# Proper way to store lens



## alvarow (Oct 20, 2017)

Hello... is there a proper o se a best way to store your lenses? Say on a shelf... standing over the capped mount side down? Or standing over the front cap mount side up?

How about when transporting, say in a shoulder bag, which side up?

Or doesn’t matter? Or matters only for certain lenses (heavier ones)?

What’s your take?

Thanks


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## ahsanford (Oct 20, 2017)

Everyone stores their stuff a little differently, I'm sure. I don't think there's a single right answer.

But here's my take:

1) Protect the lens from shock / impact / knocking around -- any padded container will do. For the longest time, I used my largest camera backpack tucked securely in a closest shelf as my lens storage. Over time, as I amassed more gear, I opted for something like tool cabinet (actually a DVD cabinet, but a very study metal one) that I outfitted with yoga mat on the bottom and TrekPak dividers on the sides.

2) Protect lenses from front / rear element damage. This one's easy. Cap both ends when not in use. 

3) Protect the lens from humidity, which can lead to mold. I've read elsewhere at this forum to avoid a damp basement, which makes sense. You can dehumidify or use dessicant, but those require power / periodic attention, so I'd imagine it's safer to just store your gear in a more dry location in your house (if there is one).

4) Don't ever leave lenses out if you aren't using them. For instance, I live in a tectonically active area, so placing lenses in open shelving or on a table is a terrible idea. Knocking a lens off of a table should never ever ever happen, so don't put them in a position to be knocked off.

5) As far as standing up vs. lying down, I'm not the guy to ask. I personally store my smaller glass (smaller non-L primes, my teleconverter, etc.) front element up / mount cap down, while longer lenses would simply be too tall for my cabinet drawers, so just I lay them down. See link above for what that looks like.

6) Couldn't tell you about really heavy lens storage as I don't own anything heavier than a 70-200 f/2.8L IS II. I believe the superwhites have hard cases that you can use, but I defer to those that own them.

7) Pets + open lens storage can be problematic. We have two dogs, so despite constant sweeping / roomba action, hair gets everywhere. So again, a (padded) closed cabinet, (padded) desk drawer or camera bag with zippers is preferable to just putting gear on an open shelf.

8.) If you live in a larger apartment complex and fire sprinklers are a consideration, obv keep your solution (a) nowhere near floor level, (b) consider airtight storage (like a Pelican case) and (c) get insurance if you don't have it already. When those things go -- heaven forbid -- it's game over for anything not sealed..

There are far more knowledgeable folks here than I am, so check back here for their comments.

- A


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## scottkinfw (Oct 20, 2017)

For storage I want the lens to be safe and dry.

I have a long gun safe. The safe has about a 3/8 hole pre-drilled in the back. bought a gun safe heater and installed that (cord goes through back hole and to AC outlet). That however, doesn't really desiccate the safe so I purchased 4 Eva-Dry mini dehumidifiers. To monitor I also bought an Eva-Dry safe sensor (a digital hygrometer/thermometer that transmits to a receiver outside the safe) so I can keep an eye on things. This is in my walk in closet so I can look every day if I get neurotic about it.

About once a month I rotate the dehumidifiers out to recharge them by plugging into wall outlet. This takes 24 hours. 

Inside the safe, the humidity remains in the 35% or lower range, and temps are in the 70's. The sensor needs a battery change about every year or so. The cost for the Eva-Dry is minimal, but obviously the safe is costly, but it is fire safe, safe from theft, tornadoes, etc. My lenses all have lens coats on them and I put them in with caps on. Same with cameras.

I know Neuro likes hard cases (Pelican, I believe), and my system could easily be adapted to a hard case for very little.

I am interested to hear what others do.

Scott



alvarow said:


> Hello... is there a proper o se a best way to store your lenses? Say on a shelf... standing over the capped mount side down? Or standing over the front cap mount side up?
> 
> How about when transporting, say in a shoulder bag, which side up?
> 
> ...


