Storing Vintage Camera equipment- Good and Bad experiences.

Sonnar Brian

Sonnar Brian

Product of the Fifties
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I've just gone through a camera collection which include Nikon RF and Contax equipment, including a Nikon S4 and Zeiss 21/4.5 Biogon. This collection was from the late Father-in-Law of a friend, the Father-in-Law passed away about 5 years ago. None of the children wanted the equipment, I was asked to look at it.

Mold and Fungus on everything. I had to ask where it had been stored. My friend guessed a Safe, and was correct. Two antique firearms had also been stored in a Safe, were ruined from moisture.

Let my friend know what camera shops charge for this type of work, made an offer. Did not wait to start cleaning the gear. Much of it cleaned up, the S4 viewfinder and the Biogon cleaned up. Some had residual damage. Felt good about the S4- the helical was also loose. The Father-in-Law bought this way-back when from the PX in Japan. Marked in feet. The 3.5cm F2.5 on it looked like it had cobwebs in it, fungus was that bad. Mostly cleaned up- no etched glass.

Cleaned everything, put in a Box with a UV lamp.

Lesson Learned: do not store camera equipment in a safe, or at least one that is not ventilated and has a UV light in it.

Years ago I left my Nikkor lenses stored in the original boxes. Found out that the Styrofoam outgasses when it hazed over my 105/2.5. I no longer leave lenses and cameras stored in the original boxes.
 
I rescued a Rolleicord from a friend's basement during her clean-out move. By its initial looks, it had been there for quite some time. It cleaned up nicely though, and was in good working condition.
Based on what I find in auctions, yard sales, and the like, it's easy to spot stuff that's been in a basement for upteen years. Often pretty sad looking
 
I love my Ruggard dry box. I also have a DIY option, essentially a sealed plastic tote with a re-usable desiccant pouch and a humidity gauge.
 
Sonnar B, that Biogon is a great lens! I have used one for about 15 years while on vacation. Very little to no rectilinear distortion. Glad to hear that you were able to rescue it. There are a lot of products availble to control humidity in safes, more folks should use them.
 
Dralowid said:
and don't store anything in its leather case, particularly old black cameras!
Click to expand...

This should be repeated a thousand times. Case storage has ruined many good cameras, often in very little time.

Also take out your cameras from their storage whatever, every few months. Do not neglect this as it's vitally important to keep those old beasts functioning. Check the cameras carefully afor fungus and mildew and click through all the shutter speeds. This especially applies to some Rollei TLRS which can develop odd shutter behaviour if left unused - I have two Rolleiflex Ts from the 1960s, in otherwise almost perfect condition, which refuse to click the shutters if focussed beyond infinity before cranking to the next shot. This is apparently a common fault with the T models and sadly, the repair is all but nonexistent. You can still use them by refocusing back to infinity before you crank. Then you can focus and the shutter will work.

Another point not to be overlooked is, if you have old cameras with batteries, remove the batteries and store them separately. Or you may find you have a big gobby mess of a burst battery, well beyond cleaning up and salvaging the camera.
 
Probably nothing that will outgas in the box- as Styrofoam will do.

I would check it relatively often, and make sure it is a in a dry place.
 
There are a number of options for storing items in a safe. Larger safes (typically sold in gun stores) with have an outlet inside the safe and the electrical cord & plug on the outside. This is so you can install a low wattage heating element inside the safe. The heat drives out the moisture. Second method is to use large slica packs that can be dried out in the oven and re-used continuously. However, in my experience (living next to ocean in the South), if your house has HVAC continuously year round then humidity is not an issue and neither is mold (or rust). Anything left outdoors is another matter.
 
Yes, a safe!

i once left all my best lenses in a safe for a whole summer, under a sink.
Sink had a slight leak.
Inlnside the safe had become a Sauna.

Mold started to form, stench.

Good I didn’t comfortably “forget” the lenses for the year.

Luckily non fungus started to form, but that was a Disaster waiting to happen.

My storage tip is simple: spacious storage space, good air circulation, use and rotate once in a while, change the air by energetically waving a cardboard into the storage space.
And last: it’s good to store cameras abd lenses on top of a layer of brown paper or regular paper towels so they can suck the humidity.

magic words: let breathe.
 
I have a Leica Null Series Replica, mostly quietly sitting in its case. Last time I tried to put film in, I was unable to remove the baseplateafter being unlatched. Turns out there were patches of white corrosion, sticking the parts together.
 
All of my cameras and lenses are in a dedicated upstairs room, now resting on wooden shelving that spans three walls. So, plenty of air and light. The room sort of looks like a 1980’s camera store…

Temperature and humidity are controlled. More importantly, I do have a regimen that exercises my equipment, but they also all get treated to a few rolls of film a year.
 
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