Beyond Photo Tips
Camera equipment is sensitive to moisture, and dust. I’m going to deal with a couple of ways in which you can keep your equipment safe from high levels of humidity that could damage your lenses and certain parts of your camera body. We’ll deal with dust in a subsequent post.
Photo: ~jjjohn~Why High Humidity is bad for your equipment
Fungus grows in between lens elements and under the lens coatings. Once it gets started, it is a pain to get rid of, and causes soft spots in your photographs, being the equivalent of having a fingerprint on your lens. This is one case in which the ‘prevention’ keeps the lens doctors away.
Fungus or Mould thrive in dark, humid places where there is little, or no movement of air (sound familiar? look at where you store your camera equipment). Very often camera equipment ends up in drawers, cupboards, or basements; all of which are dubious places to store them. Remember that keeping your camera in storage for too long is also a recipe for fungal (and mechanical) disaster. Lenses and cameras need to be kept in use and exposed to light and fresh air from time to time. A camera or lens that is used well, and stored correctly is most likely to see many years of successful picture-taking.
Lenses and camera equipment are optimally stored at a relative humidity (RH) of around 35% to 45%. A good rule of thumb to figure the optimal RH to store your equipment at, is to look at it’s optimal operating humidity range, and half it. For example, the Canon EOS 5D’s operating humidity range is 85% RH or lower, so a good indicative range to store it would be between 35 and 45% RH.
Humidity Range – Why Low Humidity is bad for your equipment
Remember, that you could also run into problems from keeping your RH levels too low. All camera lenses and bodies have a number of moving parts – gears, sliding thingies, and rolling thingies – and they’re all lubricated with a light machine oil. Keeping your RH too low could dry up that oil quicker than usual, making these parts wear out sooner, and work sluggishly. I also think that the rubber on the camera tends to harden quicker in dry air.
There also seems to be another kind of mould that affects camera equipment at very low RH levels; I’ve only come across this in one place, so I don’t have much info on that. If you have some information that you could add, please do leave it in the comments.
Photo: dawn_perrySolutions
So what’s the solution? The cheapest option is to use your camera as frequently as possible; The exposure to light, especially UV light kills the fungus. While this is not a problem for active enthusiasts, those who store their cameras for any length of time need an alternative.
Alternative 1 – Sunlight / UV Radiation
Put your camera out in the sun from time to time. Remove the lens (or you could end up with a hole burnt in your shutter or some other part), filter, body, etc, and put them all out in sunlight for a while. If you manage to work this into your monthly camera care routine, you should be fine.
You could also try what some photographers do: use a UV lamp
Ok, so you’re exposing it to light on a regular basis, but what if you live in a region that is perpetually humid? See alternative 2 for an answer.
Alternative 2 – Dessicants
As always, there are the cheap options, and the expensive options. In either case, you’ll most likely need a Hygrometer
Cheap Option – Silica Gel
Silica-Gel
You can buy Silica Gel either as crystals, or sometimes as tiny spheres. Most often you find them in porous sachets so that they don’t disperse among your equipment. If you decide to go with Silica Gel for your cabinet, remember that you should get the indicative variety
. They are blue when they’re fully absorbent, white-ish when they’re partially full of moisture, and pink when they’re fully saturated. You can “Re-charge” your Silica Gel at this point.
You’ll need a container like the Dry Storage Silica Gel Dehumidifier
Remember, that keeping saturated silica-gel in your camera storage could do you more harm than good by actually releasing more moisture into your storage.
Expensive Option – DeHumidifiers
As with everything, there has always got to be an expensive option. De-Humidifiers
You could also use your Air Conditioner to reduce the ambient humidity to a safe level for your camera equipment. This is because Air Conditioners dehumidify as they chill the air, leaving a comfortable storage humidity for lenses and cameras.
Photo: Matthew FangSummary
To wrap up, remember that the best maintenance/fungus prevention plan for your camera involves your regular use of the equipment. Regular use keeps the lenses and camera body aerated and exposed to sunlight, thus killing fungus.
If you dont use your camera often, make sure that it is stored in a well ventilated area with an ambient humidity range of 35%-45% RH. Also remember to take it out often and expose it to sunlight.
