Preventing Dew warnings on Camcorders

[Laz]

I know this has been talked about in the past, but I was looking for suggestions on how to prevent Dew shutdowns on Cam corders. This occurs when I take the camcorder out of the cabin and the air conditioned ship into the tropical air.

Any ideas??

 

[GenieDana]

I think you answer the question with your question. You need to let the camera come to outside air temperature slowly. Could you leave it in case on your Veranda? What about using a blow dryer in your room?

 

[Laz]

We only have a window. Will a blow dryer eliminate the condensation problem??

 

[mausmu]

Someone posted a while back that they wrap there camera in a room towel before putting it in the bag. Seemed like a good idea. Hope this works for you. I will be trying this on our next cruise. It seemed to work for the person that wrote about it. Good Luck

 

[DuncanLL]

I absolutely HATE this feature on our camcorder! I even contacted Panasonic to see how to disconnect it one time, but they said it wasn't possible. I try to plan for it now, but it's still a hit or miss thing. Try wrapping a towel around the camcorder while it's in the case in your room, store it uner the blankets in your stateroom closet to keep it as warm as possible. I have used a hair dryer to try to dry it out. Also use a tissue on the battery contact points to make sure no condensation is built up there. I've also taken the tape out and left the door open in the sun for a few minutes. Blowing on it doesn't eliminate the moisture problem.

Good luck!

Linda

 

[HappyGilmore]

We wrapped the camcorder in a towel to insulate it from the coldness/ac in the room. We would put the towel and all into our DCL duffel bag and put the camera bag along side it . Once off the ship we would remove the towel wrapped camcorder from the bag and wait a few minutes before unwrapping it. Once unwrapped we would remove the lens cover and eject the tape door for a few minutes to give the inside time to aclimate to the heat outside (just in case even though we had it in the towel).

Not everyone has one but we did have a verandah so while getting ready to go we would place the towel wrapped camcorder on the chair for a few minutes this would cut down on the time we needed to wait to use it if going off the ship. This seemed to work everytime... you just have to be patient. After being in the ac all night needed maybe like 5 minutes.
If you get fog on the lens do not continue to run it. Turn the power off and let it sit for awhile. Take a regular camera along for still photos. If you have a newer or more expensive camcorder they sometimes have a warning or shut themselves down anyway.
Hope this helps

 

[mshinrockford]

Another soution that I've read about is to put one (or more) of those small moisture absorbing desiccant packets -- those things that often come with new shoes -- into your camcorder bag. It seems like a great idea to me. I've been collecting them recently, and plan to put several in my camcorder bag before our cruise.

 

[GenieDana]

Great idea about the desiccant! You could go to any place that sells shoes and you could collect a few. The next time you buy shoes just save them instead of adding them to the landfill.

Be careful to keep this away from kids who might be tempted to eat this stuff.

 

[joyful1nh]

Not sure if this works, but my digital camera manual suggests sealing it in an airtight bag (like a ziplock) to minimize the actual moisture that gets to it. Seems like same would apply to camcorder. (if you can find a big enough bag!)

 

[MarkRG]

The reason the camcorder gets this alarm is not from moisture already in there, it is from condensation because the camcorder is colder than the warm, moist air around it when you take it outside. You can pack it in anything you want, as soon as you expose it cold to the warm, humid air, just like a cold bottle of water, it will condense moisture in the air, and that includes on the inside, that's where the moisture alarm comes from.

All I have done to compensate for this, is when I plan to take it outside, I do use the built in hair dryer thru the tape loading door(no tape inside), until the camcorder feels warm in my hand, then I go outside, make sure it's acclimated, and then load a tape and go.

I agree it is a pain, but it is not giving you an alarm for no reason. If you were to operate it wet, and it IS getting wet inside, you would damage it.