water in the body?

[candleman]

last night i was shooting an indoor event.

its winter here, so there were heaters running and with the 200 odd bodies inside it was rather warm.
after 5 minutes of being inside i noticed condensation was forming on/in the lens.
i left and changed lenses... 2 minutes later the exact same problem.
foggy images

i put the first lens back and it was clear.

it was then that i noticed that the moisture wasnt inside the lens, but it was appearing only on the rear element. so for the rest of the evening i had to detatch the lens for 10 seconds near a cool door, allow it to clear up for 30 seconds, then i could carry on as usual.

i've shot in environments just like it before.. never had that problem..


my questions..
WHY THE HECK was there moisture building up on the back of the rear element and nowhere else.??
is there water in my body that was trying to evaporate?

how do i stop this from happening again?

[zona5101]

how long was your camera allowed to stabllize in temperture? It is the temp difference between the inside and outside of your camera coupled with high humidity that cause the condensation. I believe the only way around it is to allow the camera to be acclimated to the envrionment.
i apologize in advance if this is elementary and you are looking for a more substantial response.

[OsmosisStudios]

If you wanna try to dry the body out a bit, here's an easy one: Get some of those silica gel packets that come in, well, everything photography related. Stick the camera body, cap off, and these packets into the oven. DONT TURN IT ON. Just let them sit there for a bit. The oven is sealed, so it wont let moisture in, nad the silica packets absorb what moisture is there.

[candleman]

thanks gents,
i have gel packets in my bag all the time... cant remember the last time i dried the packets out tho'.

allowing it to acclimatise ddnt really do anything.
the moisture just sat there.
i did stay in the venue for around a minute or two.. possiby not long enough?