Anti-fog insert
Also known as: anti-fog strips, desiccant inserts, housing inserts
Small absorbent strips placed inside a camera housing to soak up moisture and stop the lens fogging in cold air or water.
Updated
What it means
When warm, humid air is sealed inside a camera housing and the outside gets cold, moisture condenses on the coldest surface, often the inside of the housing window. The result is housing fog, a milky haze that ruins footage. Anti-fog inserts are thin pieces of absorbent material that sit inside the housing and soak up that moisture before it condenses.
They are standard accessories for dive housings, snow sports and any situation with big temperature differences, such as jumping from a warm boat into cold water or from a heated car onto a snowy slope.
Inserts are reusable if dried, but they lose effectiveness once saturated.
How it works in practice
Dry inserts before use by baking them gently at a low oven temperature or leaving them in a warm, dry place. Place one or two in the housing where they do not block the lens or the door seal, then close the housing in a dry room.
Let the camera adjust to the outside temperature slowly where possible. Closing the housing in an air-conditioned room before a cold dive, or in a cool place before skiing, reduces the moisture trapped inside.
Replace or re-dry inserts after each day, since they fill up over a session. For snow days, combine them with a goggle-style habit of never breathing on the lens.
What to watch out for
An insert caught in the door seal causes leaks, which is far worse than fog. Check that the seal is clean before closing.
Inserts reduce fog but cannot fix a camera that is hot from recording in cold water. Long recordings warm the camera, which raises humidity inside. Short bursts help.
Opening the housing on a humid beach or boat traps fresh moisture inside. Change batteries and cards in dry conditions whenever possible, and wipe the window before closing. A small zip bag with fresh inserts in your kit means you can swap them between dives without guessing whether the old ones are still dry.
How RawClip handles it
RawClip cannot clear fog from footage, so preventing it on location saves your clips. Upload the clear shots from your dive or snow day, and the AI cuts the best moments into one highlight.