A cheap DIY solution for lens fogging

One problem I’ve encountered while doing long time exposure shots outside was lens fogging. As soon as the temperature of the lens drops below the outside temperature moisture condenses on the the glass and you get great  blurry shots. Different solutions range from a soldered ring of resistors up to ready-built solutions which costs quite some money.

My goal was a simple and cheap solution which is easy to handle. Enter USB powered heating soles. For about 5€ they seem to be perfect:

  • You can cut them
  • They are flexible
  • Easy power supply solution thanks to USB

After about two weeks they arrived. I’ve ordered two pairs so I can take apart one and check what’s inside. As expected it’s a simple, rectangular heating foil. Perfect! That makes the cutting very easy.

The power supply is a 15.000 mAh battery pack used for charging mobile phones and so on.

The assembly is quite easy, a rubber band holds the two soles together:

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For the battery pack you need a really stylish solution:

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All together now:

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I’ve tested the setup for the first time in Poland at around -14°C over about four hours. No lens fogging!

Here’s the result:

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Conclusion: For 5€ (if you have already the USB battery pack) this solution is definitely perfect. Now I just have to see how it performs in Ireland where the humidity is most likely higher at this time of the year.

New birch wood speaker stands

I have self built speaker stands since a few years in the living room. Those are pretty basic and not really beautiful. A little bit of color would be an option but something proper would be better.
Luckily my tattooist has some wood around his house and no problem cutting out a tree for this. After about 2 hours with the chainsaw and a Land Rover we had four nice pieces which will do the job with some work put in. The two thinner pieces will get an additional wood disc for a more secure stand:

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Now I only have to dry the wood, peel of the bark and oil it which will hopefully happen within the next 4-6 weeks.