olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

UV-C light source will stop/kill mold/fungus. Sunlight is a great source. Humidity and darkness are the fungi's friend. Though I live in Florida, I keep the relative humidity in my house at approximately 33-36%, as this is good for everything in the house (no mold/fungus issues). I do not keep lenses/camera gear for long periods stored in dark, dank places. Approximately 4 times a year all of my lenses get a trip outside to sit in the sun for a couple hours. I intend to replace this method with a permanent and reasonably powerful UV-C light mounted in my camera armoire, in a well ventilated air conditioned room. For now, the sunlight method works well, it will kill the spores (but will leave the signs "webs/spots/veins") that one would need to remove, or live with.

Storing old gear in the back of an unventilated closet cured me of that method of storage. You can clean older lenses fairly easily, but the modern stuff is much harder. For instance, Nikon Factory Repair Manuals warn specificaly against any cleaning/repair process that disturbs the focus stack lens groups, as this will make the lens unusable (will no longer focus correctly) unless you have access to the Nikon Laser Lens Alignment Jig, and the software to make the electronic adjustments. This is true with all of the AF-S/AF-P lenses FX or DX, and could be an issue with other lenses/brands as well.

I have purchased used lenses of many brands, bad sellers will try to pass sick lenses on to someone else. Thankfully most will take the lens back or refund money if they mis-represented, and in the case of Ebay, you have the money back deal if someone tries to swindle you. Fungi is great for decomposition, but bad for camera gear......

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

We seem to be a bunch of old folk ...
Ask your doctor(s) about extra desiccant packs. I've got a couple dozen.
An old trick is drywall. Cut it to fit your space, oven cook on low overnight, and place a couple layers thru out. Reusable. It won't help for water or open shelves, but it's excellent in closed cabinets.

Mold doesn't need much. I've got one corner of a shower door hat needs constant care. I can scrub it with bleach, vinegar, alcohol, soap, shampoo. It don't matter. A few days later there's a greenish hue. No food for it, just water and dim lighting.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Dessicant packs are great for small spaces and a few pieces of gear, but not practical in my case. I have a unused bedroom devoted to camera gear/radio control(surface/air/water craft) electronics, music gear/several guns, gaming systems, etc. etc. The camera/lens and associated gear alone would fill several steamer trunks or large armoires (packed fairly tightly). The way I store my gear now is well ventilated, air space between, with air flow from a/c ducts, and sunlight from window, and the UV light will soon be added. Dessicant packs are great for small sealed spaces, as long as they are dried often. They are worthless in larger. open environments...... one could use the "Damp-Rid" method in a high humidity environment, but those also require constant maintenance (like in a motor home/travel trailer in Florida summertime), but you would not want to store camera gear in that environment. Good humidity control, De-humidifier, good A/C, sunlight, or UV light are your friends.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

You will find cameras and lenses with fungus where the humidity is high for extended periods of time. I keep my cameras and lenses in a container with a desiccant that I change periodically since humidity tends to be high in Florida specially during the summer months.
Once fungus sets in take camera or lens to an approved repair station, do not try to do the repair by yourself. They are in a much better position to tell you about the damage and what to do about it.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

well, nothing does everything.
I have old lenses with those old zippered cases- desiccant in the bottom.
Many newer ones in soft bags- and desiccant.
A couple boxes of old cameras, flash guns, etc- drywall in the bottom, desiccant thru out.
Every so often, desiccant gets baked and/or replaced.
I need to ebay a lot of stuff I'm not really using, get a decent cabinet, and maybe one of these:
https://tinyurl.com/y58an6hw

Dave H2

Electric heat sticks are available on Amazon normally used in gun cabinets. Low wattage slight heat helps to dry out any closed area and are cheap.
D

RichieC Loc: Adirondacks

I have mostly prime lenses, zooms suck in a lot of air. I read to set your camera up from time to time, in the sun, so that the sun can get into the lens... UV in the sunlight will kill the spores that will be present, no matter how careful you are. I ran across this tip when i was permanently loaned ( Here, i don't ever use this, you keep it- just don't sell it) a very nice 80-400 Nikor, that was brand new for a African Safari, and then after they returned, stored in a dark, apparently damp closet. Mold had etched a patch inside on the surface of an internal lens- apparently the fungus eats and thus etches the coating(s), it not just a clean to clear it up - cost over $500 to fix it, but the lens is perfect and was practically new to begin with.

