Nanoporous host materials giving rise to transient guest profiles of cylindrical symmetry during molecular uptake and release are shown to provide particularly advantageous conditions for the study of guest diffusion by micro-imaging. Considering zeolites of structure type DDR (Deca-dodecasil 3R) as a host system and short-chain length hydrocarbons as guest molecules, the benefits thus attainable in micro-imaging studies using interference microscopy are shown to include the determination of transient concentration profiles with improved accuracy, the option to overcome the disturbing impact of surface imperfections, and easy access to concentration-dependent diffusivities.