[suraswami]

We recently remodeled the home and we have a spare Solid wood Night Stand with a draw and a cupboard with shelves. Didn't want to throw it away. So thinking of clearing some space in the walk-in closet and use the Night Stand as Lens Storage.

Right now I have my extra lenses in Neoprene DSLR Lens Soft pouch stored in card board box along with other computer hardware (not like thrown everything inside, kept arranged properly, every time I need something I take it out pretty carefully and arrange things back again).

I have 2 camera bags which has my most used lenses.

So is it OK to keep the extra lenses in the solid wood night stand? I will have enough space to keep Flashes and other camera related small accessories too inside.

Thanks.

[ramseybuckeye]

Should be fine, I would add a few silica gel packs too. If the wood on the inside of the drawer is painted or varnished I would add something like a cloth liner. Old paint or varnish can have a tackiness to it as it ages, or keep the lenses in your neoprene cases. I keep some in a cabinet and some in a desk drawer in individual cases.

[suraswami]

Should be fine, I would add a few silica gel packs too. If the wood on the inside of the drawer is painted or varnished I would add something like a cloth liner. Old paint or varnish can have a tackiness to it as it ages, or keep the lenses in your neoprene cases. I keep some in a cabinet and some in a desk drawer in individual cases.

Thanks. I will be keeping the lenses in the neoprene cases or original lens box it came in.

[pentaxfall]

Depends on the place and also ones' past history with lens fungus.

This is the most authoritative article that I could find about fungus. Since it is on NIH website, I assumed he is not trying to sell a product
Fungus: how to prevent growth and remove it from optical components

Keep it in such a way light falls on lens, means avoid opaque containers. Cloth & leather are susceptible to mold so avoid pouch and camera bag. I keep bear lens inside a transparent plastic box so light falls on it. Keep plenty of silica gel inside the box. Underneath the lid I place a bubble wrap sheet and then close the lid. I am also planning to buy a 'dry box' and box costs 100$. 100 is minimum price for cleaning fungus.

[Bob 256]

Good idea with the original cases. Note that cedar can outgas and condense on some surfaces iff by any chance you have cedar lining.

[Yoda boy]

Any cabinet located in a dry area and some ventilation should be fine. As to a liner for a drawer, you could always use an oversized towel and fold it to shape. Cheap and effective. Just make sure it is recently laundered.

[Theov39]

The real issue is the ambient air humidity, temperature and light levels. Buy a humidity meter (hygrometer) and see what the prevailing humidity is like.

https://www.instrumentchoice.com.au/Applications/Transport/work-health-safet...yABEgIz3vD_BwE

In my area the humidity sits around 70% most of the time, even in winter. That is high (for lenses) so I bought a small dry cabinet to control the humidity to around 40%.

I prefer a cabinet to dry boxes will silica gel as it is just "set and forget" once you plug it in. With dry boxes you have to keep changing the silica.

The cabinet has a glass door and I keep it next to the balcony glass door so the lenses get plenty of light. I store my lenses with the lens caps OFF so light can get into the lens. Before I did this I had lost a couple of lenses to fungus. Here is an article about dry cabinets. There are lots of different sizes and you can probably find one second hand if cost is an issue.

https://www.camera-warehouse.com.au/news/how-to-protect-your-camera-and-lens...ul-dry-cabinet

Lenses should not be stored in their original boxes or camera bags and particularly not in leather. That is just to protect them while in transit or travelling.

They need light and air circulating around them to avoid humidity so, assuming the humidity level is generally below 50%, it is best to keep the on an open shelf with the lens caps removed or if the humidity is higher than 50%, in a dry cabinet.

The problem with wood is that some wood gives off chemicals and also you don't know what the wood has been treated with. I think it is better to use either metal shelves or laminated shelves.

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Last edited by Theov39; 05-09-2018 at 01:14 AM.

[suraswami]

Wow lot of good valuable information.

I don't know if the lenses I have is worth that much to buy dry cabinet.

I live in Orange County, California, where Humidity is not an issue, whole year it is pretty dry, we hardly get rain here, I have to workout really hard in a no air circulation room to even see some sweat on me lol.

For me dust is the main problem.

I might then use a different cabinet made of particle board (not sure if it is the right term) or use plain old book shelf. CA = Earth Quake, that's another issue with open book shelves.

I will try to post some pics of the cabinets, may be that will help.

Thanks.

[Theov39]

If you live in a non-humid (say, on average around 50% or lower), you don't need a dry cabinet. Just on an open shelf in a well light area is fine.

I live in a semi-tropical area so that forced me to learn about how to store lenses as I had lost two lenses to fungus already. The smaller manual ones I can take apart and clean but AF lenses or zoom lenses are too complex for my basic repair skills.

[catfishjohn]

You might want to look into a " Golden Rod" heater. They come in different lengths and plug into a standard 110 outlet. They warm to a low temperature, just slightly warm to the touch. Keeps humidity driven out of a drawer, safe or other storage container. I have two which have been in use in my safes for many years with no problems. Mine are USA made but likely the newer ones are china I haven't checked. Maybe the quality is still there. Sure beats changing gel packs.

[angerdan]

German optical instrument manufacturer Zeiss gives recommendations on how to store camera lenses:
Fungus on Lenses | ZEISS Service Information

[suraswami]

Valuable information.

Is this applicable to weather sealed lenses too?

[Theov39]

Valuable information.

Is this applicable to weather sealed lenses too?

With no scientific basis but just a guess, I'd say it also applies to weather sealed lenses. They are WR (weather resistant) not 100% waterproof.

Perhaps it may be worse because if moisture does get in it is also harder for it to get out.

Having said that, the two lenses I lost to fungus were non-WR so maybe WR does work to some extent to protect against fungus.