Condensation in the lens!

[mholeica]

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Hi all,

I am going on holiday next week and just recently updated to 1.3 on my Q3. Was going through the settings to make sure everything was okay, was taking photos which came out fine and then I pressed on EVF colour adjust and suddenly saw the the image looked steamy, then realised there suddenly was an area of condensation on my lens on the inside! Please see photo attached.

 

Is this normal? How do I get rid of it? I thought it was a sealed system.

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[mholeica]

I have had condensation form before when I was on holiday in a very hot and humid country and the camera was initially in my cool air conned room, but today the camera went from one room in the house to another room in the house, similar temperature, there was no condensation initially and then suddenly that oval patch came on. It looks to have evaporated now.

[Miltz]

This is very odd. The temperature swings must have been massive to produce such an effect. I’ve used mirrorless cameras in the snow and then went into a warm house and still never saw this. The thing is that camera is “sealed” so the water vapor is still inside the camera. It can’t just ooze out slowly can it? 
 

In the future maybe it’s best the wrap the camera with a towel or something when changing extreme temps this way the camera slowly comes up to room temperature. A zip lock bag would work too. I would send that image to Leica and see what they say. Your camera should technically only have condensation on the outside like the front element not inside. 

[Rdf]

13 hours ago, mholeica said:

Hi all,

I am going on holiday next week and just recently updated to 1.3 on my Q3. Was going through the settings to make sure everything was okay, was taking photos which came out fine and then I pressed on EVF colour adjust and suddenly saw the the image looked steamy, then realised there suddenly was an area of condensation on my lens on the inside! Please see photo attached.

 

Is this normal? How do I get rid of it? I thought it was a sealed system.

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I thought it was sealed also. If not (check with Leica?), and when it’s truly dry, might you want to consider a protective filter?  That might block moisture. 
 

[rich_]

This used to happen to me all the time on my cameras when i lived in Hong Kong. From an AC 65-70f room with low humidity to a humid 90f+ temp outdoors. Usually it would go away in a few mins. But not just on a desk in a climate controlled typical household temp/

[mholeica]

8 hours ago, Rdf said:

I thought it was sealed also. If not (check with Leica?), and when it’s truly dry, might you want to consider a protective filter?  That might block moisture. 
 

I do use a UV filter, took it after after I saw the condensation to see if it was under it, but it was actually inside the lens.

 

1 hour ago, rich_ said:

This used to happen to me all the time on my cameras when i lived in Hong Kong. From an AC 65-70f room with low humidity to a humid 90f+ temp outdoors. Usually it would go away in a few mins. But not just on a desk in a climate controlled typical household temp/

I wonder if I somehow breathed into it and caused some condensation build up. I have emailed Leica.

[Rdf]

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36 minutes ago, mholeica said:

I do use a UV filter, took it after after I saw the condensation to see if it was under it, but it was actually inside the lens.

 

I wonder if I somehow breathed into it and caused some condensation build up. I have emailed Leica.

Glad you’re contacting Leica. Seems like asking for trouble having moisture in a lens. Hope they can help!