Does anybody have any better ideas for solving my fogging issues with my GoPro Hero 2? I've read the GoPro support questions and have read their solution. They say if using the closed back to put in the anti fog inserts which I've done and it still fogs up. They say to close the camera in the case in a "dry" environment. This problem happened over the weekend at a race track where it was humid and I couldn't find a "dry" environment. When the cars left the paddock the camera starts out good and then starts to fog worse and worse as the car gets up to speed out on the track. I assume this happens because the moving air is cooler than the humid air trapped in the case which causes condensation inside. If I leave the case open until the car is going to go out and then place the camera into the case do you think this would solve the problem? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi John

Are you sure it's fogging and not simply the change in light angle as the day goes on??? The Hero's have a big issue with flare ...at weddings I often notice that the footage gradually becomes foggy but it's simply the fact that the angle of light has changed and I'm getting flare...especially over reflective surfaces!!!

I would first check and see if the case is physically misted up after a while... then take steps to rectify it.

Unless it's pouring with rain, a skeleton housing is a useful addition!!!

Chris

I also had issues with the dome fogging up from the inside here in humid Hawaii. I had a GoPro2 mounted on the front of my van. I was documenting the roadway on a farm. The shoot was about an hour long. As I drove, the camera heated up and fogged the inside of the dome. I had the skeleton back on, and didn't think it would fog up with the wind blowing through, but it sure did! When I saw that it was fogging up, I took the camera out and blew on the inside of the dome, which dissipated the moisture. I put the camera back in, and continued to shoot but it fogged up again!

On another shoot, I had the GoPro2 indoors, on a tall light stand. The heat of the camera again caused fogging on the inside of the dome with the skeleton back. It definitely was not lens flare as I could see the fog getting worse and worse by the minute! Attached are before and after photos. My remedy now is to shoot without the housing if possible. I put a small strip of adhesive-backed velcro on top and bottom of the camera, and use those as mounting points.

Hi Warren

I'm sad to say that your images and mine from the wedding on Saturday look very similar!! I have an idea that mine is not flare but indeed fogging too!!! The previous Saturday I did a rainy wedding, but indoors and the footage was perfect..but last Saturday it was overcast and quite humid (it had been raining in the morning) and my footage looked like flare on the right top corner as there was a river behind the ceremony but as the ceremony progressed it now does look like fogging!!!

Shucks!!! that's not good!!! I was using the waterproof housing too!! I have a skeleton housing so I'm thinking now why not drill some nice big holes in the top of the housing to allow the heat to escape....heat rises so I figure top holes (and some bottom ones to let the cool air in might be a solution.

What do you think???

Chris

That's what you need to do Chris - let the air circulate. The GoPro heats up as it runs and CMOS is known for this - look at Panasonic's 900 that has resorted to having a fan running at all times.

Thanks Tom

I'll attack it with my drill and zap a few 8mm holes top and bottom...the sides are already open. We are getting close to Winter now and the rainy season has started so condensation forms easily...the Church ceremony I did in mid April was a dry sunny day and the camera ran inside the Church for nearly 1.5 hours with no issues at all.

John??? Ignore my flare diagnosis I think you had better grab a skeleton housing and put some holes in it too...they are pretty cheap!!

I only have two more weddings until our season ends and they could quite likely be damp but I might have to use the Hero for other shoots so it's a worthwhile mod.

An interesting question is : Why doesn't the underwater housing fog up with cold water outside and a warm camera inside ..I take my underwater now and again but then again the actual duration is much shorter!!

Chris

My Extreme cam is waterproof without the need for an external housing, though it uses a big-headed screw as its CMOS heat-sink. Never had misting problems with its little protective front glass.

I have a skeleton housing so I'm thinking now why not drill some nice big holes in the top of the housing to allow the heat to escape....heat rises so I figure top holes (and some bottom ones to let the cool air in might be a solution.

What do you think???

