Has anyone got any tips to stop moisture building up on my mavic camera. Going skiing next weekend and want get some footage, but iv read that after flying in cold conditions you maybe likely to get mosture inside your camera lense ? Is this True ?
Most important … don’t take it out of your bag when you go into typical warm mountain/après ski bars/restaurants … where the humidity is really high from all the snow traipsed in …
Condensation hell!
Back packs can get damp - keep the drone wrapped in a small towel in the back pack.
What I would do with a drone camera is take something like sheets of kitchen towel with me, and, before you head back indoors, gently wrap a couple around the camera and leave them there until it’s fully warmed up.
The kitchen towel will slow the circulation of warmer/damper air around the lens until it’s warmed up enough to prevent the condensation.
Better still, leave it in your bag and take it straight to your hotel/chalet room (where the humidity should be much lower) and leave it there, in the slightly open bag, to slowly warm up.
Whilst I’ve never droned in a ski resort, this was my practice over 30+yrs of skiing with expensive SLRs and video cameras - particularly big lenses where the last thing you want is condensation on internal elements.
Something I have done with big SLR lenses, and could be done … very carefully! …with a drone camera, is, as soon as you get back to your room, gently use a hair dryer (not too close, and on a cooler setting if it has one). Won’t need to do this for long - you only need to warm the lens/casing enough to prevent the condensation.
And. yes, I’ve used hand dryers in the gents in mountain restaurants to dry lenses/cameras (usually after dropping in the snow!).
I also HATE warm bedrooms … so having my bedroom quite cool also meant less chance of condensation.
Have fun!
1 Like
Sound advice from @OzoneVibe there 
I’ve done a few sub-zero flights here in the UK but my Mavic is coming from a relatively warm car, and it was in the house prior to that so it’s not been out long enough to suffer I guess!
@OzoneVibe @PingSpike Well i was going put my Mavic in the DJI pouch “combo pack” and put the pouch inside my rucksack. After iv took it for its flight, you reckon i should keep it in the rucksake in my hotel room until its warmed up gradually ?
That’s the easiest, if your backpack has remained nice and dry … the hair-dryer method is the quickest if you need it out sooner (for battery/SD card).
(I gave up the “falling over” bit many years ago. 
)
Chances are you’ll want the battery out to recharge, so slip it out at the end of your flight so that you don’t have to get the camera out immediately to access it. (ALWAYS best to keep batteries nice and warm in pockets inside your jacket, anyway … before, between and after flights.)
In the end it’s all down to temperature/humidity changes - but them mountain/après-skis bars/restaurants are the worst place for a camera just in from the cold.
Hotels, with ski/boot rooms that tend to reduce the amount of snow/damp being traipsed in (and air-conditioning, possibly), will have lower humidity. How low, and hence how likely condensation is to form, depends on factors that can’t be predicted.
If you wear glasses, and they fog up when you walk into somewhere, that’s a bad sign … though plastic lenses and warmth from one’s face mean they are slightly less likely to fog up than a camera from a cold backpack.
Always remember to check the lens, visually, before/after flights (especially the first flight of the day) for any misting. Condensation can form on the outside, but that can be wiped off. Any humid air that’s trapped inside the camera will be inclined to make itself known after you’ve been out in the cold for a while on a new day. (In some hotels, if there’s been a large window-ledge, outside the window, I’ve left my camera bag out there in the cold to prevent this. Depends on HOW cold and weather, obviously.)
An additional precaution can be to take silica-gel sachets and pack those around the camera overnight.
I always travel with a load of these - re-charge them (in the microwave - google) before the trip and keep in a couple of zipping plastic bags …
… and a couple of LARGE zipper bags in which I can put an SLR/lens with a few sachets overnight to dry them out. (F1 racing around the world can be one of the wettest places to take photographs!)
These days I use the same for mobile phones that have got damp on wet days walking/trekking. Life savers!
2 Likes