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Fog Problem

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Skewerer View Drop Down
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    Posted: August/04/2014 at 15:19

I've been lurking on this forum for a while reading all of the great info.  Last week, I pulled the trigger on a new spotting scope, the Meopta Meostar S2 82 HD with the 30-60 WA eyepiece.  I saw that several folks on this forum own this spotting scope and seem to love it.

 
I took mine out last weekend for the first time and came away very disappointed.  I had been playing with the scope indoors, and I decided to take it out to a nearby soybean field to watch some deer.  I zipped up the stay-on case, dropped it in my backpack, and made my way to the vantage point (15 minute ride in UTV).  Approaching the field edge, I observed some deer a couple of hundred yards away.  I set the tripod, unzipped the scope, removed the lens and eyepiece covers, and I couldn't see a thing!  It was a complete white-out with fog.  I figured the fog must be caused from the temperature change from going indoors (70 degrees A/C) to outdoors (80+ degrees with high humidity).  I then set up in an enclosed deer stand to watch the field until dark.  For the next hour, I watched numerous deer through my Pentax 10X50s (no fog issue), but the scope never cleared up.  I also noticed sweating on the exterior which never dried up. 
 
The product specifications say that the scope is "Purged and sealed with inert Nitrogen gas to provide 100% guaranteed fogproof performance."  This was definitely not my experience.
 
Do you think I got a lemon, or would I have this same problem with other scopes based on the conditions I described?
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supertool73 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/04/2014 at 16:11
I have an older Meopta and have never had an issue like this.  I don't think a 10 degree change should do anything like this.  I would give Meopta a call and talk to them.  They have very good customer service.  I man I have dealt with in the past was named Richard. 
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Skewerer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/04/2014 at 16:31
Originally posted by supertool73 supertool73 wrote:

I have an older Meopta and have never had an issue like this.  I don't think a 10 degree change should do anything like this.  I would give Meopta a call and talk to them.  They have very good customer service.  I man I have dealt with in the past was named Richard. 
 
Thanks for the reply.  I called Meopta this morning (spoke with Sean), and they were going to help me out with a retun but said it was going to take 3-4 weeks to get a new scope.
 
The only thing that is giving me pause is that I never tried wiping the objective lens or eyepiece.  I'm wondering if the "no fog guarantee" is just about internal fog (i.e. fog that you can't wipe away).  This is my first spotting scope so I'm not sure how common is is to have to wipe lenses clear of condensation.  I hate to touch the lenses with anything if I don't have to.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/04/2014 at 16:35
External fog can happen on any scope.  Going from hot to cold or cold to hot can and will cause that.  But I have a hard time believing 70 to 80 would do that.  If it were sitting right on your AC vent for a few hours and then you took it out into the heat I could see it. 

Yes you do sometimes have to wipe the moisture off of them.  Some scopes have a coating to help moisture run off.  Meopta is not one of them.  But even that coating is not an anti fog coating. 
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Skewerer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/04/2014 at 16:51
Well we have very high humidity here, so 80+ degrees feels more like 90+.  I will try wiping the lenses next time I'm out to see if that helps.  If it doesn't solve the problem then I'll know I have a defective scope.
 
Regarding the anti-fog external coating...I think my Pentax binos might have that.  The lenses has a greenish tint to them, and I've never had an issue (that I recall) with fogging.  Do you happen to know what that anti-fog technology is called?  I might consider swapping the Meopta S2 for a different make/model if it would help me to avoid constantly wiping lenses.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/04/2014 at 18:00
Bushnell calls theres rain guard. Zeiss is lotutec. Others have coatings that do similar. If you do wipe make sure you have the proper cleaning clothes and clean in properly.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/05/2014 at 09:17
The coating will not stop them from fogging/getting moisture on them.  It just helps so when you get moisture on them it beads up and runs off better.  Any time you have extreme temp changes they are going to get moisture on them.  If your whole scope was beaded up with moisture, I am thinking the temp changes must have been pretty extreme.

I have not had an issue with my Meopta spotter or my Vortex spotter.  I use them both hot and very cold weather.  Obviously when I am in the cold cold and I put my eye up to it, it can fog up.  So you have to be careful for that. 

Again, you want to be very careful when wiping them.  You can eventually rub the coating right off the lenses and ruin them.  Its best to just be careful with extreme temp changes and or give them time to adjust slowly to the new temp so fogging is not an issue. 
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Bitterroot Bulls Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/05/2014 at 09:20
Another issue is that the scope was in the padded case, which likely insulated the cold scope (left by the AC maybe?), and prevented the scope from acclimating to the new conditions outside.  High levels of humidity make the situation all the worse.  This does not sound like a problem with the scope.
-Matt
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