Pentax 67 or 67II?

[ColColt]

I don't think I've ever seen fungus on lens or other camera gear other than a few pictures on the 'net here and there. I keep most all my equipment in a safe with a large rechargeable dessicant container that hangs inside. In that same room I have a large dehumidifier set for 45% humidity. I have to take the rechargeable container out about every 4-5 days when the pellets turn pink and recharge to blue. To date I haven't had any problems.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

I'm sure there are widespread fungus problems in northern Australia, just that we don't hear about them. I've personally never ever had any fungus develop on any lens or in any camera I have owned going back 38 years. The finder fungus problem is the first of any encountered and was easily fixed, with an additional "just to make sure you're really finished!" two days exposure of the finder to the blazing sun that we (occasionally!) get down here. Hot enough to burn a hole in our pine retaining wall...

Other than sense and sensibility, my gear remains in my pack or at-the-ready in the studio with no particular precautions. Certainly not this stuff about keeping equipment in a safe... we keep the crown jewels and horse racing winnings in that, not cameras!

 

[ColColt]

You keep your cameras, guns, whatever, in the safe to keep thieves out while you're away should they get in...a no brainer.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Guns safes are the worst when it comes to mold and mildew 'cause there's no air circulation in there. Every gun owner knows to use dessicant
canisters in those things.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Guns. Right. Seems everybody wants one. Thankfully we don't have the USA's gun mentality here in Australia to worry about, so you won't find those things in safes, except on farms.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Gun safes, camera safes, same thing really. Data safes are different because they're more fire resistant. But trapped air and risk of fungi
are inherent to all of them.

 

[ColColt]

I don't think they're that air tight. I've noticed a small amount of dust on items inside. I have a 6x6(about) inch desiccant inside the safe..."Eva-Dry Mini-dehumidifier".

 

[DREW WILEY]

They don't have to be that tight. Camera gear like prints should ideally be stored on stainless wire racks so there is optimal air circulation at
all times. Since that isn't always practical, we resort to dessicants.

 

[ColColt]

The one I have is for 333 cu. ft so, that's more than enough for this Browning safe although I have to plug it in overnight when the crystals look pinkish. That's about every four days or so.

 

[Tom Taylor]

I store my 67II and its lens in their soft case in a metal Hakuba case (except for the 300 and 400mm which are too big) with a few desiccant packs since August, 2000 without problems of dust or moisture. Same with the 2 Toyo 4x5 field cameras. I purchased a bunch of waterproof Calumet cases (what a bargain!) for the enlarger lens, Nikon F6, Pentax 645NII, Toyo 8x10G and their lens, and also for my telescope gear and the Calumet cases protects everything from impact, dust and moisture. The Toyo 810MII came with a fitted metal case as did the 4x5 Toyo ROBOS in a metal fitted factory case which protect as above. I have a slight problem however: I just purchased this mint 300mm Imagon

for the 5x7 and 8x10 and I don't have room in the lens case for it. The box is very sturdy - not the cheap cardboard box of today and I would want to keep it. However for transporting to the field in a car trunk the cases work best. If anyone knows where to find the Calumet cases, let me know. I prefer them to their Pelican counterpart.

Thomas

 

[DREW WILEY]

The thing I expressly dislike about camera cases is that they look like camera cases; in other words, appealing to thieves.