Visit to The Eden Project - Extremely Humid - Problems?

RaphaelSamad

RaphaelSamad

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Hi there
We are about to pop down to Cornwall for a few days with the children and will visit The Eden Project whilst we are there. We obviously will want to go into the Tropical dome (or whatever it is called) which is set up to be just like being in the tropics.
Does anyone have any advice on whether or not I should take my precious DSLR set up into this area or not or what I should do to prevent any problems ocurring due the the extremely hot and humid atmosphere in this dome.
Thanks
Raphael
 
I've been in butterfly farms with my 40D without any problems. These places are extremely humid and the lens, mirror and viewfinder steam up badly but clear after about 15-20 minutes.
 
RaphaelSamad said:
Hi there
We are about to pop down to Cornwall for a few days with the children and will visit The Eden Project whilst we are there. We obviously will want to go into the Tropical dome (or whatever it is called) which is set up to be just like being in the tropics.
Does anyone have any advice on whether or not I should take my precious DSLR set up into this area or not or what I should do to prevent any problems ocurring due the the extremely hot and humid atmosphere in this dome.
Thanks
Raphael
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I went a couple of years ago and its a fantastic place especially the sub tropics dome but very humid as there is water sprayed into the air to give it the effect but I doubt this will bother your camera but what will bother you is the walk back up to the entrance after you have walked around the domes as its a steep hill so take a decent iso drink to combat fatigue or jump on the tractor pulled coach but nethertheless a fantastic day out and look for the Vietnamese home in the sub tropic dome and let me know if the Honda 50 is still there

Pete
 
I used to be a TV Cameraman and have twice shot from in there, once live for GMTV* at silly o'clock in the morning. Never taken a stills camera in there but a TV camera lens can take up to an hour to acclimatise depending on how cold it is outside.

(* they opened it up just for us and we were the only people in there, and they also switched the waterfall off for me when I asked. Oo0o0o0o0o0oh the power :D )
 
I had no problems with my D50 in there earlier this year. In fact, it never even crossed my mind about getting it acclimatised to the conditions in there - just got on and used it and it was just fine. Spose it helped it was such a warm day anyway though - might be a different story now its so much colder out....
 
Been there twice, and it does depend on the outside temperature as to what problems you will have. Don't forget there is the desert zone as well as the tropical one. This is warmer and dryer.

No real problems as I went during the summer and only had a small problem with the front filter fogging up, but this cleared fairly quickly. Can't say how long it took but I don't remember waiting ages.

Only advice I would give is don't change lenses unless you kit is fully acclimatised, to prevent internal fogging up.

By the way it's not all that hot, fairly warm yes but not oppressive. It shouldn't affect your camera.
 
You shouldn't have any problems IF you follow a few rules:
Any kit you're not using at the time, keep it in a sealable bag with some silica gel.
1. Try not to change lenses where there's a lot of moisture. If you have to, just try and do it quickly.
2. As others have said, let your gear aclimatise for a good long time before you use it. Remember that your camera bag is effectively insulated so the main camera and lens that you're intending to use first - take it out of your camera bag and put it in a plastic bag (with silica gel).
3. If its not going to be too much time between you leaving your car and getting into the dome, put your gear directly under the car heater so it will be closer to the dome temperature when you get in there.

Aside from that, don't worry about it. Its not a great problem. I haven't been in there myself but I've spent over 3 years in both the Amazon and Darrien Gap with 40 odd kilos of camera gear and not had problems by following those rules, aside from the car tip that is. There aren't too many cars there :D
 
personally, I think the car park is far too far away for it to be any use in using the cars heater to warm things through first.

just another thought though - why not head into the warm but dry doom first? a wander around there will take long enough that it'll certainly have warmed things through enough for when you get into the humid side
 
I live just down the road from the Eden project and probably go up there about twice a month, and you will have problems at this time of year with the kit steaming up - i was in there a couple of weeks ago and after about 1 hour in the Med biome it still took about 45 mins to get the front lens element clear - during the summer theres no real issue but at this time of year the temperature (28 degrees centigrade and 60-98% humidity) difference is so big that the very humid air just condenses on the lens.

Oh if the kids aren't too old theres a Halloween ball there for them on Friday and the ICE ring is also open for 20 min skating sessions during the evening.
 
I went in july this year, went to the dry side first but had no problems,

and yes the Honda is still there:)
 
i went in july too and had no problems after i went in the rain forest side we ate before we went in the med side and didnt get any problems
 
Thanks to all of you for your helpful suggestions. I have just got back from there and all went well. Mind you the weather was quite overcast so it was quite dark inside to the biodome.
The Honda is still there and all is well.
For those who have not been there before, I would recommend a visit but,........do try and pick a sunny day!

thanks again to all posters - you advice and suggestions are much appreciated.
 
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