Traveling With Your Camera/Lens fogging

luvinrunnin

Senior Member
When I went outside the other day to get a few pics, my lens fogged up. Got a pretty neat shot because of it, but I wasn't too happy about it as it takes forever in the humidity here for it to clear up.

Any tricks to keep it from doing that? All I had to wipe it with was my T-shirt, and even then it still took it a bit to dry.

Any other tips for traveling with your camera are greatly appreciated as well.
 

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
I have a Nikon branded lens cloth that tucks away in a little pouch clipped to the strap for such occasions. (it's also great for cleaning glasses)
 

torgo

New member
Your best bet is to follow the same advice for cold-weather shooting when going inside - put the equipment in a sealed plastic bag and let it acclimate for about 20 minutes. It's a pain to have to wait, so some planning helps (not always realistic, though).

The main problem with just wiping it off is that since the glass is still cold, it's just going to re-fog. There was some discussion about this on a podcast recently (I want to say it was TWiP) and one of the people on there talked about a Nikon cloth that's specifically for defogging. They brought up the point that while that may help, you don't want to go changing lenses until the camera's warmed up, because then you increase the changes of fogging your mirror, sensor, rear element of the lens, etc.

It's a pain in the butt with no really good solution, since temperature and humidity swings can get condensation on parts that you can't see. Bleh. :mad:
 

luvinrunnin

Senior Member
Thanks torgo, it is a pain!!! I had to wipe the lens a few times before it finally quit fogging up. I hadn't thought of putting it in a zip loc bag. At least that would minimize the amount of condensation on the lens.
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
I've played paintball for about 20 years and fogging has been an enemy of mine the whole time. Cooler air outside + sweaty goggles = you can't see a darn thing. Honestly, I've tried everything the anti-fog market has to offer: Sprays, creams, special cloths, you name it. Nothing works very well.

The best thing I've done is a home remedy. Don't ask me why it works, but it does help better than anything else: use a potato.

Just peel a potato small enough to where you can smear it around on your lens. Let this dry for about 20 minutes, and you'll notice a slight haze has formed on the glass. Simply buff this off with a clean lens-safe cloth and you're good to go. It's not permanent, so give it another coating at least once a month.
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Never heard of using a potato. I'll have to try that. Also cotton cloth is an abrasive and should never be used to clean a lens. Always use a cloth made for that purpose. I keep one handy in a small plastic ziplock bag to keep it dry and clean. Another thing you should never do is blow on the lens or any coated photo filter with your breath. I know it can almost be a knee jerk reaction but don't do it. Your exhaled breath contains Ammonia and over time it can be damaging to the coatings.
 

luvinrunnin

Senior Member
Thanks Joseph, I was afraid I ought not be using cotton. I'll have to see if I can find my cloth I have for my glasses. BTW, I found the 70-300mm lens on sale for $399 on special at Adorama and snagged it. Was $60 cheaper than I'd found it anywhere.
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
LOL @ eggs and bacon. Maybe a pit stop at Bob Evans before a day of shooting would be in order! :)

+1 on not using a cotton cloth. Bad bad bad! Always use a specialty cloth designed for lenses, they're usually microfiber and do not contain the lint particles that can scratch lenses. Always keep one in your camera bag! I got mine at MPEX and it comes with its own little plastic wallet for storage.
 

luvinrunnin

Senior Member
Hmmm, I looked again at what I ordered and it IS the VR, BUT is a refurbished lens, which I didn't realize. What do you think?? I haven't received it and can always return it. That's what I get for staying up all hours and ordering in the middle of the night!!!
 

torgo

New member
Never heard of using a potato. I'll have to try that. Also cotton cloth is an abrasive and should never be used to clean a lens. Always use a cloth made for that purpose. I keep one handy in a small plastic ziplock bag to keep it dry and clean. Another thing you should never do is blow on the lens or any coated photo filter with your breath. I know it can almost be a knee jerk reaction but don't do it. Your exhaled breath contains Ammonia and over time it can be damaging to the coatings.
If your breath has ammonia in it, you need to be checked for kidney failure, as it's a common symptom.

I agree about using a microfibre or other lens cleaning cloth, but breathing on a lens won't chemically damage it. You might end up getting spit on it, which can smear, but you won't be peeling coatings off.
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Ammonia is one of the waste elements the body gets rid of through the lungs. One of the experiments we did in a collage bio chemistry course was to test for these elements and Ammonia was the easiest to test for. Ammonia in small amounts in the exhaled breath is normal. Large amounts of it of course is not normal. Breathing on the lens is not going to cause instant pealing up of the coating but "over time" doing this multiple of times can cause damages to the coating surfaces.
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Luvinrunnin - A referb us usually as good as new. I would not be concerned just because it' a referb. These referbs are return purchases and usually not defective. They are gone over by Nikon repair technicians and any problems are corrected. They usually also have a new item guarantee. When you get it check it out, take a bunch of photos. If it works and there are no obvious problems then you have a good buy.
 
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