[clickclick]

recently bought a UV light bulb for removing the yellow from some Takumar lenses. It worked really well. Now sitting here with a UV bulb wondering what to do with it next, and it occurs to me, would it keep the fungus out of a good lens? Would it be worth putting your lenses under UV light on a periodic basis to make sure fungus doesn't take root? Living next to the water in a place with lots of summer humidity has me looking at all my glass wondering what to do to keep it happy.

[rgknief60]

It may be overkill, but I store most my lenses in ziplock bags. If you are concerned about locking moisture in, you can get the moisture absorbing silica gel packets.

[Terry C]

I have not tried that, but some years ago when living in the tropics, I kept my camera and lenses in a metal box with silica gel. I have a feeling that it is the coating on modern lenses that attracts the fungus. I have a 100 year old camera that was my late father's. This camera has been stored often in less than ideal conditions, but no sign of any sort of fungus or clouding on the uncoated lens in all that time !

[clickclick]

I was thinking of the silica gel too - perhaps a combination would be the good paranoid approach. It's one of those things you don't want to find out you were wrong about the hard way.

[sergysergy]

Once I saw images of rubber grips damaged because of UV light so be careful:

Can a UV lamp kill fungus and make the lens safe for use?

[AquaDome]

I installed a UV bulb in my lens cabinet. I ran it for the first seven days to make sure any fungus inside the cabinet was sterilized. Now I keep a compact fluorescent bulb on constantly in the cabinet. It keeps the temperature inside the cabinet at a constant 85 degrees which keeps fungus from growing. I also run a dehumidifier in the room, keeping humidity to 45% to prevent mold and dust mites. Running the UV bulb full time would definitely be overkill. Also, constant exposure to UV might damage certain plastics after an extended period of exposure.

[clickclick]

Once I saw images of rubber grips damaged because of UV light so be careful:

Can a UV lamp kill fungus and make the lens safe for use?

Thanks everyone for the input. I think I'm on the right track here. I also found the link above interesting, as it got into detail on lens dismantling to remove existing fungus, and good point on UV degradation of rubber/plastic!

In similar thoughts to the CFL, I do have a Goldenrod dehumidifier (GoldenRod GunSaver Dehumidifier Rod 110v) and the Hygrometer (Golden Rod Digital Wireless Hygrometer), so I should be fine. I tend to analyze to the n'th degree, so even though I was on the right track already, it's great to get the feedback from others - thanks!