Chris

My solution has been to not use the housing at all. Doing so completely eliminates the problem. However, if you need to mount the camera using the housing, wouldn't it better to just temporarily remove the front dome (using a jeweler's screwdriver) and replace it when needed for underwater shots? Drilling holes in the housing forces you to buy another one if you need underwater shots in the future. The housing is cheap, but just temporarily removing the front dome is free!

Thanks Warren

I have two housings!! One is my underwater housing and one is my skeleton housing for indoor and general usage....I can easily take off my dome if it helps...

Have you seen what actually fogs up?? Is it the dome itself or does the housing start to fog and then extend into the dome???

Maybe take off the dome and also zap a few extra "cooling holes" top and bottom!!

Chris

Chris,
Yes, I've seen condensation form in the front dome. It will begin as a little patch, then grow until almost the entire glass area is covered. Even with the skeleton back on, I'm guessing that the camera fits so tightly into the housing that the dome area cannot air out. Hence, the fog!

One thing that I haven't tried yet is putting RainX on the INSIDE of the glass dome to see if that helps any.

I used this setup ( with the underwater housing with full cover rear door and anti fog strips) on Friday and Saturday with no troubles. I did remove the camera from the housing between practice sessions. On Sunday I attached this full kit above, to the car in the morning and left under a shaded tent until afternoon race. That's when my trouble began. Maybe you have to leave the case open until your just about to use it so that the inside temp equals the outside temp. I do have a skeleton housing but don't want to use it because of the wind noise killing the sound quality. Maybe a call to Gropro is in order .

John, a 1min blast of dry air-conditioned air either from a car vent or building aircon will fix the issue with a waterproof housing.

Hold the open case in front of the vent and the camera (separately) for 1 min, let the air circulate inside the SD slot and battery compartment (open slightly), then assemble and close while still in front of the vent (6'' away). Don't open until filming job is finished and keep in cool place out of the sun till ready to start filming.

One other thing, use dry hands, as sweat will vaporize into fog as well.

This has worked for me in both HD1 and HD2 cameras under all conditions, it's simple science, based on dew point. Google it.

If your still worried, place some kitchen tissue paper towel squares in the space between the camera and the housing at the side and bottom.

Ian,
I will have to try this with my car AC next time I'm at the race track. This seems like a great idea. Thanks!

Thanks Ian

That's worth knowing ... I wonder if some "canned air" would also work??? Would that be dry ???

That might be convenient at weddings where the car is a long way off!!!

Can you see any issues shooting with the front dome removed if I am inside a Church??? I have a wedding on Saturday but then again we are forecast a really nice warm day so I probably won't have any issues.

Chris

RainX and RainX Anti Fog, plus inserts, usually works for me.

Those little silicagel dessicant sachets from inside vitamin C tablet bottles, placed in a very slow fan oven for a few hours to reconstitute them and shoving them in the GoPro might be helpful to keep the insides dry.

we have had to waist much footage when the go pro fogs up. we have filmed a reality series on a river and the cameras are great for the first three minutes...then fog up...even with the inserts inside the waterproof housing.

Dano

I ran the Go Pro inside a Church yesterday at a wedding for pretty much 2 hours with no fogging on the image at all... I used the skeleton back and drilled a couple of holes in the top and bottom too AND removed the centre dome insert so it had plenty of air flow...it was a good test as it was an unusually warm day here for almost Winter (29 degrees (that's Celcius BTW!!!) plus the heat from all the people in the Church ...the camera was warm when I eventually stopped it so maybe the fact that the lens now doesn't have the dome right up against it cured the fogging????

You obviously shouldn't leave the lens unprotected shooting outdoors where it might be wet or in dusty conditions!! Seemed to work fine!!!

Chris

I have ordered JAWS Quick Spit Anti-fog Spray (1 oz.) to try. I'm going to coat the Gopro camera lens and the inside housing bubble lens. Yes I've had the lens look perfect for the first couple minutes and then fog up even with the inserts. I will be testing this spray at a race track over May 26, 27th. I'll let everybody know the results.

