Lens storage.

[Stan Hesketh]

Hi
First post so please be gentle Have tried a search but could find nothing.

I once ruined a zoom lens by allowing it to grow mold inside it so am paranoid about same.
I recently read that a good way to store lenses is in an airtight but transparent plastic box, with silica gel crystals present, and to store where daylight was present.
I would welcome any advice or experiences about this subject, as I have numerous old lenses and cameras that I would like to keep mold free.
Many thanks.

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Interesting post Stan.
Only because I've not looked into the preservation of my lenses to such degree.
I've always had my cameras and lenses in a lowpro camera bag with at least 20 silica gel sachets if not more amongst them
That for me, has always been the norm, and never experienced any mould, fungus, from the storage method that I've chosen.

Saying that, it is very important to take into consideration the environment you live in, or store your lenses in.
If your an individual that strives to have the bedroom window open in the morning after rise to combat condensation and moisture build up, regardless of the weather.... Then lens preservation is is almost certain!
However, if your environment of choice is warmth of isolation, then that could be a contributor to mould and fungi between the elements of the lens.

I think what your doing already sounds to me like a good plan.
I personally would exposed lenses to the air with appropriate moisture extraction such as silica.
But very once in a while, put the gels on the radiator to dry out! They can only hold so much.

Anyway, that's my theory.

 

[Stan Hesketh]

Thanks for your reply and advice, Dan. I should have said in the original post that much of my time is spent on a canal boat, so the equipment is often kept in conditions of fairly high condensation. Good point re. drying the gel out once in a while!

 

[Brian Moore]

Never thought about this issue. I live in a fairly dry climate, so maybe that's why.

 

[Pete Askew]

I guess I should write something about this for the forum given that I am a materials microbiologist and much of what I do is focused on controlling microbial growth! As you've identified, the key element is the elimination of moisture either the result of condensation (most commonly the result of a fluctuation in temperature / the presence of a difference in temperature) or because something has got wet. As Dan suggests, in many instances, good ventilation will help. Keeping lenses in a sealed container with a desiccant would work in many cases but, again as Dan highlights, you need to ensure that the desiccant can still absorb water - if you put a lens into a container which contains too little desiccant and the temperature drops you may make the problem worse. The little sachets you get in modern packaging are useful but it is difficult to see when they are 'exhausted' and they are usually too small to provide any long-term benefit. In a laboratory it is more common to use self-indicating silica gel (eg 1kg Bag Silica Gel Desiccant Self Indicating Loose | eBay - although I have only ever used the blue kind). This can be regenerated by heating and you can see when it is becoming ineffective. Putting it on a very hot radiator will work to some extent but we use an oven at 105ºC which will fully regenerate it. Light or no light will have little impact and variations in temperature due to solar gain could cause condensation to form (I guess the thinking is that UV in daylight will stop fungi growing - in most cases it won't and the UV will not penetrate the window let alone the container!).

When fungi colonise optics they tend to grow on organic debris (so keep things clean and free of fingerprints etc), finishes and lubricants and the optical coatings. The growth can result in a fine web within the body of the lens that reduces contrast and begins to occlude light. Damage to the paint inside the lens can have similar effects but the most damaging problems are caused when the fungus starts to grow across the optics themselves (usually inside and from the outer side of an element inwards). This growth damages the coatings on the lens elements but worse still, byproducts of the growth can etch the glass causing irreversible damage. I'll try to find some images to illustrate all of this.

Hope it helps.

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Pete, I knew you'd blast a mass of knowledge on this!
Forget what I said Stan, listen to the big man.... Mr Askew!

 

[Stan Hesketh]

Thank you good people, some very helpful advice. There is a place on the boat that tends to stay at an even but not too high temp, and dry, so I'll keep the camera bodies/lenses in my trusty camera bag with some silica gel inside. The bag should allow some ventilation (i.e can breathe) and hopefully stay at a fairly constant temperature.
Thanks again.

 

[Peter Blake]

since coming to live in Japan, where summer weather is hot & sticky, humidity over 80% etc, I acquired a set of dry boxes, which are simply polypropylene containers with an o-ring type seal, and hygrometer. Indicated humidity is averagely 55% as I write, these boxes use a large sachet of silica gel which I must admit has no indicator. One can spend a fortune on 'dry cabinets' here, if displaying gear as if trophies!