how to store camera and lenses

I guess that would reduce the available moisture in the air, and reduce fungus growth?

It won't kill fungal spores, and probably not the fungus itself. But it will stop it growing!
A vacuum can potentially introduce other problems though. If too strong a vacuum is used it will cause lubricants from the aperture to migrate around the lens... Normal household vacuums (from vacuum cleaners etc.) are probably OK.

If there is an air gap between lens elements a vacuum could potential disturb the settings if applied to suddenly, but as Mike says it won't really solve the problem.

I use a plastic bag and domestic vac to hold pieces together when glueing small wooden items. The crushing force has to be seen to be believed and unless you're prepared to leave the vac running the whole time of your 'experiment' the vacuum eases of quite rapidly (almost as if poly bags are porous)

regards
Bernard

I've made a rack for small diameter lenses from some reasonably high density foam.
[IMG]http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv154/bforbes/Foamrack.jpg[/IMG]

I'm wondering now if foam is the right material for the job?

Wood gives off chemicals, which is why having open shelves or racks is important. Foam should also be chemical free, otherwise the volatile gases given off might affect lenses. It's just a matter of the type of foam. After all, it is used in some camera cases.

If you are using gel it is worth investing in something like this: link

The indicator lets you know when it has become saturated.

For lens with an aperture ring I always close down the aperture to its maximum to reduce tension on the springs.

There's certainly some meticulous storage methods employed from various peeps.

I've taken no special steps and even my lenses which I've owned over 25 years are still fine.

I wouldn't want to store one near a swamp though

So the small paper bags which come with cameras and lenses will survive in an oven at 120C?

I also have a 500g bag of Silica Gel which is made of tougher material than paper, would this be impervious?

If I split this up into smaller amounts to protect individual lenses what should I put the silica gel into?

I have read the following on theruststore.com website which is a link from a Wikipedia article on Silica Gel:

"The more tightly closed the area you plan to protect, the better. Try to limit the amount of moisture coming into the area so the silica gel doesn’t adsorb moisture from outside. If there is moisture from outside the area you want to protect, your silica gel will become saturated much more quickly and require more frequent reactivation. Limit the air flow into the area as well as the number of times you access the area. For example, silica gel will work well in the inside a storage trunk, but it will not work as well if you are opening and closing the lid of the trunk several times a day allowing moisture from the outside to penetrate."

This suggests that keeping lenses in the case they used to be in is best, ie no air circulation. I have a Tamrom 85 -210 from 1979 which has been kept in it's own case with no form of damp protection and unused for many years and I cannot see any trace of fungus on the elements.

It also occurred to me that I have an Epson V700 scanner which presumably has a lens tucked away inside somewhere. Can't really open the casing and pop a bag of Silica Gel inside.