Butterfly house condensation

munchycarrot

munchycarrot

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Not sure if this is in the right place...

Off to the zoo today & want to try and go in the butterfly house. Last time we tried, (a few years back) the cameras and lenses got so much condensation on we came out and didn't take any pics.

Now I know people go in there & take pics so any tips? Use a rain sleeve? Acclimatise?

Will keep an eye on emails if my signal isn't good so might not answer here all day but still useful to know as we visit the zoo a lot

Thanks in advance :)
 
Kit needs to be warmed up considerably, some butterfly houses provide a hot air blower but I doubt the zoo will - letting it rest in the sun a while before you go in might help.
 
Usually it's just a case of acclimatisation. The place is VERY humid, so any surface coming in from outside that's cooler, will cause the moisture in the air to condense on the surface. Once everything is at the same ambient temperature, there should be no problem. Leave your lens cap(s) OFF when you go in... if they condense.. so be it.. do not wipe them clean.. just wait and once everything reaches equilibrium the condensation will clear.

No idea where you are, but it's 27C and very humid here in Blackpool, and if it's like that where you are, it's far less likely to happen anyway.
 
Try to keep your lenses on your camera. (not swapping them about too much). Moisture and fogging on the lens happens because you are moving from a low temperature and low humidity environment to a high temp, high humidity environment. A good trick I learnt in Australia is to put one of those hand warmer things in your camera bag about an hour before you go into the warm environment to get you kit up to temperature beforehand. Although with this weather at the moment it might not be too much of an issue. (warm to warm).
 
Thanks for the speedy replies folks, really appreciate it. Will see how we get on, was just going to take the macro in so no swapping anything about (y)
Will update later :)
@Pookeyhead I'm in Nantwich so off to Chester Zoo, forecast says hot, hot, hot! :)
 
The less the differential between outside and inside temps the less likely it is to happen. If it does.... sit down, relax, enjoy the butterflies while the gear warms up :)
 
One last thing I was thinking about... what about the chances of getting moisture inside the cam & lens & allowing the onset of any mould/mildew?

I'm using a D7100 with tam 90 (had a D300 last time which wasn't so much an issue i don't think :rolleyes:)
 
munchycarrot said:
One last thing I was thinking about... what about the chances of getting moisture inside the cam & lens & allowing the onset of any mould/mildew?

I'm using a D7100 with tam 90 (had a D300 last time which wasn't so much an issue i don't think :rolleyes:)
Click to expand...
So long as you don't take the lens off, it shouldnt be an issue. Just maybe when you get home put the camera in your camera bag without anything else in there, leave the lens cap off, and put one of those little moisture dessicant bags in the camera bag for an hour or so.
 
munchycarrot said:
One last thing I was thinking about... what about the chances of getting moisture inside the cam & lens & allowing the onset of any mould/mildew?

I'm using a D7100 with tam 90 (had a D300 last time which wasn't so much an issue i don't think :rolleyes:)
Click to expand...


You said it was unlikely you'll be changing lenses, so this is probably not going to be an issues. If it does happen.. again... leave the lens OFF and let the camera acclimatise.

You'll only have problems if this is a regular occurrence, or the gear is kept in damp/humid environments. Getting condensation inside every now and again will have no long term effect. Just don't poke things in there to try and wipe it off mirrors/focusing screens etc. Let it heat up and evaporate naturally.
 
After all that, I think it was too hot! Didn't get any condensation at all :D

I did as you all suggested and kept the one lens on anyway (y) thanks all
 
I did this a few months back... was hilariously funny. Not!! Was gutted at the time but after going around it and looking at the butterflies and a quick wipe the lens soon cleared up. Then my main issue was the MFD of my 70-300... :LOL:
 
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