# Building a cabinet for camera gear, any advice?



## DrChemE (Jan 3, 2015)

Hi!

Husband has offered to build me a camera gear cabinet (husband's hobby is carpentry, he is pretty good at building furniture). I am thinking something like a tall dresser, lots of drawers, perhaps lined with the pluck-foam we find in pelican cases. 

Anyone have something similar or some other suggestions? Right now, I keep my main camera with one lens inside an easily accessible camera bag, everything else in a large pelican case, inside a closet. Not too bad but not the most convenient.

Cabinet would have to fit two bodies (5DIII and 50D), 50 f1.4, 35f1.4L, kit 18-135, 70-200f4IS L, 135f2L, filters, chargers, extra batteries, grips, 2 flashes. A little room to grow.

Thanks in advance!


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## sagittariansrock (Jan 6, 2015)

DrChemE said:


> Hi!
> 
> Husband has offered to build me a camera gear cabinet (husband's hobby is carpentry, he is pretty good at building furniture). I am thinking something like a tall dresser, lots of drawers, perhaps lined with the pluck-foam we find in pelican cases.
> 
> ...



Don't have many suggestions at the moment, but please do share the final result.
One thing comes to mind- make sure there is sufficient ventilation. Dark un-aerated places harbor fungi.
Very curious to know how it turns out.


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## sanj (Jan 6, 2015)

Glass shelves. 0 watt bulbs which will remain always on. Keep space of gear to be at least 8" away from the bulb because of heat.


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## tpatana (Jan 6, 2015)

sanj said:


> Glass shelves. 0 watt bulbs which will remain always on. Keep space of gear to be at least 8" away from the bulb because of heat.



Some people use heated boxes, was it to kill fungus?


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## tpatana (Jan 6, 2015)

I've also wondered about storage, but I don't have good solution either. Please share when you get yours.

Usually ~30% of the gear (1 body + most lenses) are in one bag that's easy to grab and go. Extra stuff are around one bookshelf, and then strobes + accessories for those are in another big bag.

It'd be awesome if I had one nice solution which would hold all those, but would also have the place for the bag since I don't want to get the stuff out all the time.


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## mb66energy (Jan 6, 2015)

Since three years I use a kitchen drawer module from a swedish company which has sometimes usable furnitures.

Upper drawer: A flat drawer for all smaller accessory (cables, lens caps, tripod screws, memory cards, adapters, etc.)
Middle drawer: A higher drawer (~15cm) for bodies and lenses + flash.
Lower drawer: A high drawer (~25cm) for chargers, cases, bellows, undefinable stuff. It is planned to use this drawer to keep 1 or 2 pre-packed bags in the near future - the LowePro Pro Runner 200 will fit easily + a small classical bag.
Width: 60cm, Height: ~70cm, Depth: ~60cm (outer dimensions)

Air circulation is possible because I have "installed" some spacers that leave a 5mm gap between corpus and the drawer front plates. The cabinet is located in my living room which has constant temperatures.

I am VERY satisfied using drawers because you mulitply the visible area by the number of drawers. Since using that cabinet it is much easier for me to find something very quickly.

Another smaller cabinet (WxHxD = 40x180x35 cm³) is used to store tripods and some laboratory stuff (bases, rods, clamps) for "studio close-up/macro". My living room has enough sun and space to do that type of photography and therefore I decided to store the cameras and accessories in that room!

Hope this helps at least as ONE option ... Best, Michael


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## pwp (Jan 6, 2015)

Like just about everyone, I've been burgled on more than one occasion. Like HDD crashes, for most people it's not a matter of if, but when. Face it...that's reality.

If you're going to make a custom cabinet for your camera gear, why not have a very secure one? The heavy grade aluminium toolboxes that tradesmen have fitted on the back of their pickups gave me a clue. I went to a fabricator and he said he would make anything I liked. So I ordered a very secure custom cabinet that you could only get into with patience and a very loud angle-grinder. Short of a bank vault, nothing is 100% burglar proof.

The secure cabinet not only allows me to sleep better, but I also get a small discount from my insurance company. The next, very expensive step could be to get a cabinet that is also fire rated. 

-pw


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## mb66energy (Jan 6, 2015)

pwp said:


> Like just about everyone, I've been burgled on more than one occasion. Like HDD crashes, for most people it's not a matter of if, but when. Face it...that's reality.
> 
> [...]
> 
> -pw



So I understand your "massive" approach. Perhaps I will try out mimikry by putting my living room located kitchen drawer element into the kitchen. There is some hope that burglars aren't trying to find camera equipment in a kitchen cabinet!


