Condensation inside lens

this is quite normal with any when you shoot outside in cold environments.

https://nightskypix.com/condensation-in-camera-lens/

you could get an USB "lens heater" to combat this (check amazon for some products).

fronko wrote:

allineedislight wrote:

this is quite normal with any when you shoot outside in cold environments.

https://nightskypix.com/condensation-in-camera-lens/

you could get an USB "lens heater" to combat this (check amazon for some products).

yes I know about fogging on the outside of the lens but this is on the inside

fronko,

Put it in your hot press / clothes airer and it will dry it out.

S

fronko wrote:

hi ive never had this problem before. recently when ive been going out ive noticed the sigma 20mm 1.4 art lens is getting condensation on the inside of the lens behind the front element and right in the middle.

i managed to make it disappear while i was out by holding something warm (my sleeve) on the effected spot.

is this unusual and something to worry about? picture below

thank you

I would place it in a large, sealed container on a napkin on top of rice for a few days. (One pound of rice should do.) The rice should absorb moisture in the air, and that should "pull out" the moisture in the lens. Leave the caps off the lens wgen you do this, so the moisture can escape easier.

If I see it right, a "normal" lens can't be air- and therefore moisture tight. The elements inside the lens are moving back and forth while focussing and adapting the focal length. Therefore one has to be aware of all large differences in temperature in the environment. It's pure physic, that warm air can hold more moisture without condensation that cold air (glasses are fogging, when you enter the warm pub from the cold street). And vice versa: Cold air can't hold that amount of moisture, than warm (in winter you have to rub your skin with a moisturizer cream because the cold air is drying out your dermis).

Changing from warm conditions to cold – so my experience and knowledge - is not as "dangerous" as coming from outside at -10° C/14 F into the well warmed appartment @ 21°C/69 F : The moisture in the air of the warm room will condense at once at the cold photo equipment – except, you are keeping it in the closed bag or even more in a closed shopping plastic bag and let it adapt the temperature for some hours. (This is to consider if you are invited to picture a "party" in cold seasons, coming from the cold car into the "steaming" party. You will have to "pre-heat" your equipment or transport it "heat" insulated from your own flat.)
The other way round: I know, that huntsmen are storing their weapons and hunting optics outside the warm hut in the cold, so that these precision instruments need not acclimatize when leaving the warm hut into the snow. Also the optics itself need to acclimatize with expand and contract.

If a lens shows fogging *inside* because of changing from warm to cold, there has to be before a lot of moisture in the warm environment – and getting into the lens. That never happen to my equipment. OR: Shortly before, you have moved from cold to warm, has used the cold/not acclimated camera, so that the moisture had been "breathed in" in the camera and lens and had there condensed!
   This causes a *very dangerous effect*: Fungus between the lenses, resp. inside the lens! (google it). That "desease" causes normally "trashiness" of the whole lens or have the lens sent in, disassembly the whole optics, clean it and reassemble. The most expansive variant, you can imagine...

In short: Normally it is not so "dangerous" to fetch the warm camera and optics to the cold outside because cold air does not contain much moisture. Normally no danger of condensation.
You always shout store and let the optics adapt the temperature difference in a moisture-tight bag/housinf if coming from rather cold conditions to warm rooms.

Amadeus21 wrote:

In short: Normally it is not so "dangerous" to fetch the warm camera and optics to the cold outside because cold air does not contain much moisture. Normally no danger of condensation.
You always shout store and let the optics adapt the temperature difference in a moisture-tight bag/housinf if coming from rather cold conditions to warm rooms.

I believe the OP is talking about condensation inside his lens when he takes it outdoors into cold conditions.

So, moist air inside the lens carries that moisture to the coldest part of the lens (the inside of the front element) where it condenses on the coldest part of the inside of the front element, there in the center where that front element is thinnest.

One solution is to store the lens and camera in a dry environment when it is not in use.

Camera stores sell "dry cabinets" for this such as the following:

Ruggard EDC-50L Electronic Dry Cabinet (50L, Black) EDC-50L B&H (bhphotovideo.com)

Here, a de-humidifier controls moisture inside the cabinet so the humidity is low there. This reduces the chances that condensation will occur when the equipment is taken outside into a cold day.

