Fog makes me sad
On our sail from Hog Island back to Calivigny Harbor today, we played around with our GoPro camera some more, including trying it on the new mast-mount that I put together. The mount worked perfectly but sadly the unfortunate problem of the GoPro’s housing fogging up returned rendering much of the coolest footage unusable. Very sad. 🙁
Oh well. I’ll try to upload what footage I am able to salvage later on.
Can you not remove the waterproof housing and just use it in its ordinary state?
Mike
There is no way to mount the camera unless it is in a housing.
Your mast-mount looks great! But what a bummer that the lens fogged. I look forward to seeing whatever you can salvage from the footage. Check these out for anti-fogging:
http://gopro.com/camera-accessories/anti-fog-inserts/
Thanks Belinda. If I was in the US getting those would be easy. Down here, not so easy.
I just remembered that my Dad and Grandfather (both shutter bugs) used to keep bags of silica beads in their camera cases, in the compartments next to their lenses. I wonder if that would help?
Depends on the room available in the housing. I think I’ll be able to do something.
Mike,
Interesting situation.
I might have solution for you. Put some RainX on the lens housing. The water just beads off. Spray on, let dry and buff
It works great!
Put an offer in on a 44 ft cat last week, see what happens
Be well
Ron Hamilton
I suspect that won’t prevent the moisture though, which is what we really need to do.
Good luck on the boat. Let me know how it goes.
I just wrote an article for Practical Sailor (due next month) on absorbents to fight dampness in boats that are stored for the winter. The fogging is obviously a humidity problem , either the result of closing the camera at a time when the air was humid and warm and then the temperature dropped, or perhaps 1 drop of water sneaked in. Either way, the cure is drying the camera.
Calcium chloride works great for certain things, but you can’t keep it on-hand, so it means a trip to the hardware store.
Silica gel is effective, but it needs to be recharged each time. But recharging sounds good for a cruiser. Simply heat it in a skillet on low for an hour (an oven at 350F for one hour is the official recommendation). The products on the marine market (H2OUT.com) are insanely over priced, but silica gel kitty liter or air compressor desiccant is widely available. I’ve used this a few times on cellphones that I’ve gotten wet (rain or sweat causing condensation, not in the water).
In either case, you would open the camera and place it in Tupperware with the desiccant overnight.
I don’t know how much of a problem drying electronics is for you. If frequent, I would get some loose silica gel and just recharge it in a skillet when I needed it.
But in your case, there may be other possibilities for right now. Many things, even rice, will serve as desiccants, if they are themselves dried by heating on the stove on very low for a while. I might try such specially dried rice in a big pot with a lid, with the camera, overnight.
I need to subscribe to that magazine just for your articles!
I try to post some of my testing on my blog, but if I cross a line the publisher will, rightfully, scream. I didn’t post any of the descant stuff because I don’t store and I’m not too adverse to mildew. Some would say lazy. But following your blog is constantly introducing me to problems I hadn’t thought about, being primarily a land dweller. I would have included the camera thing if I’d thought of it. Actually, I think I’ll post that use as a follow-up.
We’ll try to keep throwing problems your way! 😉
I really enjoy the blog. I use tooth paste on my face mask when I scuba and snorkel. It works to keep the mask from fogging. Safe sails and keep shooting good photos.
Hey Mike, that is a great idea and will make for some cool shots. I have a GoPro that often fogs up. As mentioned before, it is due to heat and humidity. The housing gets very hot and will fog almost every time. I have the anti-fog inserts and they work ok, but you can still get a fog in the housing. Two suggestions:
1) Use the skeleton housing. With the unit hiked up the mast, you will not have to worry about water spray.
2) I have used the anti-fog inserts with ok results. What does work very well is to charge the camera and place it in the housing and hook the top latch, but do not close the housing. Place the camera & housing in a zip-lock bag with some type of dessicant(cat-litter would work, which you have on board) over night. When you are ready to use the camera lock the latch so the housing is sealed, then remove from the zip-lock bag. While this is a bit more to do, this technique has worked for me on an 6 hour fishing trip.
Let us know what works for you.
l8r
j.L>
The skeleton housing probably would work. I’ll try both that and your other suggestion.
Like Drew said Silica gel packs are your best bet. Put camera and case open in a few zip lock bags with a few gel packs. When you go to use it, close the case before taking it out.
Thankfully all my UW cameras have room for silica packs.
I will try that.
Hey guys!
Just a question. We have a go-pro also but the video files are huge! Do you convert your video to a different format before you upload it? If you convert it, how do you do it, what do you use to convert it? Or do you just shoot it in lower resolution? Any tips would be appreciated.
Been following your adventures almost since the begining.
Thanks
Dave
Hi Dave
I shoot in full res but then edit the movies in iMovie (Mac). The clips are then exported in 720P. I agree they are large. That last clip, approx. 4 minutes, was almost 300 meg!