Hi John

Be very careful with the actual camera lens!! I have been told that the coating is very delicate (that's why it's in a housing) The guys using then out the case on quadricopters have reported the lens can easily get scratched simply from landing the copter in grass so it seems the coating is quite soft???

Maybe stick to the dome for now???? I have taken my dome out (I put the black ring back on without the clear dome to I don't lose the screws!) and it definately didn't fog up ... I would say it would be pretty safe outdoors unless there was a lot of dust/debris or obviously rain present.

Did you know that human saliva does the same job??? ...I do a fair amount of snorkelling and you always spit in your face mask and then wash it out before starting and it doesn't fog up at all!!! Hmmm maybe take the housing, spit inside the dome, and wipe it out and you have a fogging issue solved????

Interesting to know the result.????

Chris

We wash out the housing with Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo... you have to do it a couple of times...
It works for us...

I gave up on RainX antifog, breathable Gor-Tex vents and the like years ago. The single best technique is to remove all water, sweat and humid air from the inside of the GoPro housing and the camera by using air from a dried source like car/home aircon or scuba air. Back that up with a few GoPro strips if you have them or tissue paper and there will be NO fog ever. This has been tested by the members on our forum in a controlled humidity box with instruments even when a hot GoPro and housing is dumped in ice, no fog.

Even tiny residual water hiding under the white case seal is enough fog up a GoPro, so keep it clean and dry.

Chris and Ian,
I am going to try both methods. One with the anti fog mask spray and the other using the car A/C. I let you guys know the results after the 27th of this month. Maybe I'll even try the spit method also. I guess I better not put anything on the actual camera lens and stick to just the housing glass.

Chris and Ian,
I guess I better not put anything on the actual camera lens and stick to just the housing glass.

Hell no, there is a coating on the camera lens that is easily scratched or marked.

Hey Ian

I actually mentioned earlier in this thread that the coating is very delicate!! People using the Hero bare (the camera not the people) on quadricopters were finding that even landing in long grass (as soft as it seems) was scratching the lens as the cameras were slung below the copter.

If it's condensation then one would also need to watch out when moving the camera from a warm car to icy outdoors???

Chris

I'm very surprised to hear that the GPH's lens has a soft multi-coating as everyone else has moved to much tougher coatings these days. And my tests show much more flare when the GPH is encased in its water-proof housing - as you expect if you put any sort of non-hooded, totally uncoated filter in front of any camera you owned.

tom.

I used the air conditioning method and it worked perfectly! No fogging at all even in very humid conditions. I also coated in the inside housing glass with the Quick Spit Antifog spray for extra security. I didn't even use the GoPro antifog strips. Now only if I can figure out why the one camera showed it was recording and when I got home the card was empty! I know I had it set to video. Bad card? Not inserted properly?

Hi John

I did a wedding yesterday is very overcast conditions so I put my Hero in the skeleton case that I have already drilled some holes top and bottom and I have also removed the front dome. It ran for a little under 45 minutes and the video is absolutely perfect..no sign of any fogging at all...I think maybe taking the dome off a skeleton case (as long as it's not a dusty/wet environment) is a good idea

Chris

You're right - removing a plastic injection moulded, totally un-coated and unnecessary front element from your camera's lens is a very good idea indeed.

You're right - removing a plastic injection moulded, totally un-coated and unnecessary front element from your camera's lens is a very good idea indeed.

GLASS, totally un-coated front element. Touch it on you lip ..cold, touch the Gopro case ...not cold.

There is a slight magnifying effect from the dome, but it's optically no different than a glass filter.

Glass huh? OK, but my point was that you'd never buy a £300 camera, fit it with an uncoated clear filter (its new front element), never use a hood and step out into the sunshine. In the still camera mode it's pretty easy to see the added flare introduced by the dome.

I guess it depends on the type of shooting you do, I shoot sports in sandy, wet, windy conditions, so ALL my cameras regardless of value have at least protective uv or clear glass filters.

As you can't change the GoPro lens without voiding your warrantee, keeping it covered at all times seems like I good idea to me and you can pass the flares off as an artistic bonus. :-)