A less expensive alternative is a pouch of dessicant in a sealed enclosure that holds the lens etc. Here is one that contains the recharging heater (heats the silica gel for 4 to 5 hours to drive off collected moisture so it can be used again). Dessicant color changes during use so that you know it is time to recharge it.

Ruggard Renewable Dehumidifier PDC-RD B&H Photo Video (bhphotovideo.com)

If moisture is kept away from the air inside of lens, camera, binoculars, telescope etc, it will not be there to condense on the optics when the temperature cools.

PS there are places inside houses where humidity is high, such as basements in winter and summer, and attics in summer.  Not good places to store optical equipment!

Hello Tom,

I dedicated *a whole paragraph* to moisture INSIDE a lens in my posting. And the danger of getting fungus inside the lens.

At my experience it nearly about NULL to get fogging *inside* a lens - except there is really a lot of moisture inside. Moisture is very rare within lenses - unless it has been caused by very inept use beforehand...

In order to get the moisture out of a lens, You may use silica gel-desiccant from all the Covid-19 tests, because there is always a little bag in it! One has to put the lens into a really tight box or a small plastic bag together with the silica gel.

Amadeus21 wrote:

Hello Tom,

I dedicated *a whole paragraph* to moisture INSIDE a lens in my posting. And the danger of getting fungus inside the lens.

At my experience it nearly about NULL to get fogging *inside* a lens - except there is really a lot of moisture inside. Moisture is very rare within lenses - unless it has been caused by very inept use beforehand...

In order to get the moisture out of a lens, You may use silica gel-desiccant from all the Covid-19 tests, because there is always a little bag in it! One has to put the lens into a really tight box or a small plastic bag together with the silica gel.

I agree that sometimes lenses last great without accumulating moisture inside them.  I store my lenses under my bed in a large plastic box that is unsealed.  I don't run a humidifier in there at any time.  These lenses live like I do.  They like it just fine.

A few years ago, a friend wanted me to sell some older Leica equipment belonging to her deceased father.  I looked at it, and a year later agreed to help her with this.

What I did not know was that she had moved the equipment to the crawl space under the house for that year.  The house is in a place where humidity is high in the mornings, so humidity in that crawl space was much higher than it was in the upper floors.

The effects to the lenses were severe.  It was very unfortunate.

About plastic bags: if you put some crisp saltine crackers inside a plastic bag, and a week later the crackers are stale, the bag is letting moisture permeate through it.  So it is probably better to use a really tight box if you have any doubts.  Silica gel from any source is great, I agree.  But it holds only a certain amount of moisture and has to be carefully heated to expel this accumulated moisture.  So it is easy to end up using silica gel bags that are already saturated because they are packaged for single-use and generally do not have indicator features.

fronko wrote:

honestly feel gutted ive never owned a lens that has condensation inside. i wonder how it got in there? unfortunately i bought the lens used and have no idea if the previous owner got the lens soaked or something

i wonder if sigma can fix something like this. i have insurance so i might use it if its an expensive fix

fronko,

I presume out in very cold conditions & brought the lens into a heated premises without allowing it to become slowly acclimatised to the warm air.

That could cause condensation in almost any lens. Put it in a warm area for a couple of days and should clear.

S

As I already said: Store the lens outside in the coldness. (I think there is enough at the moment in U.S. : (

Cold air is *very* dry. So you may make the lens "breath" in and out but agitating the zoom and focus function every once in a while for some days ( I think not below - 15  deg. C.) during a drying cycle.

No lens is air tight. So I think the owner before has done somerhing inappropriate with the lens. Furthermore and worse, there might be moisture in a *group* of lenses, which are cemented together in the factory. Then you will have to send the whole lens to  Sigma definitely. You can have a look at the specs and construction of that objective (how many lenses in how many groups) at the Sigma site. Then you may see whether the frontmost lens is part of a (cemented?) group.

So my opinion.

Best wishes

Johannes

I don't know, where and how you are living. As already and several times said in that thread, people use to store special equipent in a dry, but un-heated environment. Like we do with our chainsaw accus in our never heated sleepig room under the bed. Or in the winder garden or in the porch.

I think it is *all* said about that issue. It's plain physic to geht moisture in - and moisture out the the lens.
Wait. There is one more thing I just remember: To get the moisture out of a mechanical wristwatch there is the insider tip to lay it under a bedside lamp (with a normal bulb of course ...).