I have a job coming up in April filming some diving (board not underwater) in a swimming complex. I will be using a 350 and a 330. I have been told it takes several hours for a camera to settle in to a hot humid enviroment! I presume the disc mechanism will be more stable than tape, but wonddered about steaming up of the optics. Any ideas or suggestions

Andy

keep the camera at same temperature as it will be in swimming pool an there will be no problem. avoid to leave any equipement overnight in the garage or car's trunk.

I have a job coming up in April filming some diving (board not underwater) in a swimming complex. I will be using a 350 and a 330. I have been told it takes several hours for a camera to settle in to a hot humid enviroment! I presume the disc mechanism will be more stable than tape, but wonddered about steaming up of the optics. Any ideas or suggestions

Andy

Some of the Fujinon lenses have a field replaceable pack of drying agent in the lens to prevent fogging. I haven't determined whether the 1/2 XDCAM HD lenses have them or not. And yes, the disc won't be a problem. It was explained to me by Sony that any condensation that does manage to form on the disc surface gets spun off due to centrifugal force as soon as the camera is powered up. But because the disc is enclosed and the camera's disc mechanism is enclosed, there's virtually no chance for condensation build-up in the first place.

-gb-

These guys have pretty well covered it but remember, despite the fact that Panasonic is "The Official Camera of the Iditerod" right now, Sony already "Been There, Done That". The temperature specs are on the camera because of the lawyers. The XDCAM has been used in the wettest and driest environments imaginable and the pictures are, in a word, incredible and stunning. OK, two words.

On a side note - I've recently bought an excellent underwater housing for my Sony Z1 - with 80 and 110 degree WA lenses - would be interesting to see the results of using this with your footage :)

Paul.

Provided the camera/lens is equal to, or warmer than the ambient temperature then condensation won't occur. However in a swimming pools where the humidity is close to 100% and the air temperature may be higher than most rooms/cars, then you could get a problem. One solution is to put the camera in a plastic bag with some silica gel sachets before you take it in to the swimming pool and allow it to warm up inside the bag. The lens is likely to be most problematic. You should also consider that if you do get condensation inside the lens this can make any dust or dirt that is inside the lens stick to the lens elements, when the condensation clears the dirt remains, possibly requiring a professional service/clean.

I have filmed in several swimming pools and I have not had any problems, but a steamed up lens can prove costly.

thanks for all the suggestions, I'll report back in May after the Job

Andy