Cool room, cold lens, fogged glass... help!

[DoleWhipDVC]

Need some advice on how to avoid that annoying, "give me a minute the lens is all fogged up" situation. If I keep my gear in the room, it cools down and then when I want to shoot something I see when I first step outside I need to wait for the glass to warm up or wipe, wipe, wipe away the fog until the glass warms up. I could keep the gear in the car, but while Disney may be the happiest place on earth, it isn't necessarily crime proof. Anyone have suggestions for avoiding condensation fogging effects?

 

[zackiedawg]

There have been a few threads on the topic if you search around this board...however a few quick basics:

Store the camera in a closet or bathroom wrapped in a towel or blanket.
Keep dessicant in the bag with the camera. Try storing the camera in a ziploc bag with some dessicant.
If possible, pre-warm the camera before heading out - if you have a room with a balcony on a higher floor, it might be safe to stick the camera bag on the balcony to warm in the sun while you shower and change in the mornings...it will be equalized by the time you're ready to go.
Sometimes you might find something in the room that generates warmth, that you can store the camera next to - a refrigerator unit's vent area, near an AC motor, etc. Also keeping it on a windowsill or in the sun under a glass door for direct sunlight exposure, even when the camera is still indoors, can warm up the camera body.

 

[2Tiggies]

I also asked this question a few weeks back and was given plenty practical and helpful advice. Here is a link to the thread

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2917729

 

[photo_chick]

One easy option is to keep the room in general warmer than the dew point. We made that change on one of our trips because DS's glasses would fog like crazy and he'd run into stuff since the goof wouldn't stop to tell anyone he needed to clean his glasses. Either way, it works for camera lenses as well as glasses.

 

[zackiedawg]

That's the one option that's never going to happen in my room! I live in Florida and vacation at Disney solely by the grace of air conditioning, and the Florida dewpoints can far exceed the temps that I consider acceptable for a room. As soon as I walk into a Disney room/villa, the AC goes down to 65, and I override the motion sensor so it doesn't turn off when I'm sleeping. Cameras and lenses can just deal with fogging up, because that room ain't goin' any warmer!!

 

[2Tiggies]

That's the one option that's never going to happen in my room! I live in Florida and vacation at Disney solely by the grace of air conditioning, and the Florida dewpoints can far exceed the temps that I consider acceptable for a room. As soon as I walk into a Disney room/villa, the AC goes down to 65, and I override the motion sensor so it doesn't turn off when I'm sleeping. Cameras and lenses can just deal with fogging up, because that room ain't goin' any warmer!!

You and I are the complete opposite! I would way rather be too hot than too cold. First thing I do when we check in is adjust the thermostat on the aircon so the room isn't so cold!

 

[photo_chick]

That's the one option that's never going to happen in my room! I live in Florida and vacation at Disney solely by the grace of air conditioning, and the Florida dewpoints can far exceed the temps that I consider acceptable for a room. As soon as I walk into a Disney room/villa, the AC goes down to 65, and I override the motion sensor so it doesn't turn off when I'm sleeping. Cameras and lenses can just deal with fogging up, because that room ain't goin' any warmer!!

I can see that. I'm in Dallas and my a/c is doing good to keep it a good 25 degrees colder than outside. So when it's hitting triple digits I'm lucky to keep it the house in the mid 70's. Consequently I'm used to it being a bit warmer.

 

[MyMoneyTreeWontGrow]

Are anti-fog sprays no longer used? I remember using them for classes back in my uni days.

 

[photo_chick]

Are anti-fog sprays no longer used? I remember using them for classes back in my uni days.

They can leave residue on the lens that can affect picture quality.

 

[DoleWhipDVC]

That's the one option that's never going to happen in my room! I live in Florida and vacation at Disney solely by the grace of air conditioning, and the Florida dewpoints can far exceed the temps that I consider acceptable for a room. As soon as I walk into a Disney room/villa, the AC goes down to 65, and I override the motion sensor so it doesn't turn off when I'm sleeping. Cameras and lenses can just deal with fogging up, because that room ain't goin' any warmer!!

I totally agree with this one! My A/C is going to 70 the entire time I'm at the world. I lived in Kissimmee for 9 years without air!!! I'll never be down in Florida without it again.

 

[DoleWhipDVC]

That's the one option that's never going to happen in my room! I live in Florida and vacation at Disney solely by the grace of air conditioning, and the Florida dewpoints can far exceed the temps that I consider acceptable for a room. As soon as I walk into a Disney room/villa, the AC goes down to 65, and I override the motion sensor so it doesn't turn off when I'm sleeping. Cameras and lenses can just deal with fogging up, because that room ain't goin' any warmer!!

Forgot to ask you Justin, how do I override the motion sensor to keep that A/C cranking while sleeping?? That would be a great tip I can use in about 3 weeks.

 

[DoleWhipDVC]

Good tips everyone. Balcony pre-warm, wrap in some type of cloth, keep near fridge vent, place between curtain and sliding glass door to catch the sun.... got it. Thanks as always

 

[DoleWhipDVC]

I also asked this question a few weeks back and was given plenty practical and helpful advice. Here is a link to the thread

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2917729

Thanks for the thread lead. One of the posts gave me the idea that maybe I could keep my gear in our "cold bag" that we use for transporting food from the grocery store to the room. If that were empty, and I zipped it up overnight, it should keep the cold air out as well as it does the warm air. I'll have to try that along with the other ideas and see how it works. When we stay at AKL sometimes I'll wake up early and need that camera first thing for an animal outside the balcony, so it doesn't have time to warm up. The "cold bag" might keep everything ready to go.

 

[zackiedawg]

Trying to remember now so excuse me if I get something wrong - but I'm pretty sure the button combo is 'Power' and 'temp down arrow' - press and hold both together for a few seconds until 'Bp' appears on the temp LCD...then press the temp buttons until you get to the temp you want it to stay at.

Going purely on memory, I believe that's it. But I think there may be some threads somewhere that can confirm if I'm missing any steps. I used it last week the way I described, and it worked fine - though do note that I believe it's only a 48 hour override before reverting back to motion sensor again - so if you're there 4-5 days or more, you may have to do it again a few times.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Trying to remember now so excuse me if I get something wrong - but I'm pretty sure the button combo is 'Power' and 'temp down arrow' - press and hold both together for a few seconds until 'Bp' appears on the temp LCD...then press the temp buttons until you get to the temp you want it to stay at.

Going purely on memory, I believe that's it. But I think there may be some threads somewhere that can confirm if I'm missing any steps. I used it last week the way I described, and it worked fine - though do note that I believe it's only a 48 hour override before reverting back to motion sensor again - so if you're there 4-5 days or more, you may have to do it again a few times.

Unfortunately, Disney isn't consistent when it comes to infrastructure. There are many different thermostats in use at the various resorts. If you do a search, you'll find many threads that discuss the procedures for the various makes/models of thermostats.

 

[zackiedawg]

That's probably why occasionally this doesn't work for me. I've used the method above all the time, but every once in a while I get one that doesn't seem to respond, so it's probably one of those other designs! Fortunately at Saratoga Springs last week, the Bp method worked.

 

[DoleWhipDVC]

That's probably why occasionally this doesn't work for me. I've used the method above all the time, but every once in a while I get one that doesn't seem to respond, so it's probably one of those other designs! Fortunately at Saratoga Springs last week, the Bp method worked.

Drat! Why can't getting around an established computer monitored system be easy? I'll be at the world for a longer stay so I'll try your technique first but check for other threads to "creatively ensure" the room is comfy. Thanks for responding... stay cool!!