The optical dew point measurement with active temperature control observes the fundamental physical phenomenon of gas-liquid phase change and is essential for precise humidity calibration and metrological traceability of absolute humidity. Given the condensing surface serves as both heat transfer and optical reflection, its physicochemical properties significantly impact the condensation performance. To study the complicated influence of surface material, microstructure and wettability, the condensation performance is described via the optical intensity response obtained in the experiments using condensing surfaces with various substrates, roughness and apparent contact angle. The comparison analysis demonstrates that the substrate material contributes to the cluster adsorption through the water-metal interaction. The enhanced surface roughness provides more available sites and higher rates of droplet nucleation. And the apparent contact angle influences wetting behaviors in droplet growth and coalescence. The development of condensation is determined by the cooperative effect of multiple factors on the heat and mass transition during gas-liquid phase change. This study provides important experimental reference for the fabrication and improvement of condensing surface in dew point recognition.