Best way to clean and preserve an FD Canon lens case

[craig_depolo]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for the best way to clean and preserve some of my Canon FD lens

cases. I have all the way from pristine, sharp black patent leather (sweet),

to well used but still good, to well, not sure if I should try, cracked

leather. I've been told armor-all works good. Just thought I'd see if

anybody has had some success with anything else. I want to preserve these

cases as much as possible. Some "King Tut level" of preservation would be

good.

Thanx,

Craig

[doug_nelson3]

Having lived in eastern Virginia, I can tell you that cases can be your lenses' worst enemy in such humid places. Let dry air circulate around them. Cases tend to be a haven for mildew and mold. When carrying lenses in a camera bag or pack, I wrap 'em in the little velcro-fastened squares made by Road-Wired and Domke. At home, I keep them in wooden desk trays on open shelves. A possible exception might be a treasured long lens that needs all the protection it can get. Even so, be sure it airs out well and often. Don't store cameras and lenses in cabinets against an exterior wall, and not in the bottom drawer near the floor.

[doug_nelson3]

Excuse me, Craig, I have a bad habit of doing these replies in too big a hurry. Your question was preservation of the CASES, not the lens. I got tired of my Canon cases' rotting foam in the lids and bottom, and took out all the foam. If you actually store lenses in them, don't do anything that would keep the leather from breathing. Open them once in a while. If you live somewhere dry like California, you have less to worry about in this regard. I've been using my old cases as gift boxes to pass little used lenses on to my stepkids.

[jp_and_ap_the_glass_eye]

Those wraps look interesting. I have had bad luck with FD leather cases and the foam in them. They were long-term stored dry in a trunk, and the foam deteriorated. I no longer use FD equipment, but - when I gave that stuff away some lenses had foam crumbs inside them.

 

The writeups on the wraps say that the wraps have internal foam or some such padding. How age durable are the wraps?

[doug_nelson3]

I've had the red color fade a bit on one, but the stuff feels like some sort of breathable liner covered with a felt-like cover to which velcro adheres well. I've had mine a few years. I use them because I've had problems with rigid or semi-rigid bags being too stiff. RyanAir in Germany made me stuff a camera bag and its contents inside my carry-on, although both bags together were well under the weight limit. One of the smaller Domke bags would have survived this better, being softer, and the wraps would have protected everything. As it was, I was glad to have the wraps to pad lenses and a camera body and stuff 'em elsewhere in my coat pockets. If you're curious to know what life was like under the old Sovietski regimes, fly RyanAir.

[robin_sibson1]

Leather?