How to Keep the Lens from Fogging Up in Cold | Complete Guide

Shooting can be a challenge in the cold climate. If you are a photographer, you must know the importance of outdoor shooting and also familiar with its obstacles. When you choose to go on a snow excursion to the hills during the winter season, obviously, it’s an ideal spot to take incredible photographs, yet do you realize that your camera and focal point can experience the ill effects of fog? So you have to know the steps to keep the lens from fogging up!

What is fogging or condensation?

Have you ever seen the mist on your closed vehicle’s window during cold weather at the time of driving? This happens when it’s much hotter inside the car than the temperature of outside. Again, when you breathe out hot air from your mouth toward your eyeglasses, have you noticed the fog? Well, the vast distinction of temperature can create condensation, a layer of water on surfaces like glass and metal, and known as fogging.

Obviously, the evaporation rate in the air has a significant effect on the fogging; for this reason, in tropical nations with hot and high moistness, you may find the inverse with fogging building on the room’s window since you are utilizing cold air conditioning while outside the air is warm. But you may find a few windows have anti-fog layers to avoid condensation forming.

Why is it bad for the camera lens?

In a few moments, it can just haze your photographs. Additionally, your pictures will look delicate and foggy since a slim layer of fogging is composed in the lens. As a result, most of the images might be futile!

However, in the long term, leaving fog in your camera lens may favor mist and mold growth that can do harm.

Most Fujifilm camera bodies and XF lenses are built with metal, so alongside the focal point’s glasses, they favor fogging up when you are not cautious in too warm/cold conversions. Metals will be too cold or hot, as you probably know, catching extreme temperatures for quite a while.

How to keep the lens from fogging up in the cold

Everyone should keep the lens from fogging up. Shooting in cold weather is challenging. Sometimes, you can face a lot of problems. Here are some tricks on how to prevent the lens from the fog.

Keep the camera outside

You may think it is a mad idea as there is a full chance of losing the camera. Trust me, it is really a good way to protect your lens from fogging up, and you just have to find out a safe place like a balcony or elsewhere you can keep it. It is probably impossible to leave the camera outside overnight of security concern, but only half an hour may also be sufficient to acclimate. So, try to leave your camera and primary lens out of the room before half an hour ago from your exit time. In the meanwhile, you can get ready to go.     

Use a plastic bag

Fog is the number one enemy for your camera and lens. However, you can’t ignore the effect of temperature changes. The camera and lens will get fogging during the cold season.

So it would be best if you warm the camera and lens. You can use a Ziplock bag. This bag is perfect for warming.

The plastic bag can serve to come up with temperature more slowly. When you finish your shoot in the cold weather, it is necessary to dry all your gear. Then you lay a towel out on your desk and remove all caps of the lens.

Let them warm up. You can use amazing PakTowel, which is made of ultra-absorbent material.

Warm your Batteries and keep extras

There is a significant impact on battery during the cold temperature. Additionally, it would help if you used a highly capable battery. The low capacity battery can suffer from increased depletion rates in cold climates. Cold temperature has little effect on the battery. So, the solution is easy. You can warm your battery and keep the extra battery. It doesn’t feel comfortable to bear a bulky battery in your jacket. So you can use a hand warmer and elastic band. Then it is necessary to keep them against your batteries. The hand warmer is not expensive, but it is handy.

Use rain covers

Rain cover can protect your lens and camera from the snow. Sometimes you may take a shoot in the snow. It doesn’t look hard to cover up your camera in a cold environment. Cameras have various sizes and shapes. A rain cover is comparatively expensive. But all your gears are more costly than rain cover.

Desiccant packs

Desiccant is a chemical substance that can absorb water. The chemical is available and reasonable. This chemical helps you to soak up some moisture.

Silica desiccant will work to minimize the excessive risk of condensation.

Warm your memory cards

A high-end memory card can operate in temperature. But some cheaper card has no ability like that. So you should keep it in your jacket with a memory cardholder.

The water-resistant memory card is perfect when you are working in the snow.

Don’t breathe on your lens

Sometimes accidentally, you touch the front element of your lens. The fast way to clean the front is to breathe on it. Then you will clean it with a microfiber cloth. It would help if you did not breathe on the lens to fog it for cleaning. It will be harmful to lens coating. You should properly take apart a camera lens to clean, avoiding any damage.

Emergency blanket

It is the most significant barrier between the ground and gear. This blanket serves many purposes.

Wrapping up 

Overall, we have discussed some simple steps to keep the lens from fogging up in the cold. I will suggest purchasing a nylon backpack as it is waterproof and provides better weather sealing.

That’s all for today! It’s genuinely not tough, and you can save your camera and lens from fog’s damage; experts suggest utilizing a trash can bag add to the backpack, yet this is for extreme cold weather. The camera bag might be enough!