What are the best practices for the care and storage of cameras and lenses?
Keep them dust and fungus free?
Is your storage area subject to high humidity or dust? I have a small closet from which I have removed the door and built shelves. That's where all my gear sit and has for years. I just keep the lens caps on the lenses and a lens or the body cap on the camera. Nothing else, and never a problem. If you are going to get dust or mold in your camera it is most likely going to happen while you are using it.
I keep mine in camera bags and put desiccant packets in the bags. I order a lot of the desiccant packs and exchange them regularly.
For equipment I don't actively plan to use, I have individual black neoprene "LensPouch" bags for the lenses from LensCoat with the model / focal length written on the outside / bottom of the bag with a silver Sharpie marking pen. So, I have a storage box with several lenses, all in similar black bags, with identification written on the outside of the bag. I can grab one or a few into a backpack for travel to a location.
Porta Brace have larger nylon padded stuff stacks. I use these for cameras and / or flashes with the batteries removed for longer-term storage. Again, the Sharpie 'paint pen' comes in handy for marking the contents on the outside of the all-black bag.
My stuff is in two camera bags on the floor in my clothes closet.
Camera and lenses in the bag.
Five cameras over 45+ years, no problem, even living in Florida for 27 years.
I have a shallow cabinet (for ease of access) for my cameras and lenses. Between hot air heat in the winter and a/c in the summer I have never had any kind of fungus issue. In my last house with no a/c and baseboard hot water heat, I ran a dehumidifier in a small, spare bedroom. I kept my camera stuff and my ex kept some of her stuff there.
--
I use a 70 quart clear underbed plastic bin with a split latching lid and wheels. The wheels allow me to pull the entire thing out easily from under the bed. The split top allows me to only open 1 end (exposing half of the interior) if I don't need access to the entire bin.
Inside the bin I have 2 Ikea drawer organizers from their SKUBB line and each compartment is labelled with the lens that it stores. (The ones I use have been discontinued but the current SKUBB boxes allow you to customize your space to your liking.)
With this set up I have everything in one place and I can easily pick what I need for a particular photo outing.
www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selections-Bella-Storage-Solution-18-Gallon-70-Quart-Clear-Underbed-Tote-with-Latching-Lid/50157794
kymarto
Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy
bodiebill wrote:
What are the best practices for the care and storage of cameras and lenses?
Keep them dust and fungus free?
If your summers get above 80F and 60% humidity you are well advised to get a dry cabinet or sealing plastic bins with dessicant to keep the humidity down. After losing a lens left in a closet in Japan to fungus one summer (never happened in LA even with higher temps) I bought a dry cabinet and never had another problem for the next three decades. It's also good practice to leave lens caps off, but if it's dry enough that isn't really necessary. If you live in a dry area you can just throw them in a drawer.
bodiebill wrote:
What are the best practices for the care and storage of cameras and lenses?
Keep them dust and fungus free?
In a bag on the floor of my closet.
billnikon
Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
Mine have always set on my desk, no problems.
Bigmike1
Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.
I don't do anything special. My cameras are sitting on a shelf above my head as I write this. Extra lenses are in a covered box on the same shelf. I haven't experienced any problems. This is a dry climate here. That probably helps.
Live in a dry climate...no big deal. Just box them to discourage dust.
High humidity...you better get a dry box...or you will be sorry.
bodiebill wrote:
What are the best practices for the care and storage of cameras and lenses?
Keep them dust and fungus free?
I try to keep my equipment humidity free. I try not to “store” anything. I use it or sell it.
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.