If you live in a humid part of the world, you could try one of the other two options mentioned above: Chemical Dessicants or De-Humidifiers.
If you have had experience with fungus and humidity affecting your camera equipment, and have found an alternate solution to those mentioned above, please do leave a comment so that our readers may benefit from your experience.
EDIT: I recently came across these two very interesting articles on Amazon.com. I’m going to be investigating their potential use in photo equipment storage, but here you go anyway.
-
Adorama VacuPac Dry Box, Small (3.5 lit.) with Built-in Hygrometer
- Adorama VacuPac Dry Box, Large (11.5 lit.) with Built-in Hygrometer
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Susheel Chandradhas
Susheel Chandradhas is a Photographer and Web Designer. His passions include photography and parkour. He is also the webmaster of Beyond Phototips.
26 Responses to Humidity, Fungus and Cameras – Problems & Solutions
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[...] Humidity, Fungus and Cameras – Problems & Solutions (Beyond Phototips) – Fungus can be really nasty, specially if they get inside your lenses. What to do to prevent this problem? Read this one. [...]
[...] Humidity, Fungus, and Cameras – Problems & Solutions Beyond Phototips Camera equipment is sensitive to moisture and dust. Here’s an article that deals with a couple of ways in which you can keep your equipment safe from high levels of humidity that could damage your lenses and certain parts of the camera body. [...]
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[...] Susheel Chandradas explains the adverse affects of both high and low humidity on your camera, and how you can prevent your gear from growing mold on beyondphototips.com. Here’s a sample, click here to read the full article. [...]
Susheel,
I just came across your site; thank you for the recommendation for Adorama Camera – very much appreciated.
Sincerely
Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
helen.oster@adoramacamera.com
http://www.adorama.com
We translated this article in spanish: http://news.deviantart.com/article/62129/
EdWheeler,
Dude, that’s Crazy…
You actually translated it into Spanish! WOW! I’m thoroughly impressed and thrilled.
[...] | wikipedia | beyondphototips | howstuffworks | & some google research [...]
I wound up with a colony of mold on a Nikon NC filter. Didn’t affect the lens the filter was on. Ordered another NC filter – problem solved, but what to do with the challenge, namely, the fungus-infected filter?
Lens cleaning solution was ineffective. (I knew it would be, but I had to try … )
Next brainstorm: a few moth crystals (naphtha) and the filter in a sealed glass jar. Over a period of several days, the mold spots are shrinking, and some have disappeared entirely. A cure? Temporary or permanent? Time will tell.
Anyone else try this remedy?
[...] | Traducción por ~GunsmokeDA | Revisado =disalicia | Original Link: [link] by Susheel Chandradhas Posted by noticiasda Filed in Fotografía, [...]
This is a very interesting article although I knew certain things I still had doubt about them. This article made it clear for me. I live in Malta and our Humidity is exaggerated…
recently I took my Canon 350D to a service technician to remove what I thought it was only dirt… He ended up telling me I was infested by Fungus growing all up inside and risking of eating my mirrors.
I don’t use my camera very often and I used to seal it in my bag cause I thought it would be protected. I’m trying to get rid of this fungus… in two cheap ways as described in this article… Stuffing my Bag with packets of Silica gel and leaving my gear outside in the sun.
But I’m still asking some questions as I still a noob on such matters:
-When leaving the camera in the sun do you take off the caps leaving the sensor & lenses unshielded? as I removed the UV filters and the lens from the body but not the caps.
Ivan,
thank you for stopping by. While leaving your camera out in the sun, do remember two things.
Read your camera’s instruction manual. It tells you what you can/should do and can/should not do.
Your camera is affected by heat just as it is affected by humidity and dust. Remember that leaving it out in the sun for long periods of time will spoil it. My suggestion is to use it often, and just expose the insides to the sun by removing the lens for not more than a couple of minutes at a time.
Exposing your sensor to the sun is surely a bad thing. Don’t try it.
When exposing your lenses to sunlight, remember the same guidelines. And do remove the lens caps at both ends for a short while
Remember to keep your camera dust-free by doing this indoors, or in a place with minimal/no breeze. Breeze typically carries dust.
