Humidity tips

[hiroh]

I moved from a place with 60% humidity to a place with a constant humidity of 80%. What tips do you have for protecting equipment, specifically lenses, as well as prints and papers? I am experiencing an issue where a picture that I had leaned against the wall started curling on the back after only two months. I would appreciate any advice that could help. I am aware that I can use a dehumidifier, but I am concerned about the potential noise and the fact that I would need to keep it running all the time in my relatively small home studio. I store all my lenses in Pelican cases and place silica gels inside them. However, I have a large collection of prints and papers that I cannot fit into something large enough that will protect them from humidity.

 

[Bill Burk]

Do you have central heating?

 

[hiroh]

No, there’s no such thing in Lisbon We have A/C.

 

[BAC1967]

When you take the camera and lenses from the cool air conditioned environment out to the warm humid environment you will get condensation. This can be on or in the lens, on the film… I keep my cameras in an air tight bag, ziplock bag or a dry bag, until they warm up to the warmer temperature. If I take them in the car with me I’ll put them in the trunk where it gets less air conditioning or just roll down the windows and turn the AC off.

 

[koraks]

No, there’s no such thing in Lisbon We have A/C.

You could consider changing your location on your user profile page - it might help in case you play to buy or sell anything, and it also tends to be useful for other questions. Such as the one you're asking presently!

 

[Old_Dick]

Desiccants.

 

[_T_]

I’ve never dealt with your issue but I’ve read a bit about people who have. High humidity can destroy equipment through the growth of mold and the moisture itself is enough to damage some kinds of film.

I’ve read of people using a combination of dehumidifiers and desiccant in cases like yours and in some extreme cases people have even bought special cabinets designed for buffering their internal humidity.

There was a thread about this not too long ago. Maybe you could search it up. I’ll see if I can find it.

 

[awty]

My a/c in my work shop has a very efficient dehumidifier, also its well insulated and was no windows. I don't have any issues with humidity there. In the house its a different story, I usually keep my camera cases and cameras separate, air the house out when it's drier. Fortunately humidity changes often, but when it's constant there is no escaping it and need to put humidity collectors everywhere.

 

[Steven Lee]

@hiroh Dry cabinets.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Do not store lenses or cameras in leather cases. That goes for leather filter cases and view finders. Unfortunately some molds grow well in leather when the humidity is high.

 

[mshchem]

Summers in Iowa, central US can be miserable. We run AC whole house in the summer. I use a auxiliary dehumidifier in my darkroom to keep it DRY. The dehumidifier actually will slightly warm the room as it dries, which is fine as it will get too cool otherwise.

Dry boxes are great if you can find one big enough and can refresh the desiccant (heating)