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## SecureGSM (Oct 20, 2017)

I store cameras and lenses in a large dust, water, air tight, shock resistant safe case. It is a Pelican Case knock off and sold in Australia by Bunnings Warehouse chain of hardware stores. I am sure that you can source a similar product in USA or any other country these days. It cost me A$72.00 only. Internal dimensions are: 515 x 375 x 225mm

https://www.bunnings.com.au/craftright-515-x-435-x-225mm-large-safe-case_p5810184

you can comfortably store 2 cameras and 5-6 lenses in this case. *The case is also carry on friendly*.

*The Issue:*

https://www.zeiss.com/camera-lenses/us/service/content/fungus-on-lenses.html


In order to grow, Fungus requires *Relative humidity of at least 70% (more than 3 days)*

*How can fungus be avoided?*

next to driers (e.g. silica gel orange packs) in the containers


I purchased 4 silica gel small packs of eBay and paid few dollars for the set. 45g each. I keep all 4 in a single safe case at a time.

these are very handy as they change colour when granules absorbed much moisture from the air.
In order to reactivate the granules, I heat packs in microwave on Medium / Low Power for 5 minutes only, then leave containers to cool down for about 10 minutes and place them back inside the safe box. Granules regain their original colour. I repeat reactivation every month or so.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1Pc-Silica-Gel-Desiccant-Dry-Box-Moisture-Camera-Microscopes-Color-Changing-/222601325138

there are plenty of those on eBay.


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## takesome1 (Oct 20, 2017)

When I sit a lens down I put it big end down. You know I tried the other way and they just kept falling over.

I store mine in a safe under lock and key and I leave them in their travel backpacks ready to go.
In the bags sometimes they lay on their side, upside down or whichever angle the bag gets stuck in. I have had no adverse effects.

I have insurance for replacement. The safe is to prevent one of the grandchildren from using one of the lenses to torture and fry ants on the patio.

Where does everyone live that they need so much protection from humidity? It is something I have never worried about in my safes and it has never been a problem.


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## unfocused (Oct 20, 2017)

On the bed in my study. The cat does a good, but inconsistent, job of cushioning them.


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## SecureGSM (Oct 20, 2017)

it gets quite humid in subtropical and tropical areas around the world.

https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/humidity-city-july.php


in Australia: New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territories with average humidity for the summer months well in excess of 80%

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_014015.shtml

I have seen plenty of fungus affected canon L lenses being sold on local Classifieds website advertised in NSW and QLD in Australia.



takesome1 said:


> Where does everyone live that they need so much protection from humidity? It is something I have never worried about in my safes and it has never been a problem.


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 20, 2017)

As Scott stated, I keep mine stored in Storm cases (now a brand of Pelican). In our previous house, I used to keep desiccant cartridges in with them, because sometimes the humidity would get above 60% RH for a few days at a time over summer. Since we moved (same town), I've checked and the humidity is pretty stable at ~45% or lower, even in the middle of summer. So, they're still in the Storm cases (because roofs can leak, pipes can burst) but without the desiccant. 

Inside the cases, they are stored as they fit best. That means some are stood on end (some front element down, some front element up), and some are laying on their sides.

Everything is insured, just in case.


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## Ian_of_glos (Oct 20, 2017)

takesome1 said:


> When I sit a lens down I put it big end down. You know I tried the other way and they just kept falling over.
> 
> I store mine in a safe under lock and key and I leave them in their travel backpacks ready to go.
> In the bags sometimes they lay on their side, upside down or whichever angle the bag gets stuck in. I have had no adverse effects.
> ...


Well I live in England so it rains pretty much all the time. This can be a problem, especially with zoom lenses as rain water can get inside the lens when it is in the zoomed out position. When I return home I always leave any zoom lenses overnight in a warm dry place, zoomed out, lying on their side so they can dry properly.
Condensation can also be a problem especially if I have been using the lens outside on a very cold day then move into a warm place. Again I allow the lens time to come up to room temperature before putting it away.


