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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Re-warming lenses

Tom S

Tom S

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We have an outdoor scene that will take an hour or two at 20°F, then the rest of the shoot will be indoors around 72°F. Anyone have any tricks to minimize condensation while the lens is acclimating to room temperature? I heard about removing the lens and putting it in a zip lock bag as the lens temperature equilibrates. I don't know if my Optimo 16-42mm will fit in a zip lock. Any advice to prevent damage or condensation?

If the camera remains on the whole time, I think the sensor will stay warm. Are there concerns with condensation on the sensor with big temperature and humidity changes?
 
You could put a plastic bag over the lens and/or camera with a silica gel sachet inside. The rule-of-thumb is two hours between bringing the camera indoors and unwrapping it. Condensation will not occur internally. Just keep the lens on the camera.

I suspect that experienced professionals will have more specific information. I have never shot in a climate where the temperature reached much less than 50F.
 
Ive heard of the plastic bag trick but never done it. You might try slowing the temperature change so its not such a fast change from cold to warm. Put the camera and lens near the door for a while, or next to a window cracked a bit. Once the lens has condensed then it will take a while to go away. Try shining a tungsten lamp into the lens to speed the process.
 
You can buy a dry bag for white water rafting, and stick the whole camera in there when you come inside. That's what I did in Antarctica. But, #1, we were shooting film so the camera wasn't a heater like a digital camera. We would have condensation on the mirror, the rails, the VF optics etc.

So, one thing you might try, 20 isn't that cold, so maybe a heated barney with handwarmers? Just keep the lens from getting ice cold. The camera body will likely be fine.

Nick
 
Tom S said:
We have an outdoor scene that will take an hour or two at 20°F, then the rest of the shoot will be indoors around 72°F. Anyone have any tricks to minimize condensation while the lens is acclimating to room temperature? I heard about removing the lens and putting it in a zip lock bag as the lens temperature equilibrates. I don't know if my Optimo 16-42mm will fit in a zip lock. Any advice to prevent damage or condensation?

If the camera remains on the whole time, I think the sensor will stay warm. Are there concerns with condensation on the sensor with big temperature and humidity changes?
Click to expand...

After the shoot outside turn of the camera put a lenscap on the lens and put the whole thing (camera, lens etc...) in an air-tide bag with enough air in it so the bag won't touch the camera on to many places (just the bottom) while your still outside.
The absolute humidity in the air-tide bag stays the same when you go inside so you will have no condensation. When inside put the bag on an insulated surface to prefent condensation on the bottem of the bag (condensation on the rest of the bag is of no concern).
When the temperature of the camera+lens rises inside the absolute humidity in the bag will stay the same but the relative humidity will drop (high temp air can absorbe more water then low temp air).
When the temperature of the camera+lens is almost the same as the inside temperature (check with an IR-temp meter) you can un-pack everything and you will have no condensation.
 
I would keep the camera and lens as warm as possible while shooting your exterior shots. I use a Ombre or a Camrade camera cover and keep the camera on while shooting outside. Use hand and feet warmers in the lens area to keep it as warm as possible. I've used the chemical as well as the kind you light with fire over the years they both work well. The chemical are easier and the foot warmers have sticky tape on them so you can stick them to various parts like batteries to keep warm. The only time I had issues was on a helicopter nose mount where the lens was very exposed at over 15,000 feet in the dead of winter over the Canadian Rockies. Otherwise I've had success at temps down to -50 Fahrenheit. After shooting your exterior put the body and lens (still keeping it as warm as possible) in a portabrace kind of padded case and bring inside, let it come up to the interior temperature for about an hour before opening the case. I've never had any issues with this method in temperatures far more extreme than what you will be experiencing. I would also suggest some thin gloves if you are using a microforce zoom control, last year my thumb kept freezing to it and ripping chunks of skin off off. Also super glue works well to glue dry cracked skin on your fingers back together. A small cooler with hand warmers goes a long way in keeping your batteries happy.
 
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