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## RustyTheGeek (Jan 6, 2015)

There are many ways to look at this. DIY as your husband has offered, vault/safe type enclosure for security or fire protection, or simple pelican as you are currently doing it. I suspect most of us are doing what you are already doing.

I would give it a lot of thought with respect to how you want to access the gear. If you want it to be simple and easy to take on the run, you probably want to pack your bags and then store them ready to go. If you are more the 'pack for the shoot' or a studio kind of person, an organized cabinet with a place for each item is the way to go. IMHO, the first scenario is more convenient if you do most of your photography away from home. The second option would work better for a studio. (Think like a mechanic in a shop where all the work happens a few feet from the organized toolbox.) Having all the gear live in it's defined 'spot' is somewhat OCD but it makes it easier to find and more importantly, easy to know if it's missing. But doing the whole 'pack-unpack' thing every time you go out or return tends to get old after a while.

Depending on your gear, another option might even be to create or designate a small closet, pantry or other small part of the house as your photography gear room. Then put in shelves, drawers, etc to further organize your gear and expand as necessary. Maybe also a metal 'bread rack' shelf where you could hang/lay things for easy access. It could then be locked and secured easily and even perhaps camouflaged so a thief didn't see it or couldn't access it easily. Depending on how it was done you could even store a few other items there that you would like to hide/protect like documents, data backups, Jimmy Hoffa, whatever. 

Regardless of the choice of box, consider your climate in that area. If you have lots of humidity, you should put something simple in the cabinet to raise the temp slightly above ambient to lower humidity. (Only a few degrees.) Otherwise, your home AC system is probably sufficient.


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## thelonelyphotographer (Jan 6, 2015)

Building a cabinet can be a pain trying to organize all the little bits and pieces. You might try organizing all the accessories into groups, like the flashes, cords flash meters etc. Sometimes hardware like umbrella brackets could be part of the flash accessories.. this is only a suggestion.

The Lens and bodies...I would either have custom foam inserts made up to fit the drawers and line them with black fabric or whatever you choose. there is a place in OC name eludes me at the moment that would cut high density foam to custom fit your drawers. You may purchase absorbent or adsorbent chemicals called zeolites to help control humidity. You can figure out a place to put them in each drawer. though I suspect a drawer with a plexiglas lid and gasketed lip should seal out any humidity. Lots of ways to store your toys good luck


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## nonac (Jan 6, 2015)

A fireproof gun safe is the ideal thing. Provides protection and security. I'm in and out of it frequently so it vents, plus I keep canisters of silica gel in there to keep the humidity low. If you keep an eye out, you can find a decent one on sale for a reasonable price.


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## RustyTheGeek (Jan 6, 2015)

nonac said:


> A fireproof gun safe is the ideal thing. Provides protection and security. I'm in and out of it frequently so it vents, plus I keep canisters of silica gel in there to keep the humidity low. If you keep an eye out, you can find a decent one on sale for a reasonable price.



I was going to suggest this but since the OP has a husband that wishes to build the solution, this didn't really fit the request. If you choose a gun safe, go with these guys... http://www.sturdysafe.com/ Their safes are the real deal and the fireproof option they use is similar to what is used in professional ovens/kilns. It actually works instead of just vaporizing like other low quality safes do that use sheetrock as a heat barrier. I bought one of their mid size safes, installed it in a 'weather safe room' in the center of our house and we got rid of our safety deposit box. We love it. I think I spent about $2700 after the purchase, freight and installer left. We keep important papers, data backups, guns and all our skeletons in it. Nice. 

When you look at gun safes, you will also see humidity rods as an accessory. These are simple low wattage lamps in a tube. They raise the internal temp a few degrees to prevent humidity. They don't cost much and could be used in any case you get. http://www.amazon.com/Lockdown-222000-Dehumidifier-Rod-12-Inch/dp/B004QUDTZI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1420582446&sr=8-3&keywords=humidity+rod


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## Warrenl (Jan 7, 2015)

Some of you beat me to it. I purchased a tall rifle safe many years ago. At that time i lived in an unstable country (South Africa). I drilled small holes for air to breathe, and put a small lamp in the bottom. I also put in shelves and lined it with the same materiel used in wet suits.


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