The rest of the time, my gear is kept in a suitcase sized Pelican Case (Protects from extreme temps, dust, water and dings... as well as changes in humidity) with several large rechargeable desiccant tins i got from B&H.

Link: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1022198-REG/ruggard_sg_dc1_reusable_silica_gel_desiccant.html/?ap=y&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9pbq1ZDO5AIVeh6tBh112A65EAYYASABEgJbuPD_BwE .


Not only do these soak up moisture, but if moisture is present, they will change color- so sort of a hygrometer... mine have never really required recharging, but I still do from time to time, so i keep an eye on 'em. I suppose you can get a cheap hygrometer where they sell cigar humidors- don;t expect them to be too accurate, but they do react ( in my humidor) .. and thus if they move from dry to somewhere else, ( in my humidor- just the opposite! LOL) it would alert you to the fact so you can take measures.

My 2 cents, for what it is a worth. :)

Kuzano

Leather camera bags are known to influence or spread the fungus in lenses. Looks campy, cost you the coatings on your lens glass as the coatings are the primary food source of fungus( or inapropriately referred to..... Mold)

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Just a note on lenses in the sun: Facing the sun with no camera body attached; I mount mine on a tripod (since no camera body, usually bungee the ones with no tripod mount), aperture wide open, no camera attached, and nothing flamable underneath (think magnifying glass - they will start a fire, or melt things!!!), they get maybe a half hour at most like that. Then they go back in the A/C and on the shelf.

Fungus will grow in the dark, even with low humidity, if there is "food" for it. I had left one larger zoom in a Zero Haliburton o-ring aluminum sealed case (one small dessicant pack left the case) and it developed fungus in the focus stack after about 12-18 months of storage. It was otherwise like brand new. Since it was an older screw drive it was relatively easy to clean, and has been fine since. If it had been a modern AF-S or AF-P lens, it would have had to go to Nikon, due to the focus stack re-alignment issue.

The thing I don't like about depending on dessicant is if you forget about the lens or camera, especially for some time, bad can sometimes happen. The dessicant product, and other methods do work, but all, including mine require due diligence. For short to long term storage in a sealed container, it is fine, but remember to check it. The drywall method is interesting too.

I'm not knocking anyone's methods. After having had to deal with fungus on several occasions, for several different reasons, I have my own methodology that works well, and makes me look at my entire collection fairly regularly, and with many camera bodies and dozens of lenses, helps me from forgetting about any of them. I do have many lenses stored in sealed aluminum cases, but these also come out during my "sunny lens outings", for a quick UV treatment, and they do have dessicant with them when closed up.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

I lived in Thailand and owned a Sony RX10 for a year. I frequently took it from air conditioning into the 90+ degree high humidity outside. I ended up with visible mold/fungus on the inside of the front lens. BTW, this camera/lens is supposed to be weather sealed.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Mold in my camera and lenses has been a big concern for me for many years. One time I was picking up a prescription at my local pharmacy. Inside the bottle was a small cloth pouch that said "DO NOT EAT" on it. I inquired to learn it was a desiccant to adsorb moisture inside the bottle of pills and keeping them from getting ruined. A light bulb came on. I asked if he would be willing to save some for me. I told him I wanted to put them in my camera bag to prevent moisture collection. He will do the same since he is a photographer like myself. Bear in mind, I keep a handful in my bag. These desiccants are not capable of drying up the East River. But a few wayward drops of moisture being adsorbed gives me a small piece of mind.

Happy Shooting!

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

Mold and fungus spores are EVERYWHERE, including inside lenses and cameras. The thing is to keep moisture low enough that they do not wake up and multiply. Gear should be stored in as dry an environment as possible.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Everytime I get a container that has a desiccant packet, I throw it into the camera bag. That takes care of the moisture part, I hope.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

You can buy new, unused desiccant packs as well.

How long a pack will be useful for depends on how big it is and how much moisture it is being asked to absorb.

Also, a camera bag isn't air/watertight, and it is opened and closed a lot. Don't expect desiccants to do it all. They are better for sealed compartments.

scooter1 Loc: Yacolt, Wa.

If you have a gun safe you will most likely have a dehumidifier in the way of the crystals or a rod heater that keeps the humidity down. Good luck.