heat slower than others?

You could try more Silica, try a session after only having opened it in the AC .. that would tell you what the problem is coming from.

As from one thread as well .. if it is say on your second session and you have opened it outside and handled it with wet hands then you are adding moisture too inside of the housing.

I am guessing it is all down to the outside opening and closing, the Silica is probably all wet before it even starts if it is outside too.

Another possible solution, if you have or there is a scuba tank around:

You have access to truck loads of dry, clean air. Your backgas! Just take an airgun attachment for your inflator hose and use it to purge your housing before sealing it. Sure, closing in a/c works, but later you'll want to swap out a battery or media card...

 

HTH, Tim

A Wetpixel search for Fog + Condesation shows up a few of the other threads and may have more tricks and hints for you to try!

It could be the difference is you're using your flash/video more lately? Those little housings tend to heat up quickly and the Fuji's are notorious for running a little hot. I had a friend who had one and used teabags...as many as she could stuff in there and there were still occasions where fogging occurred. As stated above, AC dries the air. I'd probably try running a hair dryer on it for awhile in a room with AC. Leave it open overnight and then try again.

Thanks for the input's...!

I too think that part of the probleme is the little Acrylic housing combinde with the extra use og flash!

But mostly the higher humidity....I deliberetly didden't seak out the AC rooms for assembly as they tend to be a lot colder than the outside...as I thought that was a no-no!! but running a hairdry'er seems like a sound idear...

I liked the story about the tea bags..he he! earl gray anyone...??

As always every one in here is just great...Thanks again for the quick respons and good advise!!

However I do need to adress the fact that I do NOt assemble my gear outside..but early in the morning in my room.

I'll read all the treads about fog...and deff. buy a bigger housing next time!

Thanks

Cold air contains less water vapour at a given % relative humidity than warm air. Air con air is dried as a part of conditioning. Therefore the air inside the case should be from an A/C room when case is closed. The fact that the housing is cold from the room is not a problem as in the more humid outside only the outside of the casing will get condensation, obviously not a problem U/W.

Let's continue this conversation on the other housing fog thread!

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17361&hl=