What's the best way to store old camera's?

<p>I've got a large collection of film bodies. What's the best way to store them? Currently I have them in boxes that 12 reams of paper comes in and keep the box in the closet. I want to be able to pull a camera out 6 months or a year later and attach a lens and start using the bodies. My collection consists of 8 electronic bodies and 11 mechanical manual focus bodies. I also have 6 auto focus bodies. I've thought of selling off some of my collection but I don't seem able to sell them so I thought I put them away. I'd also like to keep them in something that'll keep the dust off of them.</p>

<p>Plastic bag them with rice or Silicagel, sink the bags wherever you store mostly surplus fabrics stuff (not the ironed dress shirts).</p>

<p>Some of my older cameras and lenses are in camera bags either sitting on open storage shelves or inside wooden cabinets in my basement (metal cabinets would work just as well). Putting them in a Ziploc bag with silicagel would probably be a good idea. But I haven't bothered and haven't had any problems. I do take various ones out and play with them every now and then, which keeps things limbered up. Probably wouldn't hurt to do that on an organized schedule even if it was only once a year. How old is "old" is also a factor. I generally wouldn't consider an electronic camera old. :)</p>

<p>All of my bodies, some with lenses, sit in felt Crown Royal bags. (It's amazing what you can find on eBay.) They breathe, keep the dust off, and make me look like I drink too much. Keeping bodies and lenses in too-enclosed of a space promotes mold growth if the humidity is right.</p>

My local liquor store saves up crown royal bags and anxious to get rid of them, but then my state

makes bars and taverns buy alcohol from a state controlled liquor store, who removes the bottles

from the bags. Every piece of my systems is in a crown bag. If being stored for longer periods, I

double bag them.

 

I caution that using silica gel can dry out oils and grease in older cameras. My area is fairly dry, so I

dont need air dryers.

 

While you say "store" cameras, I still believe it is good to exercise mechanisms a few times a year,

and even put a Saturday on my calendar every three months to operate all camera shutters and

dials, and lens focusing and aperture rings.

<p>Don't store in a damp environment. Store with desiccant bags. Don not store with cocked shutter. My cameras are stored in a dresser with desiccant bags. When I open the drawer I can readily see the camera. Other cameras are stored in old camera bags, again, with desiccant bags. Realize that most cameras are pretty hardy. The only prohibition is not to store with cocked shutter as it puts tension on the mechanism and reduces accuracy of the shutter speed and do not store in damp environment at it can cause mold to grow in the lens. (Though not needed in a drawer if it is a rangefinder camera (Leica, etc.) store at f16 with a cap. Why? Because carrying a rangefinder lens about with the lens opened to f2 in daylight can cause sunlight to enter the lens and burn a hole in the shutter. Excessive caution never hurts.) </p>

<p>And take out batteries if you won't use it for a while. It is way too easy to forget.</p>

Be careful with plastic bags as some of the substances in them can evaporate and then form a deposit (a thin film) on anything sealed inside. Also, the later AF cameras take care on how they are stored as some camera coverings can break down and become sticky (like some of the XI series Maxxums for example).

Regardless of storage I would check on them often.

<p>Here is a look at the best way to 'store' a collection.<br>

http://www.praktica-collector.de/collection.htm </p>

<p>Don't you wish you could do that? ;)</p>

<p>Chances are good that, if your home has central a/c and heat, the humidity in your home, year round, stays right at 50%. It does here in my house, and I live in a city where it can be quite humid for most of the year -- Houston, TX. I have a digital thermometer/hygrometer that I bought from Radio Shack some years back that I use for keeping track of the humidity in my workshop. Whenever I bring it into the house, its readings are always the same. 50%, almost on the nose.</p>

<p>I have a fairly large collection of cameras -- well over 20 bodies, about an even split between mechanical and electronic. I store them on shelves in a display cabinet with doors, which helps keep the dust out. For those cameras that I know I won't be using for a while, I remove the batteries. This is also especially the case with my strobes, motor drives, and any other gear that use batteries to function properly. I've found that spontaneous battery leakage is a much bigger threat to gear longevity than the environment.</p>

<p>At any rate, I've been using this storage method for the past five years or so, with no ill effects to my cameras. Prior to housing them in a cabinet with doors, I just left them in my camera bags. They were fine that way, as well.</p>

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