Lens Storage

OK, so I this topic has been done before, but I was wondering if anyone is a similar situation to me.
The problem I have is my house. It is a 300 year old cob walled cottage with a thatched roof and small single glazed windows. To give you an idea of the inside conditions, Salt goes semi-liquified within a week and will not pour, my old leather Chesterfields need the fine white mould wiped off the back of them every few months. Leather belts, cases etc often get mouldy regardless of what room they are stored in. The house is not damp and does not smell musty or mouldy, it is an inherent problem(I believe) with this old type of construction.

I have humidity meters which currently have a reading of around 75-80% After checking a couple of lenses that I had not used during the Summer, I noticed a small growth of white mould/fungus on the outside of both rear elements. Luckily these came straight off with a lens cloth.

I now store all my lenses in ziplock bags with colour changing silica gel packs in each one which I change when the humidity gets above 60%(humidity starts at around 20% and rises to around 60% after 4-6 weeks) and my bodies in a Tuperware type bread box, again with silica packs.

Is there anything else I could do, bar investing around £200 in a dry box? Also should lenses be stored with caps on or off?

Thanks in advance.

I know people who have lived in similar properties without experiencing the problems you are having. You say the house isn't damp, but if it's reading 75% to 80% humidity then it most certainly is very damp! I don't think you'd get mould on your sofa if it wasn't!

With this type of humidity I think you will have to invest in a dry box or something similar; whether caps are on or off is not really the issue, but leaving them off would help air to circulate.

A quick question; what sort of floors does the property have? Is it original stone floors? If so, are they laid straight onto the earth? Taking up the floor and damp-proofing it may be one way to reduce the problem; I'm not suggesting you should do this simply for the benefit of your lenses but you do seem to have a very humid property which as you've pointed out creates other problems.

Regards
David

Maybe dehumidifiers would help?

Lenses are best stored in dry conditions, cool, and with plenty of air circulation.

Sounds like you need a new house!

Seriously though, get yourself a completely sealed case. A Peli case or some of the smaller Pelican cases for your kit. Not cheap but much cheaper than ruined lenses. They are completely waterproof and you wont need to change the silica gel bags too often. They offer very good protection from physical damage as well.

Tupperware is polythene and not completely moisture proof, waterproof maybe but it will allow moisture through.

So keeping them in camera bags isn't recommended?

Wow, you are clearly worried about your camera gear suffering in the climate within your house. Personally, I'd be more worried about my own health, and move, because it sounds to me like your house is a health hazard.

If you have various mould spores growing on furniture, what are they doing to you and your family?

If you can't move, I suggest getting some heat into the whole house, running a good dehumidifier to dry out the general atmosphere, and/or improve the ventilation within your home. The whole family will benefit, not just your photography gear.

In terms of storing lenses in a dry environment, these are available on amazon:

link

I have not used them so I have no idea whether they are any good or not, but they are a lot cheaper from the looks of it than other dry boxes... maybe worth checking out in mored detail - there are other similar products too with a range of prices.

Cheers

I got a peli case and some mini dehumidifiers to put inside it when I moved to Colombo four years ago, where the humidity is routinely over 80% (currently a 'comfortable' 60%). In the time since I've had clothes and shoes rot and even (framed) photos go mouldy, but my camera gear has been fine. I guess a Peli case is relatively expensive solution, but less so than replacing lenses.

Not unless designed for long term storgae. Leather lens cases are the worst, such as those used up to the 1980s.

There are always ex-lab desiccators going for next to nothing on eBay. Last year I managed to bag a never used big Secador autodesiccator for £50 (price new £1,155).

I have not though this through but something that springs to mind is something along the lines of an old fridge or freezer - one that no longer works or is just not plugged in could provide a large, sealed storage area cheeply

I may have just made myself look a fool though

Looks like you have what is called a 'sick house'.

What you currently are doing is actually as close to ideal as you can get in your situation.

The perfect storage would be 15C, 40% humidity and 0.7 purified air circulation.
You probably can not get that, so you have to think what factors plays a role in storing.
The way you are doing it now can work if you store them in a place without draft, and direct sunlight.
You get some circulation without to much risk of picking up bad particles when you change the silica packs every 6 weeks. (Remember to take the lenses out for a while when you do, 15-20min should be enough.)
You keep them at a relatively decent humidity.

The only real question is the place you store them. If you risk rapid temperature shifts because of draft or sunlight, then the sealed ziplock is a big problem. You trap the condensed moisture inside the bag, risking good conditions for mould. Or you can dry out the grease and rubber because lack of moisture.

About the caps. Store the lenses with them on. They are normally not sealing, so they do not prevent circulation long term (taking them of if you just are 'walking your lenses' is a good idea though).
The biggest advantage with storing them with the caps on is that you avoid accidents, and protect the coating on the glass.

For what it's worth, when in the tropics, we used to store all our kit in a wooden wardrobe with a 60w lamp burning continuously in order to stop the growth of mould etc.

It appeared to work - no problems with any electronic gear, camera kit or clothing (leather jacket,leather belts or shoes).

I have one of these. It holds a body and 3-6 lenses, depending on size. It is my main storage in the car. The humidity meter on the VAM box is rubbish, it read 60% with 'full' vacuum and a couple of revitalised 100g silica bags. a better meter reads around 15%. I think that just setting the vacuum gets it down to about 45%, so I think it needs the extra from silica gel. It is pretty easy to use, you just pump the mechanism to set the vacuum. I have had mine for about 4 months and I am finding that it only holds the vacuum for 4-5 days or so now. I probably need to check and clean the seals though. At that price on amazon I think it is a good buy, they retail up to £75. It is comforting to get back to the car after a trek, wipe of any moisture and use the box to help dry the equipment out.

Be wary of colour change silica gel, there is loads of the blue stuff cheap on ebay, but it is toxic: wikipedia link

Thanks for all the advice guys, I have ordered one of the vacuum cases from Amazon as for £15 it looks a bit of bargain. I do have a good dehumidifier, which I think I will start using again in just the spare room as it is not that cheap to run. Not been one for having windows open(have you seen the critters that live in a thatch :shock in the past, but have been doing so more often recently.

Humidity has dropped into the 60's this week as the heating has gone on and I think my open fire dries the air out too. Oh and my health is fine, not had so much as a cold in the last 5 years