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Old 10th June 2016, 09:14 AM
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GoodOldNorm GoodOldNorm is offline
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Default Best way of storing cameras/lenses

Whats the best way of storing cameras and lenses? I have been quite lazy and left cameras and lenses stuffed in a wardrobe or under the bed in their cases, batteries removed of course. I read somewhere that leather cases are bad because they attract bacteria and the dreaded fungus.Are neoprene cases OK? Is it better to have your cameras etc on display in the light with plenty of air round them? What makes the rubber on 80s-90s cameras/lenses go sticky?Should Hasselblads/Rollies etc be left with the shutter cocked? Thank you for your answers in advance, Norm
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Old 10th June 2016, 10:35 AM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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Default Best way of storing cameras/lenses

I have a similar wardrobe/under bed approach. A few years ago I learned that lenses are best stored on end to avoid lubricant creeping onto aperture and shutter blades. I bought a big translucent plastic box with a lid, and made dividers from foam board. My lenses are stored in their own sections with some silica gel sachets in the box. I understand that UV prevents lens fungus developing, so ideally the box should see some daylight, but I don't have space for that.
I don't store camera bodies in leather ercs. I did have a Nikon F3 in one, but recently found signs of deterioration, so I removed it. I keep spare bodies in a similar plastic box. A book I read suggested wrapping camera bodies, etc in cling film to keep dust out. I haven't tried that as the boxes are quite well sealed with the lid.
I'm not sure about shutter cocking. For purely mechanical types, I would tend to leave them uncocked. I take batteries out as corrosion can occur very quickly.
I can't help with the sticky rubber, although I note that the rubber coating of my Nikonos III, made in the late 70's, is in perfect condition. I keep hoping the F100 remains the same.
I'm interested to hear what others do.
Alex.


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Old 10th June 2016, 11:30 AM
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I keep all my camera related kit in a special cupboard. I say Special it is just a cupboard that does not store anything else.
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Old 10th June 2016, 03:14 PM
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My Nikons have been stored in their original leather cases forever and they're still fine, whereas an old Olympus everready is mottled white.
Other stuff is in dedicated camera bags and also blanket box which has numerous sachets of silica.
UV does help in the fungal battle apparently, but of course placing your lenses in bright sunshine can lead to fires! Better to store them in cliplock boxes - Lakelands ones are very sturdy, with silica gel in there, it might not stop anything growing, but it might arrest it.
Light seals will deteriorate due to environmental factors, but it really isn't a hard job to replace seals, in fact it is quite fun if you are careful.
I keep all my 35mm's uncocked, all TLR's uncocked, Hasseblad cocked, LF lenses uncocked.
I think how things are affected is entirely down to personal environments, some houses are drier than others, have more airflow etc etc etc. Ours has more draughts than you can imagine, but at least it keeps fresh air moving
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Old 10th June 2016, 04:51 PM
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I think how things are affected is entirely down to personal environments, some houses are drier than others, have more airflow etc etc etc. Ours has more draughts than you can imagine, but at least it keeps fresh air moving [/QUOTE]
Double glazing, central heating, tumble dryers and long hot showers all contribute to a warm damp house (breeding ground for bacteria), there's nothing wrong with a few draughts. I grew up in a house with an open coal fire and plenty of draughts, I cannot remember kids having half the ailments they have nowadays. If draughts are good for us I reckon a well ventilated environment must be good for our camera gear. One very cold night the water in the goldfish bowl froze solid, the glass broke and the block of ice was put in a pan near the fire, remarkably as the ice thawed the fish showed signs of life. We got really exited at the prospect of not losing our goldfish to hypothermia, sadly the fish failed to recover when placed in a bowl of room temperature water. Cassius Clay (that's what we called him, because of his mouth being open all the time) did a couple of circuits around mam's baking bowl trembled and died. The recent death of Mohamed Ali reminded me of us losing our goldfish many years ago. Isn't it strange what triggers memories? In the summer that following year "Cassius" was replaced by Henry (Henry Cooper) it took my brother several goes on the air gun stall at our local fair to win "Henry" . Henry lasted 13 years circling his bowl living on a diet of ant eggs, the end came for him when mam had cleaned out the bowl and put him on top of the washing machine. Mam went round to the neighbours for a chat, on returning Henry was on the floor cut and bleeding, the fast spin of the washing machine had done for him shaking the bowl off the top of the machine. Like his namesake Henry sufferd from bad cuts
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Old 11th June 2016, 04:54 AM
RichardWarom RichardWarom is offline
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Well thats the best fish story I've heard in years.
I keep all my gear in their bags ready to go all with silica gel sachets.
Richard
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Old 11th June 2016, 07:09 PM
Chalklers Chalklers is offline
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I use Lakeland Plastics moisture traps in the cupboard with my cameras and lenses to prevent fungus. Cases are stored separately. All my cameras are stored wih lenses uncocked.
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Old 11th June 2016, 08:54 PM
JulioF JulioF is offline
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I use plastic boxes with silica gel inside. All shutters uncocked. Works for me.
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Old 13th June 2016, 01:19 AM
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Just avoid leather cases
It is mostly humid countries that get fungus a lot worse than the Uk
As long as the the room temp is normal and not damp you should be ok
Paddy
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Old 15th June 2016, 12:09 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Norm - I looked into the shutter cocking question some years ago, and came to the conclusion that you can go either way. My understanding is that the springs remain tensioned even when uncocked, just a bit less so than when cocked. There are some camera systems where you can't take the (LS) lens off without it being cocked -- Hasselblad, I think. My little Rollei 35SE has a tube lens mount which can't be collapsed without the shutter cocked. It sat in a closet for 20 years like that, and I pulled it out this winter and it worked fine.

Just to verify, I checked my Mamiya and Rolleiflex TLR manuals, and that for my Pentax MX (FP shutter), and none of them say anything about storage with shutters cocked or uncocked. Mamiya actually recommends cocking the shutter before removing a lens so that it's in sync with the film winder when reinserting (they don't speak about long term storage, however).

Hope this helps....

Svend

PS -- Great fish story. Started my day off with a smile. 13 years for a goldfish - pretty impressive. Maybe that's the answer to eternal youth...ant eggs.
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