PSA: My lens fogged up during a meteor shower shoot and I lost half the frames

I drove out to Joshua Tree last month for the Perseids, set up my gear around 11 PM, and everything was fine for the first hour. Then around 2 AM, I noticed my viewfinder was getting hazy and realized the temperature dropped way faster than I expected. The lens elements were fogging up from the inside because I went from a warm car straight into cold desert air. I tried using those silica gel packs I had in my bag but they were already saturated from the humidity earlier. Ended up wrapping the lens in a hand warmer for 20 minutes between shots, which helped a little but not much. Out of 200 exposures, probably 80 had visible fog spots that I can't edit out cleanly. Anyone else deal with condensation problems on cold nights and have a fix that actually works?

3 comments

3 Comments

morganhill15d ago

Man, fogged up lenses are basically the universe saying "you don't deserve nice things tonight"... Had the same issue shooting stars in the Sierras and ended up breathing into a ziplock bag with my lens for 10 minutes like some kind of photography lunatic... It actually helped a little by drying the air inside before I sealed it up with the camera.

the_charlie15d ago

Why not just warm the camera in the car before you go out?

caleb26215d ago

Nah, I gotta disagree with blaming the car thing entirely. The real issue is that you didn't let the gear acclimate slowly before you started shooting. You went from a warm car to cold desert air, that's a recipe for instant fogging, plain and simple. Everyone makes that mistake once, but silica packs don't fix it once it happens, they only help prevent it if you seal everything up before you leave the car. The hand warmer trick is a last resort, but you're better off just leaving the camera bag outside for 15 minutes before you set up so everything cools down gradual.