How To Photograph In The Early Morning And Avoid Your Lens Fogging Up

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If you happen to use your camera early in the morning or if you live in a place prone to drastic changes in temperature, your lenses can fog up easily. Within a few seconds, your lens is virtually impossible to see through, which can be truly frustrating.

In order to avoid this issue, you can take a look at the following 5 tips and tricks. In addition to that, you should always keep a micro-fiber cloth handy – you can buy those clip-on micro-fiber cloths that come in little pouches.

Leave Your Camera Bag Outside For A While

If you can, you should plan your photo-shoot well ahead. For instance, if you know that you’ll be shooting early in the morning you should let your camera gear sit in its bag somewhere outside for about half an hour before you leave. By the time you’re ready to go, the equipment will be acclimated to the temperature and it won’t fog up.

When you put your camera bag outside, keep it closed. You should do this because keeping the bag closed will let it heat up gradually without letting in more moisture.

Open Windows And Keep Your Camera Nearby

If you’re not at home and you can’t leave your camera bag outside, another good option is to open a nearby window and place your camera bag next to it. In this case, you can leave your camera bag open, since the air inside the house usually isn’t too humid. In half an hour or even less you won’t have any issues with foggy lenses.

Use Your Car Trunk

Keeping your camera bag in a trunk is another handy solution.  Since there is no AC in this part of your car, the temperature in there should be close to the temperature outside. This means that the condensation on the lenses will be minimal and it definitely won’t become a major problem.

In case you don’t want to keep your camera bag in a trunk,  you can keep it in the main area of the car but you will need to open the window and turn off the AC. However, this can be very uncomfortable for both the driver and other passengers.

Try Using Ziploc Bags

This approach can be quite useful too. The idea is to put your camera or just lenses into Ziploc bags, remove as much air as possible, and then move to the place where you plan to shoot and give your gear time to acclimate to different temperature.

Ziploc bags can’t shorten the time required for the lens to acclimate, but they can definitely reduce the amount of moisture that can reach the lens.

Remove The Lens Cap and Filters

The front of your lens will have the biggest problem with condensation,  which means this is the part of your lens you should pay most attention to. You absolutely need to take off any filters or lens caps because they will only worsen the issue with condensation. If you keep a UV filter or a lens cap on,  they will keep acting as a barrier and prevent your lens from acclimating to the conditions outside.

Condensation is one of the most stubborn issues that every photographer has to deal with from time to time. Luckily, if you stick to these simple tips we mentioned, you won’t need to stand around and miss some important shots while waiting for the fog on your lens to disappear!

In case you want to learn more about taking care of your camera gear, feel free to check out the following links!

Further Resources:

  1. 6 Tips For Looking After Your Precious Photographic Gear
  2. Photographers’ Secrets To Travelling By Air With Overweight Gear
  3. Bite Size Tips: How To Clean Your Lens
  4. How To Clean Your Camera’s Sensor At Home
  5. How To Clean Your Tripod And Protect It From Salt Water
  6. How to Deal With Lenses When They Fog Up

About Author

Jasenka is a photographer with a background in web design. You can find out more about her on her website, see some of her newest images at 500px or get to know her better here.

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