Fogging!

[macman 0]

I've had a Sony MPK-P1 for a while, and there has always been fogging on it even with the anti-fogging solution. I'm going to the red sea in 3 weeks, and I'm desperately trying to figure out why it fogs so much. Would giving it a blast of air from a tank just before shutting the housing work? My thinking is that it is 100% dry air (well hopefully!) so it should eliminate most moisture. Any other ideas?

 

Thanks

[Tio Loco 0]

You might want to do a search on this forum for older discussions.

 

Generally this is caused by a temperature change when you get into the water, most often the result of keeping your housing in an air conditioned room overnite before diving.

 

Richard

[edwin van riel 0]

have had this problem after switching to digital (and never before).

 

problem was solved by putting a little pocket with silica-gel in the housing.

[Miloe 0]

I experienced some of the same on my first outting with my DSCP1/Marine pack.

 

I found it happened mainly when my gear would end up in the sun(or at least out of the shade) between dives - the boat moves or whatever reason.

 

My solution, not elegent but it worked was to leave the camera(marine pack only - no strobes/trays) in the rinse bucket between dives. Or at least toss it in there 15-20 minutes before dives.

 

Just my 2c worth

[edwin van riel 0]

yep, you can also throw it from the boat when preparing for the dive, but it takes some courage.

[marscuba 0]

You should use the silica gel packs inside the housing. Some divers I have seen use up to 2-3 in different locations.

 

About the throwing the housing in the drink...that's almost a guaranteed way to flood it, although I have seen many many divers enter with it clipped onto their BCs...

 

My favorite is the instructor who does a giant stride holding the camera system over his head, using his arms to cushion the shock and not let the housing enter the water until his whole body is immersed. Don't forget to kick up after hitting the water so that the fin snap will propel you upwards and keep the camera out of the water!

[edwin van riel 0]

If you want to put the housing in first, do it on a piece of rope with a weight on the end. Check for flooding in a rinse tank first.

 

Big advantage is nothing can happen to your camera when everybody's moving his gear around on the boat.

 

disadv: if it floods, you won't know in time.

[Petri 0]

I had the same problem with my MPK-P1. First I tried to stuff small silica gel packs inside the housing (there was not enough room...).

 

The following solution has worked for me with no more fogging:

 

Between dives, keep the camera and the housing (after rinsing and drying off most of the water) in a minigrip zip-bag together with a big Silica Gel pack (mine is 5 cm across).

 

The air inside the plastic bag is quite dry, so in high humidity I normally close the case inside the bag. Of course the o-ring should be greased and prepared before you put the housing in the bag.

 

Battries can also be charged inside the camera, just cut out one corner of the plastic bag to bring the charger wire in.

 

Regards,

 

Petri

[edwin van riel 0]

??? you put the silica in the bag, but not in the cam's housing and this works???

 

you lost me....

[Tuga 0]

I do most of my diving from my kayak and that makes it hard to keep the camera in ideal temps all the time. I use a bag or 2 of silica and have never had a fog problem. I wrap them in a paper towel and nuke 'em for about 10 sec to dry them between outings.

 

I have an un-ending supply from work so I throw them away after a few uses but I assume they'll work longer.

 

BTW: Canon G2 w/Ikelite house

[Petri 0]

Edwin,

 

Yes, the silica goes into the bag together with the housing and the camera. The MPK-P1 is too small to fit silica inside the housing together with the camera.

 

The idea is to have dry air inside the housing so there is no humidity to condensate on the glass. The silica removes humidity from the air inside the bag. This air will also be sealed inside the housing when it is closed inside the bag.

 

Ofcourse you need to wipe the housing dry before you put it in the bag...

 

During dives I keep the silica in the closed bag to keep fresh.

 

 

Regards

 

Petri

[edwin van riel 0]

ok, now i understand :-))

[cola 0]

A big problem with Digicams is the screen - it kicks out a lot of heat - which, when underwater adds to your fogging probs.

 

Try and keep the screen off - until you're ready to shoot -this should help you out.

 

Cheers,

 

Cola

[edwin van riel 0]

Could be the screen partially, but the digicams create much more heat than conventional camera's. Was a week in spain this summer and even without the camera (and lcd) switched on it was fogged as soon as we entered the water. Didn't have the silica with me :-((