Cigar Smoke - Potential Damage?

[JoeTheSnowPlowGuy]

I’m working on a portrait series and one of my settings / genres is cigar smoking. Would shooting inside a cigar lounge for maybe 20-30 minutes have adverse effect on my gear? R6M2 & 50mm f/1.8/85mm f/2.

I know prolonged exposure is absolutely not good, but half an hour wouldn’t be terrible? Any tips on making sure I don’t destroy $3500 worth of gear? Thanks.

 

[David Berry]

Joe, I suspect that most of us are waiting for you to tell us!
David

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

Cigar smoker here. Most cigar lounges are really well ventilated, so the idea of a "smoke filled room" is not reality any more - at least not unless that's a thing for a particular place. I do a ton of backyard wildlife photography, and I can't tell you how many times I've picked up the R5 + 100-500mm with my right hand without putting down the cigar in my left.

I wouldn't think twice about how long you're in there shooting provided it's well ventilated. Swapping lenses would be the only thing that I'd be careful about. Find a place clear of ashtrays and smokers.

 

[Dean Wilson]

Yes smoke can get inside you gear and it is accumulative. This session, a campfire next month, wildfire smoke (it can get bad around here), fireworks on celebrations ... over the life of the camera and lens it adds up.

So the question is: Which is going to cause failure first; wear and tear or smoke damage?

I never heard of a Smoke Run until a came across this blog from Lens Rental a few years back.

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

Yes smoke can get inside you gear and it is accumulative. This session, a campfire next month, wildfire smoke (it can get bad around here), fireworks on celebrations ... over the life of the camera and lens it adds up.

So the question is: Which is going to cause failure first; wear and tear or smoke damage?

I never heard of a Smoke Run until a came across this blog from Lens Rental a few years back.

Wildfire and campfire smoke is a different story when it comes to its impact on gear, and yes, it can do some damage quickly. I made sure to differentiate between a cigar lounge, which are generally so well ventilated now that you don't see smoke in the room, and the old idea of the smoke filled club room.

As for the blog, that's a color run, not a smoke run. Biggest difference here is the size of the particles and the fact that they are thrown as a concentrated source onto participants. It's more akin to flour dust than smoke particulates. If you ever shoot one the only way to do it would be the same way you'd take your gear out into a Cat 3 hurricane - filter on the front and everything else wrapped air tight. But even then, I'm not going.

 

[ctitanic]

I never have seen a warning "Smoking can harm your camera"!

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

I never have seen a warning "Smoking can harm your camera"!

But I have seen ash inside a lens.

 

[ctitanic]

But I have seen ash inside a lens.

If that's the case... You must stop smoking. Ash inside of the lens mean ash everywhere and that means that you are smoking to dangerous levels.

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

If that's the case... You must stop smoking. Ash inside of the lens mean ash everywhere and that means that you are smoking to dangerous levels.

Did I say I have seen ash in my lens? I don't think I did. I do think that someone needs to mind their own business, particularly when they know nothing of it.

 

[Kerro]

My camera and lenses don't go anywhere there's smoke anymore than I do. I used to smoke 40 a day but gave up 30 years ago.

 

[ctitanic]

Did I say I have seen ash in my lens? I don't think I did. I do think that someone needs to mind their own business, particularly when they know nothing of it.

Wow! My apologies if I said something that I shouldn’t have.

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

Wow! My apologies if I said something that I shouldn’t have.

Accepted. What you said came across as more than a little condemning. We live in a culture that requires me to disclose my smoking habits to my company, my insurer, and my doctor, not once but at least annually, either to receive a rebate from what I pay into my benefits, or to avoid a ration of crap from my doctor. I've never had a cigarette in my life, primarily because I tried to help my Mom quit for 30 years. Yet there is no distinction between someone who smokes a pack a day vs. a cigar or pipe. Sure there are risks, and I acknowledge them, but you do not inhale (at least I do not). Yet as an adult I am penalized for an occasional cigar but I can have a 6-pack of beer a day and there is no financial penalty. So, when the first assumption on your part was that I must smoke like chimney and need to quit after simply stating that I've seen ash in a lens, and went on to talk about how my wife might feel about it, let's just say you crossed a line. Actually a couple.

I appreciate the apology. No hard feelings, just explaining myself for your "wow".

 

[ctitanic]

I was joking. Or at least, that was the intention. My mom died last year, she used to smoke up to 3 packs per day.