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## ahsanford (Oct 20, 2017)

Ian_of_glos said:


> Well I live in England so it rains pretty much all the time. This can be a problem, especially with zoom lenses as rain water can get inside the lens when it is in the zoomed out position. When I return home I always leave any zoom lenses overnight in a warm dry place, zoomed out, lying on their side so they can dry properly.
> Condensation can also be a problem especially if I have been using the lens outside on a very cold day then move into a warm place. Again I allow the lens time to come up to room temperature before putting it away.



+1. My part of the country is quite dry, but even I have the large zip-lock bags + desiccant combo for travel. The 'beer can' phenomenon of leaving cold / dry air conditioned hotel room for a hot / humid outdoors (say on vacation) will fog your internals. It's always best to let your gear come up to temp in your bag before pulling it out and using it.

- A


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## kingrobertii (Oct 20, 2017)

Buy a Pelican case and be done with it. Stores securely at home, and on a larger shoot (if applicable).


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## ahsanford (Oct 20, 2017)

kingrobertii said:


> Buy a Pelican case and be done with it. Stores securely at home, and on a larger shoot (if applicable).



And if you go with Pelican, consider TrekPak, a modular divider system. Think of it as reconfigurable camera-bag style dividers minus the velcro. I used it in my cabinet photo (linked in my first post above), and they have kits pre-configured for many specific Pelican cases.

Pick-n-pluck foam in Pelican cases is fine, but I'm not fond of the permanence of it and it's wasteful for packing efficiency. Trekpak lets you slide pieces, move things about, etc. and you can simply get more gear in there with the thinner dividers Pricey, but nice. Don't get me wrong, pick-n-pluck has its uses -- especially if these cases will travel and see rough handling. But in a stationary 'home storage'-only use, I find it overkill.

- A


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## kingrobertii (Oct 20, 2017)

ahsanford said:


> kingrobertii said:
> 
> 
> > Buy a Pelican case and be done with it. Stores securely at home, and on a larger shoot (if applicable).
> ...



True. You can always see what people in your area are selling on Craigslist. That's how I got mine for less than half retail value.


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## Talys (Oct 20, 2017)

I'm going to put a plug in for SKB with thinktank dividers 

The SKB cases are very nice, and the thinktank dividers are very thoughtful. They're much thinner than Pelican, which can be both good and bad -- Pelican dividers are not very adjustable and are so thick that they take up a ton of space, with the tradeoff that they provide more protection. The ThinkTank dividers, I think, protect enough protection, and let me cram in a lot more stuff.

The lid organizer is also a great price on these, and really well designed, compared to the pelican ones. There are also SKBs where the inside is a removable zippered container with shoulder strap, or backpack (by ThinkTank), neither of which are exhorbitantly expensive.

I'm not a fan of the cut-it-up-yourself dividers or the pluck foam, because I tend to reorganize my storage quite often -- as I buy more storage or as my gear changes.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Oct 21, 2017)

mine are either in my studio mounted to my camera, in one of my camera bags, or laying in the office in my house. Humidity here is very low, its 26% indoors (68% outdoors) right now, its a moist stormy day today.

Our problem is that humidity gets down into the 10% range during the winter, its too dry. 

So storage here is merely protecting a lens physically, no special case needed. I do have a large roll around soft sided pelican case, its covered with a thick layer of dust from lack of use. It does a good job when I use it.


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 21, 2017)

ahsanford said:


> And if you go with Pelican, consider TrekPak, a modular divider system.



I'd consider them if I didn't already have the padded divider sets. But those have worked fine for me, especially since I also have ample extra Velcro-edged dividers from various Lowepro bags.


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## Jopa (Oct 21, 2017)

Oh wow... I guess I'm the only person in this thread who doesn't _love_ his own lenses. I really just keep them on the shelves of my office, front element down. It's a _relatively_ clean space. I better do not disclose this fact if I decide to sell something on eBay


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## johninsanantonio (Oct 21, 2017)

I like Pelican for storage but prefer foam over dividers.


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 21, 2017)

johninsanantonio said:


> I like Pelican for storage but prefer foam over dividers.



