Lens Condensation when flying

[liquidguru]

For the first time I'm having lens condensation problems. I'm on holiday in hot dry Spain. I live in hot humid Indonesia, where I haven't had any problems.

I've left the Mavic outside to make sure the temp is good. All is fine. As soon as I take off I get a little blob of condensation right in the middle of the lens. It does not go away until I land and turn the dronevprops off, then it clears up in 30 seconds or so.

If I fly with the gimbal cover on, then there is no condensation.

The condensation only appears when the Mavic is flying. If I land it, power off the props but leave the Mavic on, the condensation disappears. It only appears again when in flight, about 10 seconds after take-off.

Any ideas? It rather ruining my vacation in Spain. Thanks

 

[4wd]

If it forms externally, it must be caused by drone being colder than outside air, are you taking it from air-con car or building? It will take some time to warm up if cool internally.
If it's internal condensation you might have some moisture trapped inside but since the camera isn't exactly sealed it should clear over time.

 

[liquidguru]

It's internal. I'm thinking that air is colder here than in the tropics, though the sun is hot. The colder air is being blown by the props over the camera, causing the condensation. It's not a problem where I live in Indo, as the ambient air temp is much warmer. And the condensation is in the camera from the very humid air we have in Indonesia.

I think that putting a ND filter over the lens might help, but unfortunately I didn't bring them with me. I may try the rice option this evening, just to see...

Thanks for the reply.

 

[ZenQuest]

There have been a few posts about this. I had this problem and took the Mavic back to the Shenzhen, China repair centre. They told me it was a manufacturing problem and they very quickly replaced the camera for me at no cost.

 

[Gino]

For the first time I'm having lens condensation problems. I'm on holiday in hot dry Spain. I live in hot humid Indonesia, where I haven't had any problems.

I've left the Mavic outside to make sure the temp is good. All is fine. As soon as I take off I get a little blob of condensation right in the middle of the lens. It does not go away until I land and turn the dronevprops off, then it clears up in 30 seconds or so.

If I fly with the gimbal cover on, then there is no condensation.

The condensation only appears when the Mavic is flying. If I land it, power off the props but leave the Mavic on, the condensation disappears. It only appears again when in flight, about 10 seconds after take-off.

Any ideas? It rather ruining my vacation in Spain. Thanks

Hi there guys! I've had this problem for quite some time now... You could return It and have it replaced by DJI, which may take a couple of months if you ship it back to them. You could go that way or try and do what I did as a temporary solution. I noticed that the condensation happens because the internal parts of the cam heats up which causes it to have a different temperature from the outside. If this is paired with the cold wash of air coming from the props (assuming the camera is not as sealed as it used to be) this will cause the condensation inside the cam.

I tried putting on the gimbal cover and it helps, but then as you guys also noticed, it causes glare if light hits the front of the cover. So, I thought maybe if I stop the cold air hitting the lens of the camera, it might help with the condensation inside since the temp of the glass would not change that much... I then tried installing a UV filter in front of the cam. Tried flying it a few times in cold weather and even after rain... No moisture inside. I guess this may actually vary depending on how sealed your camera is... If the uv filter is not enough try adding a camera sun hood... it may also help shield the camera from cold wash coming from the sides. I hope this helps.

Here are the parts i installed

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

Awesome - great top Gino!

 

[liquidguru]

Hi there guys! I've had this problem for quite some time now... You could return It and have it replaced by DJI, which may take a couple of months if you ship it back to them. You could go that way or try and do what I did as a temporary solution. I noticed that the condensation happens because the internal parts of the cam heats up which causes it to have a different temperature from the outside. If this is paired with the cold wash of air coming from the props (assuming the camera is not as sealed as it used to be) this will cause the condensation inside the cam.

I tried putting on the gimbal cover and it helps, but then as you guys also noticed, it causes glare if light hits the front of the cover. So, I thought maybe if I stop the cold air hitting the lens of the camera, it might help with the condensation inside since the temp of the glass would not change that much... I then tried installing a UV filter in front of the cam. Tried flying it a few times in cold weather and even after rain... No moisture inside. I guess this may actually vary depending on how sealed your camera is... If the uv filter is not enough try adding a camera sun hood... it may also help shield the camera from cold wash coming from the sides. I hope this helps.

Here are the parts i installed

Thanks Gino,

I thought about trying a UV filter, but I hadn't brought it with me on vacation. Sending back is a difficult option, as I live in a very remote part of the world. I'll give your solution a go when I'm out of the tropics again.

 

[geigy]

this happens with conventional camera lenses. The normal fix is to take the lens apart and let it dry out. Is it possible to do this with the Mavic?

 

[Gino]

this happens with conventional camera lenses. The normal fix is to take the lens apart and let it dry out. Is it possible to do this with the Mavic?

Hi there geigy... I tried doing it, but the darn camera is pretty much one solid sealed component. You can take it off the gimbal but you cant take apart the lens... would be great if you could though.

 

[collins]

For the first time I'm having lens condensation problems. I'm on holiday in hot dry Spain. I live in hot humid Indonesia, where I haven't had any problems.

I've left the Mavic outside to make sure the temp is good. All is fine. As soon as I take off I get a little blob of condensation right in the middle of the lens. It does not go away until I land and turn the dronevprops off, then it clears up in 30 seconds or so.

If I fly with the gimbal cover on, then there is no condensation.

The condensation only appears when the Mavic is flying. If I land it, power off the props but leave the Mavic on, the condensation disappears. It only appears again when in flight, about 10 seconds after take-off.

Any ideas? It rather ruining my vacation in Spain. Thanks

Funnily enough the only time I have had this problem was flying in Bali - I dont get it in Thailand where I live.

It happened early in the morning when I took the Mavic up 100m or so. My guess is that it is caused by the cooler air at height early in the morning.

I just flew it later in the day at lower heights and the problem did not return.

If you have moisture in your Mavic you could store in rice for a day or so.

 

[liquidguru]

So far, so good, using a filter. No more fogging. If I'm ever somewhere that can fix the problem with the fogging camera, I will. In the meantime using an ND4 filter is fine. I fly most of the time in blue skies and over water, so using my ND polarising filters is good.

 

[Gino]

Awesome - great top Gino!

Thanks mate

 

[Gino]

Thanks mate

Welcome! Happy flying mate! Ohh btw I was able to permanently fix mine by putting new thermal paste at the back of the cam. Was able to fix it by accident after I replaced my gimbal. Had to transplant my old cam to the new gimbal. The new gimbal didnt have any thermal tape or grease... so i placed some of my pc thermal grease. Now it doesnt have that condensation hehe.

 

[DannyPer]

Hope it does not happen to the new MP2 [emoji848]

 

[AnythingReally]

just watch how to fix