Replacing yarn light seal

[Dan Daniel]

Is there any recommendation for the flat seals at the ends of the camera body with usually seen to be a sort of velvet cloth?

Protostar Telescope Making & Upgrading

By the way, Jon Goodman would often use thin foam for larger flat areas in his kits. Same effect, I assume.

 

[George Mann]

Is there any recommendation for the flat seals at the ends of the camera body with usually seen to be a sort of velvet cloth?

I cut a new one from a sheet of foam I get from England.

 

[tokam]

I'm going to need a sheet of foam, 1.5mm open cell?, to redo a Ricoh 500G. The whole of the camera back is foam covered. Plenty to be found on eBay and it's not at the top of the todo list.

 

[George Mann]

I'm going to need a sheet of foam, 1.5mm open cell?

Whatever the original was.

 

[eli griggs]

Cotton is probably a better choice than wool

Cotton holds moisture, mold and can and will rot, where as wool can handle moisture much better and may, depending on the type and maker, still have miniscule amounts of Lanolin, which is the fatty grease sheep produce in their natural wools, to further aid in its utility in this application.

On the whole, I do not even consider Hemp or Linum superior to reliable wool light seals and, unlike any lanolin that might have a lingering presence, Never Even use their oils, Hemp and linseed, for anything photographic.

A small skein will be plenty for many cameras and it'll become more like actual wool felt when compressed in the camera's 'grooves'.

IMO.

 

[chuckroast]

Cotton holds moisture, mold and can and will rot, where as wool can handle moisture much better and may, depending on the type and maker, still have miniscule amounts of Lanolin, which is the fatty grease sheep produce in their natural wools, to further aid in its utility in this application.

On the whole, I do not even consider Hemp or Linum superior to reliable wool light seals and, unlike any lanolin that might have a lingering presence, Never Even use their oils, Hemp and linseed, for anything photographic.

A small skein will be plenty for many cameras and it'll become more like actual wool felt when compressed in the camera's 'grooves'.

IMO.

1. The packing material is not to make them light tight. The channels alone do this. It's to improve the camera's resistance to dust.

2. I don't think waxed cotton has these problems

3. If you're getting the dust seal channels moist enough to cause the seal material to mold and rot, you're doing something terribly wrong. (Underwater housings are available for most major SLRs

 

[eli griggs]

1. The packing material is not to make them light tight. The channels alone do this. It's to improve the camera's resistance to dust.

2. I don't think waxed cotton has these problems

3. If you're getting the dust seal channels moist enough to cause the seal material to mold and rot, you're doing something terribly wrong. (Underwater housings are available for most major SLRs

I've always viewed the buffer of foam or yarn as part of the light tight protection and while some grooves can do the job without the material, cameras where a packing material is used will have a built in tolerance and need for this addition baffling product.

The wax in waxed cotton threads and cords is a bad idea because it does not take a very cold camera or shooting environment for particles to become separated from the mother cord, and you don't want to chance that, at all, finding it's way into the shutter curtains, pressure plate where it can create a drag mark, or into the lens itself.

Wax is a brittle material and I've got some waxed Irish linen cord I've used in several hot/cold conditions, though never as a photographic baffle, and speak from some experience in the cold.

Cotton attracts moisture and holds it, which is why nylon(?) or polyester(?), or silk Tee-Shirts are perfect by some people in hot environments, where humility, sweat producing bodies in particular, activities will become soaked by both sweat and humidity.

Waxed cotton fabric is Also no good for internal baffles.

IMO.

 

[George Mann]

Well, I managed to successfully reposition the yarn for now which is still intact, so only time will tell if it will work.

The current consensus seems to be unwaxed cotton and wool for camera sealing.

The original appears to be uncoated cotton.