Anti-fog treatment for lenses

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Blade Canyon

Senior Member
I live in hot, humid North Carolina, and I love my home AC. Many times I have looked outside to see a gorgeous moon or an unexpected raptor on my chimney or a fantastic sunset, but when I run outside of my 72 degree home into the heat and humidity, the lens on my camera fogs up and is unusable for at least ten minutes. In other cases, if I try to do some long exposure star trails or time-lapse night shots, dew forms on the lens.

Amazon has many choices for anti-fog treatment for lenses. I might buy the Nikon dry cloths. Has anyone found a good anti-fog treatment for lenses? Obviously it has to be something that does't leave streaks or a visible layer on the lens.
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
I had the same problem recently when I went into a cave. Took a while before the camera was usable. Same thing happened when I came out. My glasses did the same thing.

I live in hot, humid Alabama so let me know if you have any luck finding something that works and does not harm the lens.

I used my lens pen when I came out of the cave and it did a pretty good job.
 
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Deezey

Senior Member
Fog Doc. I use it for paintball lenses and for my mirror in the shower. And also my camera lens. Stuff is just amazing.
Well worth the price!
Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2
 
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Kodiak

Senior Member
Hey Blade Canyon,

Anti-fog treatment for lenses? PATIENCE!

My experience, as a canadian photographer, thought me that when it comes to
temperature differences, the best solution is a different approach and strategy!

Going from warm to cold…
This is the easy part of it: "No problem here!" resumes what has to be said about it.

Going from cold to warm …this is the tricky part:
1. When I am done shooting in the cold, I remove the cards, put the gear in the
case, and do think of opening it until some hours at room temperature in the studio.
A minimum of three hours up to 12 hours …the colder it was, the longer it should sit!

2. I don't even look in the direction of products to resolve this difficulty as these
will build up and affect and/or impair the quality of my lens.

3. Furthermore, condensation on all the inner glass-air areas and the metal barrel are
unavoidable and the only solution is really to allow some time for your gear to warm
up, like overnight!

The worse thing to do would be to open the case to accelerate the warm up process!
As long as the case is closed, the cold air, which is well known to be contain far less
humidy then warm air, will warm up in a the dryer air that remained in the case.
That is if you…

DON'T OPEN THE CASE!​
​

Have a good cooool day…
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
If your taking shots outside in the cold and return inside to the warm, leaving the camera in the case for a few hours makes sense. But when the cold is indoors and the warm/hot is outdoors I'm not sure how your suppose to work that method. Waiting in the heat for hours is not very workable for me. Nor do I want to risk leaving my camera equipment in the car or something overnight to use the next day.
Though I do agree that this method is the best for camera and lenses. :)
 
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Lscha

Senior Member
Take the camera to the condensation environment in a zip lock bag. Let the bag collect the condensation while the camera adjusts. Faster.
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
Lscha said:
Take the camera to the condensation environment in a zip lock bag. Let the bag collect the condensation while the camera adjusts. Faster.
Click to expand...
Sounds like that could be a good workable idea! :)
But be careful to remember not to put it back into the Ziploc to return into the colder air in the house or the bag will sweat on the inside of the Ziploc. Lol :)
 
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Blade Canyon

Senior Member
These are all great tips, but when I run outside to get that perfect shot of the bird-of-prey, the God light coming through the clouds, or the peak colors of a sunset... they're all gone by the time the lens is dry. I'm going to try the Fog Doc that Deezey recommended. I will put it on just one lens, and use that lens for those sudden moments when I have only 45 seconds to get the shot. I'll let you know.
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
Blade Canyon said:
These are all great tips, but when I run outside to get that perfect shot of the bird-of-prey, the God light coming through the clouds, or the peak colors of a sunset... they're all gone by the time the lens is dry. I'm going to try the Fog Doc that Deezey recommended. I will put it on just one lens, and use that lens for those sudden moments when I have only 45 seconds to get the shot. I'll let you know.
Click to expand...
Deezey's method might work very well for you.But I have a much cheaper model Nikon, and from what I've been hearing it is not very good with moisture. It doesn't have the weather resistance that the better models have. My concern is moisture in my camera. So I'll try to keep my camera in a warmer room to avoid the fog issue, and the Ziploc idea if needed. :)
But I do understand your desire to catch those inspired shots, and wish you all the luck in getting them. :)
 
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Kodiak

Senior Member
re: #7

It really takes a girl from the northern states to conclude something so simple… =)
They don't have such problem in the southern states!

Clever girl Laura!
 
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Kodiak

Senior Member
re: #9

but when I run outside to get that perfect shot of the bird-of-prey,
the God light coming through the clouds, or the peak colors of a sunset...
they're all gone by the time the lens is dry

Hi there,

My comment is based on two parameters:
Canadian or Michigan cold and swiftly going into a warm place!

It may be colder when you run but the next warmer place is quite some steps downhill!
… in which case, time is on your side.

The "put on the plastic bag when it's cold" strategy is perfectly applicable to you if you
enter a mountain lodge for ex.

Try the plastic bag before you try the product…
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
I've decided for myself, to turn the air-conditioning to a higher temp. I may sweat a bit, but my wife and my camera won't. Lol :) I'm from Oregon but my wife is from here in NC, so I better keep learning to get use to this hot and very humid climate. Lol :)
 
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Whiskeyman

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
Bill16 said:
I've desired for myself, to turn the air-conditioning to a higher temp. I may sweat a bit, but my wife and my camera won't. Lol :) I'm from Oregon but my wife is from here in NC, so I better keep learning to get use to this hot and very humid climate. Lol :)
Click to expand...

Your wisdom shows, Grasshopper! :D

WM
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