[Rob83]

Hi All,

Kind of freaking out here. Yestarday I went to the beach to take some pictures. I live in tropical country with high humidity and also with around 30° C. So after taking some pics i went back to my hotel and left my Pentax K-1 near the pool where my niece was playing. I didn't note that she took the camera and pour cold water over it.. The final result was to get a lot of condensation in 2 places, my 28-105 Pentax WR Lense and also in the viewfinder eyepiece (very heavy in this one).

So i followed the regular process not wiping out the lense and letting the camera to get warmer and deal with the moisture, BUT, after 2 days the condition of both is not good and i'm not clear if i should continue waiting, do something else or what?.. To make this a bit worst i don't have Pentax support service in my country to send the camera for review.

If somebody has some ideas/suggestion i'll be really thankful.

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[UncleVanya]

Buy some dessicant and a large enough plastic container with a tight lid or some zip lock bags. If you use bags double or triple them to avoid infiltration of moisture. Store the camera inside one with ports open and the lens off. Remove batteries, sd cards, etc. Put the lens in the same container or another depending on the size and shape of the containers.

Depending on the dessicant you get you may need to change it out. Try the kind that changes color when it has absorbed too much. Some of these can be regenerated in an oven. Keep all spare dessicant in airtight containers.

Give that a few days.

If you can't find dessicant you can try rice but given the humid climate the rice may need drying out in a slow oven first. I suggest putting the camera gear or the rice in cheesecloth before putting them together to avoid dust and rice particles from infiltrating the gear.

[Rob83]

Buy some dessicant and a large enough plastic container with a tight lid or some zip lock bags. If you use bags double or triple them to avoid infiltration of moisture. Store the camera inside one with ports open and the lens off. Remove batteries, sd cards, etc. Put the lens in the same container or another depending on the size and shape of the containers.

Depending on the dessicant you get you may need to change it out. Try the kind that changes color when it has absorbed too much. Some of these can be regenerated in an oven. Keep all spare dessicant in airtight containers.

Give that a few days.

If you can't find dessicant you can try rice but given the humid climate the rice may need drying out in a slow oven first. I suggest putting it in cheesecloth before putting it with the camera gear to avoid dust and rice particles from infiltrating the gear.

Thank you very much!

[UncleVanya]

I hope it works.

[photoptimist]

TAKE THE BATTERY OUT RIGHT NOW!

Condensation inside a camera or lens is best removed by slowing warming the camera and lens in a dry environment. But you don't want to quickly heat a camera that has condensed droplets which will then evaporate and recondense deeper inside the still-cold parts of the camera. I'd take the lens off the camera, open all the doors, and leave it open-mount face-down someplace that is warm but not hot.

[Blacknight659]

TAKE THE BATTERY OUT RIGHT NOW!

Condensation inside a camera or lens is best removed by slowing warming the camera and lens in a dry environment. But you don't want to quickly heat a camera that has condensed droplets which will then evaporate and recondense deeper inside the still-cold parts of the camera. I'd take the lens off the camera, open all the doors, and leave it open-mount face-down someplace that is warm but not hot.

I've never had this problem, but I would address it this way, also I would look up a way to use rice or one of the gel packs in shoes to draw the moisture out. I don't know how to do this safely with the lens off.

[photoptimist]

I've never had this problem, but I would address it this way, also I would look up a way to use rice or one of the gel packs in shoes to draw the moisture out. I don't know how to do this safely with the lens off.

The K-1 is weather sealed. With the lens on, the camera is basically like a sealed jar and there is virtually zero exchange of air inside the camera with air outside the camera (especially if the camera is indoors where the temperature does not change much during the day).

At this point, the water that is in the camera is a greater danger than the dust that might get in the camera.

[UncleVanya]

A good way to avoid excess dust while drying with the lens off is to put the dessicant at the bototm of a large tupperware, cover the dessicant layer with papertowels, place the camera and/or lens on top of the towels, and then put the container lid on.

Great idea! I suggested cheesecloth bundles but that should work just as well.

[Rob83]

Great idea! I suggested cheesecloth bundles but that should work just as well.

Thanks for all the good points and comments. I will try and let you know how it goes.

[MJKoski]

I got condensation inside D-FA 15-30 after shooting in really nasty conditions for few hours in December. Wet snow accumulated on top of camera and lens about 2 cm or so and front element of 15-30 got moisture in there. It vanished completely after I let the lens to dry behind a window against the sun for ~2 days. No moisture got in the viewfinder though.