What if you sell a lens and buy a different one? That's why I prefer dividers. 

For travel, foam would be more protective...but when I travel, my photo gear is in a backpack carried on. The one time I checked photo gear, I put the loaded backpack inside a Storm case.


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## alvarow (Oct 21, 2017)

Thank you everyone for sharing their tips and wisdom with me! I guess I was overthinking it (which end up).

At home it is dry and I keep the gear in a closet in the living room, all standing. When I go out it’s usually one or two lens with a messenger style bag. 

I travel with a pancake 40mm, 24-70mm and my almost always on 100-400 II and that covers my needs usually. May add a 14mm if going dark skies. It all goes on a shoulder lowepro. As much as I love the 100mm Macro the 400 zoom focus so close that I make do with that on travel. 

Thanks again, I’ll keep an eye on Craigslist for bargains and perhaps improve my shelf setup.


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## ahsanford (Oct 22, 2017)

neuroanatomist said:


> johninsanantonio said:
> 
> 
> > I like Pelican for storage but prefer foam over dividers.
> ...



+1. My feelings exactly. 

- A


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## Don Haines (Oct 22, 2017)

neuroanatomist said:


> johninsanantonio said:
> 
> 
> > I like Pelican for storage but prefer foam over dividers.
> ...



Or get a new foam insert......

BTW, alway keep your spare foam inset somewhere where the kitten will not shred it.......


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## johninsanantonio (Oct 28, 2017)

Foam isn't expensive...FYI...I am using a Pelican 1555 for storage which doesn't have strap support but it's an easy fix with a drill. Here's mine with the Pelican strap which comes with O-rings to prevent moisture.


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## NancyP (Oct 28, 2017)

I use a soft-sided fishing reel case to house lenses at home, particularly vintage lenses without their own cases. $25.00, holds up to 10 lenses depending on diameter, has adjustable gray fabric covered dividers, a sewn on handle, and a decent zipper. The case just gets put on a shelf. The longest lenses stay in their original cases (L lenses or Sigma lens). Thus the lenses are protected from dust. The two or three most commonly used lenses sit in the most commonly used camera bag along with the camera, shutter release, polarizer, microfiber cloth, and other essentials (plastic bag for rain; sealed "clif bar". Now, I don't live in an extremely humid climate, and the nylon lens cases and fishing reel holder are permeable. Tiny lenses (bellows lenses: microscope and enlarger lenses) are kept in a plastic box along with a calcium carbonate moisture absorber.


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## FTb-n (Oct 28, 2017)

Talys said:


> I'm going to put a plug in for SKB with thinktank dividers
> 
> The SKB cases are very nice, and the thinktank dividers are very thoughtful. They're much thinner than Pelican, which can be both good and bad -- Pelican dividers are not very adjustable and are so thick that they take up a ton of space, with the tradeoff that they provide more protection. The ThinkTank dividers, I think, protect enough protection, and let me cram in a lot more stuff.
> 
> ...


+1

I keep finding storage answers with ThinkTank gear. I shoot with the padded belt and a couple PeakDesign Capture Clips, then add a ThinkTank pouch as needed. The "go bag" is a ThinkTank Airport Commuter where I typically keep two bodies, one with a short zoom and one with a long zoom, ready to go for the next event.

For the extra gear, I invested in an SBK hard case with the ThinkTank dividers. But, I don't use the dividers. This case is mainly for storage at home and only occasionally for travel. Instead of the dividers, I store lenses in ThinkTank lens pouches as in the photo below. This photo shows two short zooms in padded pouches, a long white zoom (with hood) in a skin pouch, a flash in a skin pouch, and 5D3 with the attached 24-70 in a pouch.

This has been far more flexible than fixed dividers. If I travel, I just take what I need and use knee pads and/or a hand towel for extra padding. (The knee pads have become standard shooting attire and the towel can be handy on location.)


