Shooting in Humid climate...

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DVX100Shooter

Veteran
I am on vacation in Puerto Rico and today as soon as I left my hotel to get some shots of the beach my lens completely fogged up. I know the reason because my hotel room had the AC on and it was crazy humid outside. I removed the tape and left the door opened. I then left the camera in the sun in an attempt to warm the camera up to the current temperature. The condensation light would not go off even after my lens had cleared up. After about 30 minutes or so I removed the battery and put it back on and I guess it was like resetting the camera because it worked fine after that and I proceeded to shoot some footage.

So what is the best thing to do in terms of shooting in warm humid climate like it is here in Puerto Rico for the next time. I am thinking that I shouldnt have the AC on in the room and leave it at room temperature before going out into the humidity. I am not to sure what else to do.
 
That's IT! All you need to do is make sure your cam stays at the same humidity as much as possible. I.e. no AC!!!
 
Yes I agree with vidled. I shoot in humid environments all the time. In any case that you might not be able to avoid an A/C to humid area always give yourself some prep time to have your camera aclimatize to the environment before you turn it on, from 20-30 minutes should do it.
 
All good advice above. Build in time for the camera to acclimate. Hotel rooms with AC are not your only concern. If you drive around in a car with the AC on for a period of time and the camera is inside the car you will have the same problems.

I've found keeping the camera in the bag cuts down on some of my humidity concerns. The camera doesn't get the full cool air affect so it doesn't react as much to the climate change. When I'm in a hotel room, I take the extra step of sticking the camera in the far corner of a closet, further away from AC. In some really small hotel rooms, I keep the camera, in it's travel bag, inside the bathroom with the door shut so it, again, doesn't get the full blast of AC.

This doesn't mean I don't still have the occasional wait for it to "acclimate" but it has cut down on the number of times I've been left unable to shoot.

Keep in mind that high humidity means there is moisture building up inside the camera. Just because you were able to get the camera working again after leaving the tape door open doesn't mean you are done.

High humidity means you will need to do more routine maintenance than usual. Have a good engineer do a thorough cleaning of the camera when you get home.

Best of luck and have fun.
 
Great tips...thanks a bunch! I actually was hip to turning the air off and today I had no problems. Now I was in and out of the car as I was doing some shooting in the El Yunque Rainforest. I put the camera in the case and sealed it up when I got in the car then waited maybe 5 or so minutes after getting out..didnt have any problems at all. I just have to remember to keep the AC off in the hotel room or car when shooting in humid weather like that.
 
do you think that the high humidity might have an effect on mini dv tapes after a long period of time? I' havent had problems as of yet aside from a few dropouts but would be curious as to what problems can occur with the tapes if any.
 
Desiccant Sachet INSIDE DVX?

Desiccant Sachet INSIDE DVX?

Are there any opinions about carefully placing a desiccant sachet INSIDE the DVX to protect it in humid climates? I got the idea from this link:

www.ccd.com/tech_support/docs/desiccant.html

Just to add to that I'd keep it in a pelican case with some extra desiccant sachets thrown in.

Also, when I was in South America I met someone with a Sony DV cam who said that they had bought from Sony a CCD protector, a part which covers the CCD protecting it from high humidity. Has anyone heard of this? Tried googling but to no avail.
 
as far as I know there isn't and device to cover your ccd's. And if there were (which there isnt) I wouldn't want it. I wouldnt want anything touching my ccd's. If they get scratched you're SOL. Also, I would neeeeeeeever put anything besides MQ tape inside my DVX. I would put it in a pelican case with dessicant packets beside it, but never inside. As long as you follow the above instructions, you should be fine in a humid climate. As far as the humidity/tape concern, I'm sure excessive humidity could lead to dropouts, but other than that I don't think it would harm them, as long as they're not damp/wet, and you dry them out when you get to a dry climate.
 
What everyone has said is correct. The more you can minimize the temperature changes for the camera (AC to 100 degree exterior) the better.

It's just like having a cold pint of Bass in a climate controlled pub, then deciding to go on the patio where it's hot. The glass will invariably start to sweat.

It almost isn't a humidity issue as much as it is a condensation against cold surfaces situation.

We had almost no luck with dessicants - even industrial-sized pods purchased expressly for the camera cases did nothing to help a cold camera. Regardless of how much condensation there is or isn't in your camera, once certain models throw the fault they'll be out of commission for up to one hour.

The CineAlta F900, HVR and DVX all have this protective "feature" built-in. Budget your time accordingly!

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