how to store camera and lenses

i leave my camera and lenses, with a lens attached, in a lowepro bag in a sideboard cupboard between uses...its out the way and ready to go when i need it.
however, i have read on a different thread that this can cause fungus in the lens (being in a warm, dark place).
is there a "correct" way to store equipment, and is what im doing really likely to cause fungus?

simon

Buy some bags of silica gel (or scavenge from where ever) and keep them with your gear any where that's not absolutly wet and that will keep away the moisture from the cameras and lenses.
CHEERS Vic.
PS. Warm,/Dryout the bags once in a while.
Vic

We have the currently used stuff in Billingham bags, ready to go. Other lenses are stored in a reasonably cool, dry room on an open shelf.

Cupboards are full of chemicals from varnishes, poor air circulation and warm conditions encourage fungus growth, and if it becomes damp that's a recipe for disaster.

Camera and lenses live in my Lowepro bag ready to go. In a room not a cupboard. I take out anything I won't need such as flashgun when I leave the house.

I use the integral rain cover on the bag if wet out and check all gear on return if slightest hint of damp.

My lenses get plenty of use but after a big trip they all get checked and cleaned. I find bayonet mount and contacts pick up most muck. Telephoto zooms worst for drawing in stuff through barrel. Damp has never been an issue as I only keep lenses to use, not as a 'look at me' collection.

I also always recharge the used battery on return home, wipe LCD, lenses and camera. Finally once a week I check for sensor dust. TLC eh?

I take things out of the bag when at home, bodies into cupboard with small lens attached. Lenses are stored in an open rack made from a CD holder, to let the air circulate.

Maybe I've been lucky, but all my cameras/lenses are stored in camera bags (as kits) scattered around the house (some for much longer than I'd like to mention) and none of the lenses show any signs of the dreaded fungus

All on a shelf in shoe boxes with silica gel sachets in the shoe boxes. I gather I should really change the silica gel every so often so they are probably due a replacement...

I find it quite convenient so I can select the lenses I want and stick them in one of 2 bags when I need them.

Did I read you can dry them out in an oven and reuse them?

Silica Gel crystals can be regenerated (dried out) by heating in a dry oven for a couple of hours or so (Anything a bit above 100deg C would do but not too high as to scorch the paper bag).

Cat litter (the clay based type as apposed to the wood type) contains a reasonable amount of silica gel, together with Bentonite (a clay which absorbs water). This is a cheap way of providing a dry storage area. (Has worked fine for my tools in an unheated garage for 40 years - no sign of rust). Replace it every year (I give it to a local cat owner)

regards
Bernard

Bernard... Do Silica Gel crystal bags kept in the open air in
say a warm living room for months dry out or do they
always have to be put in an oven.

I think they would continue to absorb the moisture in the air. You can attain a higher humidity with warm air rather than cold.

All my cameras and lenses currently sit in a cupboard in the study when not in daily use - I have large silica gel packs in the cupboard and in China (in most countries where it gets very humid) you can also buy little plastic containers full of Silica Gel - you can see when they need replacing as they will be full of water We also have a couple of large room dehumidifiers, one of which is placed in the study next to the cupboard (doors open) once a week (it fills with water, 2-3 litres, in one day) !

Yesterday we hit 42C here and it was still 38C at 18.00 And it is always humid !

Next up on the 'to buy list' is a dehumidifier for lenses - quite large ones with 3 or 4 shelves (good for 20-30 lenses and 3-4 cameras) go for ca. £120-150 here and are well worth the money it seems (according to people here who should know - the retailers) !

Algi,
As Barrie says they will absorb any moisture they find, so when dry keep them in a sealed poly-bag. If in doubt, 'cook em egin'.

To dry them out you need to actively drive off the absorbed moisture, hence a drying oven. A warm room, even in the sun, is not hot enough.

regards
Bernard.

Frogfish - It's been pretty humid here for the last month, hasn't stopped raining

Bummer Bernhard - at least it's dry during the day here (most days), that heat and high humidity is giving us some cracking electric storms though (one going on now).

Accuweather gives 'Real Feel' temps of 44-48C for this weekend when I'm birding in Wuyuan (great birds but a 5 hour drive each way). I might be better off driving at night and saving a night's room at the hotel !

Just a thought. If you're really, really, really concerned about the slightest amount of moisture then get a small quantity of copper sulphate.

In its normal crystalline form, known as pentahydrate, it is a stunning blue, but when dehydrated (back to the drying oven again) it is a white powder.

So when it absorbs, even a slight of, moisture it reverts back to blue. A good indicator that moisture has been absorbed.


Cheap enough to buy as its used as a fungicide in agriculture

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=copper+sulphate+crystals&tag=googhyd...


regards
Bernard


B-E-W-A-R-E Copper Sulphate may cause corrosion on exposed metal parts and I believe it is TOXIC