How to Keep Your Camera Lenses from Fogging Up
Have you ever been on a photo shoot where you pull your camera and lens out of the camera bag and it instantly fogs over?
I have, and it’s a bit scary if you don’t know what to do because it can take a very long time to go back to normal and you don’t want to have your clients standing around waiting for your lenses to clear up.
Here’s how to avoid it or how to make it go away as soon as possible.
How to Avoid Your Lenses Fogging Up
So what causes the camera lenses to fog over in the first place?
When the glass in your lens gets cold and then it is exposed to heat, it will almost instantly fog over.
This can happen if it is hot or humid out and you are driving to your location with the air conditioning on. Your camera bag with all of your gear in it will adapt to the temperature. Then when you take it out it will fog over and you will have to wait for it to adapt to the temperature outside.
This could take up to 45 minutes to an hour to adapt depending on the situation.
So is there a quicker way to get your lenses to adapt if this ever happens? Yes, there is.
How to Get Your Lens to Adapt to the Temperature Quickly
I found myself in this situation on a very humid day where I took my clients a half mile into the woods and really did not want to send everyone home but I also didn’t want them to stand around in the crazy thick humidity any longer than absolutely necessary. So I had to think quickly!
I decided to gently lay my lenses on the ground to help them adapt to the temperature quicker. Thankfully it worked! It only took about 5 minutes as opposed to the 45 minutes it took the first time this happened to me.
Conclusion
Helpfully we all learn a lesson from my mistakes here. It doesn’t happen very after, but it would be great to avoid it at all costs. I always make sure to turn off the air conditioning and roll down the windows and open up my camera back closer to time as I’m headed to a session now to keep this from happening.
I hope this helps! If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your photography friends!