Beginner Preventing misting and condensation

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I’m planning a trip to Glencoe when things get a bit easier. I’ll be sleeping in the car probably. My camera and lenses will be in a lowepro bag and the big lens will be in its own Nikon soft sack. Normally I would travel around with the bag in the boot, where it’s colder, but with me planning on sleeping in the car, seats will be down and the cabin open. Obviously I’ll be trying to keep warm , but I don’t want this to put my gear in danger of misting up or condensation forming in the lenses or on the camera. Any advice? Would a cool box/ bag keep them protected? TIA.
 
Im also interested in this, many trips have been ruined due to this and i was using top pro body and lens at the time
 
As you probably know? condensation only occurs when warm air (that holds moisture) meets a cold surface. So keep your equipment warm (lifestyle advice here ;)) i.e above the 'dew point' or isolate your equipment from the cold air. So yes, any well sealed bag/cool box etc should serve your purpose. Belt and braces take some silica gel moisture absorbent packs to keep with your equipment.
 
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The secret is to avoid changing temperatures too quickly. Your kit will need to acclimatise to the temperature you're going to be using it in slowly. Warm to cold isn't as bad as going from cold to warm/humid.

As it sounds like you're not going to have a lot of choice, I'd suggest you put your camera bag into another airtight bag like bin bags tied tightly and make sure that they have plenty of time to come up to the colder temperature before you open the bag.

In addition to that, possibly the worst thing you can do is to keep it where you sleep - especially in a car. I've had several camper vans and a posh motorhome and condensation is made a lot worse by having people present. We put out a LOT of moisture when we breathe - just remember how quickly the car windows steam up once you stop and switch the blower/fan off.
 
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I would use a couple of these and a cool box that seals. The sealed box will keep the temperature change slow (if any) and these should absorb any moisture.

Only open and close the box out of the car in cooler air, don't fill it with warm car air and then let it go cold.
 
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Your gear will be fine in the car with you if it is in bags, front footwell is quite a good place overnight. As Roy said above warming the gear will stop condensation so get some reusable gel handwarmers, about 15 minutes before you want to use the gear activate them and put them in the bag next to your lenses, condensation is likely to only be a problem first thing in the morning.
 
what do you suggest if your going to take gear in conditions where its got snow lying on the ground do you let the gear
get cold before use to stop fogging on lens
 
holty said:
what do you suggest if your going to take gear in conditions where its got snow lying on the ground do you let the gear
get cold before use to stop fogging on lens
Click to expand...

It shouldn't fog on the lens. I've never experienced it anyway. It's when you take cold gear into a warm room/area.
 
As long as you are using decent equipment I wouldn't worry about it.

I've done many shoots where I am constantly going from a nice warm interior environment of about 20°C or so, straight into -25°C and vice versa. Back and forth back and forth and shooting within seconds of changing that environment.

No issues. The viewfinder often fogs, but its not an issue, you just learn to look through the fog and not worry about.

If you don't have professional gear though it may be another story.

The only two things to watch out for is that when in real cold the batteries tend to not last as long. I keep a fishing heater next to the batteries or next to my body, but you'll still probably want extra. Flash batteries, trigger batteries really die. The only other thing is that the grease on the mirror pivot can freeze. On 1 series Canons its about -40°C. If you are working that cold, just replace the grease.
 
holty said:
what do you suggest if your going to take gear in conditions where its got snow lying on the ground do you let the gear
get cold before use to stop fogging on lens
Click to expand...
Generally condensation forms when air is cooled, e.g. warm air meeting cold glass so if the gear is at the same temperature or warmer than the environment you won't get condensation.
 
I used to take my kids car camping and all 3 of us would sleep in the back of our Ford cmax. I'd often have my camera gear with me.

We used to crack open a couple of windows, maybe about an inch, but I did have a tarpaulin with some guy ropes on it I'd throw over the car so if it rained no water came in the windows!

If your camera & kit is in a camera bag then it should be absolutely fine down in the passenger footwell. The only issue comes if you sleep in the car with the windows all closed.
 
Tried this in Finland a few years back and as I recall it worked for me. If its cold outside and warm indoors before you come in pop the camera into a large zip seal freezer bag, any condensation will then form on the outside of the freezer bag and not on the camera.
 
Just stick your gear in the boot - job done
 
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