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## Leandro (Oct 30, 2017)

I keep mine on an airtight plastic container (think of a giant tupperware container, but the brand I use is Biokips). The lenses are usually separated according to lens type: one container for the prime lenses, one for telephoto zoom lenses and the teleconverters, one for the wide zoom lenses, one for the cameras and finally one for batteries, chargers, memory cards etc. Inside each container I keep a hygrometer (I live in a very humid place) and a Eva-Dry dissecant. I try to keep relative humidity between 30% and 60%.


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## SRSW (Dec 1, 2017)

Brilliant information here guys! I've had a 70-200mm start to grow fungus and wandered if it was my storage. Never thought of the absorbant silica gels packs before! - Thanks for all inputs! 
Scott


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## Ozarker (Dec 5, 2017)

If it is going to be stored on end, I think front element down for stability.


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## slclick (Dec 5, 2017)

Storm/Pelican cases 99% of the time. The exception is a packed bag ready for a shoot in the next day or two.


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## rfdesigner (Dec 5, 2017)

Always store stuff below 60% RH, above that and fungus can grow. You can get indicator cards like this: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/281843583742?chn=ps&adgroupid=13585920426&rlsatarget=pla-142405564146&abcId=&adtype=pla&merchantid=115075915&poi=&googleloc=1006976&device=c&campaignid=207297426&crdt=0

My gear is stored in my lowpro bag.. and kept in the dryest part of the house.. our bedroom as it has the bigger dehumidifier in there (we have two plus a small HRV), all going 100% most of the time it just about keeps the humidity down to the mid 50s (I live in soggy britain) anything less than 50% humidity here is unheard of, we go weeks at a time with humidity never falling below 80%. I gave up on dessicant as I was having to cook it so often.


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## unfocused (Dec 5, 2017)

Don Haines said:


> ...BTW, alway keep your spare foam inset somewhere where the kitten will not shred it.......



I cut out the middleman. No foam -- just 100% cat fur. Very cushion-y, low cost and there is always more being generated.


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## Bennymiata (Dec 6, 2017)

It's not appliccable to Canon lenses, but some large Hasselblad lenses must NOT be put down with the front element facing downwards because it can damage the lens because of its huge glass.

Personally, I think that's bad design and I'm glad it doesn't apply to most DSLR lenses.


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## shane.haumpton (Jan 29, 2018)

Hi guys! I need your comment on this. I have some lenses that I need to store but have to clean em first. I have read this guide and I want your feedback if it is accurate 
https://www.adorama.com/alc/bags-cases-pouches-picking-a-means-for-carrying-and-storing-your-gear. Thanks!


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## mistaspeedy (Jan 29, 2018)

If you have a Canon 50mm F1.4 USM lens, manually rotate the focus on the lens so it retracts fully, after you turn your camera off.
This lens has a particularly sensitive focus motor which is easily damaged if hit on the front element.


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## bholliman (Jan 29, 2018)

shane.haumpton said:


> Hi guys! I need your comment on this. I have some lenses that I need to store but have to clean em first. I have read this guide and I want your feedback if it is accurate
> https://www.adorama.com/alc/bags-cases-pouches-picking-a-means-for-carrying-and-storing-your-gear. Thanks!


The link doesn't work for me. Takes me to a Adorama Learning Center menu page. I spent a few minutes trying to locate the referenced article, but gave up.


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## Ah-Keong (Feb 1, 2018)

Based on my observations over many camera stores, it seems to me that most lens (especially telephoto) are stored horizontally.

So I store all my lens in a horizontal fashion in a dry cabinet with caps on.

If there is a good sun, I would take out the lens and remove the caps to "sunbathe" the glass elements (be careful not to focus the rear to material that are flammable) .

My setting for the humidity is 40~50%

When transportation, the lens are usually in a vertical fashion. (I am using TT Digital Holster 40v2 or a shoulder bag)

when I change lens during shooting, I would drop the lens into the TT Large Lens Drop In (with Hood and no front cap), take another lens, remove the rear cap, mount the new lens and take the rear cap to cover the dropped lens before storing away the dropped lens to other pouches.


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