Above all, remember to use your camera frequently. That’s the best medicine… It’ll teach you to love your equipment, and to treat it with care. It will also hopefully reward you with beautiful memories and a wonderful hobby.
Hi,Susheel. I have read your articles and it is very helpful for me. But, I wonder if you could give me additional tips because I am living in tropical country. And I invite you to visit my blog at http://www.digitalcameraprinter-999.com/blog. Your advice is highly appreciated since i’m still an amateur.Success be with you!
Lusi,
These tips work no matter where you are. I’m glad that you found them useful.
Cheers!
Hi there…,
Wow that was some great advice there really appreciate the effort i too did learn alot abt storing my camera…!!
I just wanna know is that is it ok for me to leave the camera with the lens on or remove it and store them separately…. in da dry cabinet i have a 40L dry cabinet and i had the RH at around 30% then now i got it to maintain at 40% its fine rite…
Regards
Hi Shirantha Rajapakse,
Thanks for the feedback. Personally, I don’t think that there’s much of a difference. However, it may be that the air inside the camera body and at the rear of the lens may be better dehumidified if they are stored separately.
However, I doubt that this is of much importance, and that it will not make much of a difference practically. So, go ahead, store them as you prefer.
Susheel Chandradhas,
Thanks for you article, this really help. Now I know how to take care my lenses. I just send one of my lenses, Nikkor 18-200 VRII for service due to fungus containminated inside the lens. It’s really hurt me. one question, can I store the effected lenses with the good ones ?
rgds
Ricky
Ricky,
This is a great question, but one that I don’t have a definitive answer to. All the evidence goes towards it being OK if you store them together, as long as the humidity is under control and you use the lenses, and expose them to UV light on a regular basis, however, only time will tell for sure. If you’re uncomfortable with storing them together, identify a nice dry spot, that’s not dark, and place the affected lens there, away from your good lenses. I’m sure you won’t regret that. In the short term if carrying lenses together in a camera bag, I don’t think you’ll have trouble. So go ahead and do it; but remember to use your silicagel sachets.
All the best.
Some great suggestions and practical advice, thanks.
Here is a trick that worked for me when I needed to store my gear for a long period. I cleaned it all up in a really cold air-conditioned room and then glad-wrapped everything and left it lying around while the room temperature was gradually brought back to ambient over a few hours to avoid condensation. Worked really well, lenses and bodies all free from fungus after almost 5 years of storage, when I re-opened them.
Sounds interesting. Thanks for contributing that tip.
Hi Sir Susheel Chandradhas,
thanks for the article above, it’s helpful! I just wanted to ask about my electronic moisture absorber or auto silica gel electronic recycled device, i read some articles about it and i read there that it dries moisture even the lubricant or light machine oil, is it true? All my gears are in my lowepro bag with silica gels and the device, is this safe? thanks alot sir. i’m from the philippines!
regards.
Raisin
Hi Raisin,
Yes, it is true that lowering the humidity level a great deal can dry out the lubricant oil in the camera. Which is why we recommend that you keep a tab on the humidity levels using a hygrometer (follow the link in the article to find some good ones). I use a hygrometer to ensure that the camera equipment stays around 45-55%RH.
Hope that helps.
thanks sir susheel! ;@)
Fungus? This is what I do. Insert lense into a condom (not a joke). Squeeze out the air that traps between the lense body and the condom wall and tie a knot at the open end. No air no fungus. Use of a vacum container will extract the air that is contained inside the lense body and once the container is opened, humid air from the open will sneak back into the lense and will cause fungus growth inside the lense. Use a big baloon for a big SLR body. Indoor or outdoor, the equipment is protected from fungus. Don’t untie the condom at once, if it is taken out from an aircon room to outdoor. Wait for 15 minutes, atleast. Thanks.
[...] a dark room is better? Here is a good article on preventative solutions for camera equipment: Humidity, Fungus and Cameras – Problems & Solutions – Beyond Photo Tips Regarding light… here is what is suggested (from the article): "Put your camera out in the [...]