How to stop your lens from misting up

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Ross2

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I'm off up to scotland on the IRC Rally scotland next week and suffered big time from lenses misting up on rally ireland from going from car to rain back to car again. it cost me £250 to get the lens repaired and dont fancy another bill like that

is there anything i can do to help stop this happening?, im sure i read somewhere about sealing in a bag to get to room temp?:thinking:
 
Never done this but read it to.

I think he said to put the lens in a plastic bag and if you have one ,put a little pack of silica gel in to, leave in the car overnight and when you get to the location the lens should be acclimatised.

Do in reverse when bringing into house.
 
the real killer is the air moisture content/humidity in the warmer environment. the bags works well as long as its air tight. but if any of the warmer air with higher humidity gets in u'll get condensation/misting. i have misting issue every time i visit a hot house for tropical plants even in the summer.

your best bet is to use bags and keep the gear in the boot where the air is cooler or better yet a top box.
 
what lens is it?
 
I can't help but enjoy the Rallying :)

Also noticed you're in Fife Admirable, me too....Kirkcaldy :)
 
The Royal Navy Phots who accompany the Arctic Exploration guys on HMS Endurance and the Royal Marines' Arctic and Mountain-Warfare Cadre in Norway told me how they stop cameras and lenses misting up - never bring them indoors when moving from cold/wet to warm/humid. They keep them outside (or in a room where the temperature and humidity is similar to outside).

To that end, an empty Peli-case lined with a terry-towel or at a pinch, a large plastic cool-box of the sort you take on family pic-nics could be used.
Put the (dried as much as you can) cameras in the cool-box before putting them in the car. That'll keep them at ambient outdoor temperature until you can perform a thorough clean and drying...
If you need to move back and forth from the car and it's pouring-down, keep the cameras inside the box in the boot of the car where the temperature should be nearer to that outside.
Then when you get home, keep them in the closed Peli-case/cool box so the camera's temperature gradually adjusts to indoor teperatures - that way condensation shouldn't form inside the lenses and bodies.
 
thanks for the replies guys.

can you buy silica gel?

the lens i used in ireland was the 35-350mm L

i do have a empty peli case so might try that?:thumbs:.
 
the thing is with silca gel it really needs to be in an air tight bag/case to be any benefit otherwise itll just suck the moisture out of any air that happens to be around. plus they have the life span of a gnat.

personally id go with what arkady said.
 
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