Fog machines and lenses

Tim Joy

Tim Joy

Veteran
I was on a shoot the other day and the owner of the camera was insistent that the DP NOT use those party fog machines because the oils deposit on the lenses and everything else, causing?

I thought he was just being a stick-in-the mud, and a simple uv filter would protect the lens and plastic over the cam maybe, but really, is it that bad if you just want a little haze?

I've been thinking about picking a cheap fogger for this effect but obvously don't want to do harm to my lenses.
 
Ive used my camera with cheap fog machines loads of times and ive never noticed too much... Those machines dont use oil anyway, the fluid is 95 percent water and 5 percent glyerol. Theres no oil in it... or atleast thats what my fog fluid bottle says...
 
Yeah.. that's what I thought. The guy was just anal- took down the whole mood of the set on the 1st day.
 
the active ingredient is glycerin - some fog machines use water - others use oil.

I would want to protect the camera working in an atmosphere thick with the stuff for any length of time.
 
no - its base glycerol, worse case no more harmful than spritzing yourself with gatorade
 
yeehaanow said:
I was on a shoot the other day and the owner of the camera was insistent that the DP NOT use those party fog machines because the oils deposit on the lenses and everything else, causing?
Click to expand...

After shooting at Burning Man two years ago, and getting dust on my tape transit, to the point where I lost the burn of The Man, but fortunately the heads were cleanable... but still lost the footage... I have tended to avoid 'dust' when opening up the the camera to change tapes... more reason to get a next generation that has nonmoving recording media... expensive though it may be...

As for mosture, well, it to can carry contaminants that can get in the works, especially when working on locations near such places as the Ocean... high salt particulate in the air...

Personally I tend to be a bit more casual, if the lens has a UV filter, if the tape drive isn't openned to the 'air' in bad conditions, that is have a old fashioned changing bag... then I'm pretty much ok.

But I have met people who are incredibly 'panties in a bunch'... like the Wife... who oddly has lost two heavy duty tripods to seawater and corrosion... because she got focused on the shoot and not on the tide... and despite my wd-40 treatments, they still eventually tended to lock up... in part to corrosion, in part due to just sand grit in obscure places... but heaven help me if I show up shoot under bad conditions without protection... and then there's the time that she just lost the tripod... and ran over the light meter... but I digress... ok, I did run over the 17" Mac Book Pro... but that was a first for me...

As for 'oily' moisture... I don't know, it may just leave this greazzie film everwhere that really doesn't feel good when handling the equipment... sort of like having a spray of ethelene glycol everywere after your radiator blows...
 
I have a hazer, a fog machine, and some "diffusion in a can" stuff. Last week I shot a still job in a boiler room that was to look like it had a large vapor leak of ammonia fumes. I put some green gels on the smoke as well to simulate the ammonia fumes... My still camera was covered in plastic in between takes and I had a filter on the lens. My machines both use water based fluid BUT after I poured the fluid into the machines, I went to wash my hands and they felt greasy or oily. I think it is still a good idea to use a filter on your lenses.
 
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