Where/How do you keep your equipment organized?

I'm a bit of a neat freak (although you couldn't tell that from the way my house looks right now) and am running out of space to put my camera gear. I've got maybe 5 35mm cameras and 10 lenses plus all the required accessories. Then there's the two Bronicas and some lenses and acessories. Then there's the 4x5 I just acquired...tripods, monopods, flashes...camera bags. My closet is not working as well as I had hoped as a photography equipment storage depot. Right now I've got a bunch of my stuff in the camera bags on the floor. What do you guys do for keeping your stuff in order? Sometimes I forget to bring some items because I forgot I had them and didn't see them when I stocked up my bag on a particular day. Help me with my OCD here

book shelf, well 4 of them actually (and waiting for them to go back on sale..)


erie

I have a lot more gear than you do, I keep my 4X5s and MF in large Coleman Coolers in a walk in closet, I keep a few of 35mm on bookshelf with lens just for display. My working 35mms I keep in camera bags, as a kit. The rest is in boxes stored in a couple of differnt closets. This time of the year I keep one 4x5 in the back of my SUV along with a 35mm. During the summer is may keep one cooler with a beat up 4X5 and 35mm in the SUV, sometimes I just keep in all indoors.

Hey, these aren't bad problems to have!

I'm constantly wrestling with this. I have finally decided to cover the back wall of my basement office/hellhole/lair/storage room with those metal cabinets (with doors and locks) you can get at Sam's club or Costco. I put that knobby soft shelf liner stuff on the shelves and there the gear lives until it's time to actually use it. In the back of the SUV I keep a d-----l SLR (forgive me) and accoutrements in a Think Tank Photo Airport International rolling bag, along with a Contax 645 outfit (soup to nuts) in a Peli 1600. I use a Domke F-1x or a TTP belt system to actually work out of.

The 4x5 monorail stays on the floor in its cheesy, flimsy manufacturer's case (coolers are a GOOD idea!), awaiting a final resting place.

I am literally drowning it camera crap. My wife has given up on me--she dares not venture into the basement. Only my demise, and the resultant garage sale, will solve my storage problems.

I currently have all my stuff in many different size camera bags. What a PITA it is to get ready for an outing. There are 3 35mm w/lenses(3 different systems w/different focal lengths), a MF TLR, a MF slr w/extra backs, and now a LF camera. I am thinking about getting a suitcase(2?) and putting in some egg crate foam then putting in is as much gear as possible. I don’t want to drop the big $ on a large camera case. I’m looking at garage sales and flea markets. My parents went d*****l and I might take their K1000 off their hands. I understand the Pentax 500mm is a nice lens.

Mike

Easy..just build a darkroom into your house and make sure to have an 8' high by 8' wide by 2' deep storage cabinet (as well as a bunch of other cabinets). Most of the camera gear (everything from 35mm to 8x10 and ALL the accessories) fits in there. The other cabinets hold the darkroom equipment/chemicals and the tripods go in the coat closet by the front door. Oh yeah, don't forget the darkroom fridge for the film/paper.

Sorry, Paul wins. All I have is a big Tamraq and the cabinet underneath a small bathroom sink.

Where I live (Japan) I wouldn't dare keep my gear, especially lenses, in camera bags. The humidity is so high during the warmer/hotter months that you're almost guaranteed a fungus infestation. Camera bags tend to hold a lot of moisture. I have all the delicate stuff in an electronically controlled dry cab ... looks like I'll be needing another one before too long ...

Cheers.

My lighting equipment (lights and power packs) are in two Air Cases
My light stands are four duffel bags
My backgrounds are in six 12 foot long tubes
My background stands are in duffel bags
My lighting equipment accessories are in a metal case with wheels
My props are in three 100L tubs with wheels
My darkroom accessories is also in a 100L tubs
My three Omega enlargers aren't in anything right now, but dismantled, they will go in three separate tubs
My 200+ photography books are on the bookshelf
My first Nikon F4E, accessories and 3 zoom lenses are in a Kata shoulder bag
My second Nikon F4E, 6 older lenses and accessories are in an older LowePro shoulder bag
My third and fourth Nikon F4S cameras and other accessories are in a even older shoulder bag
The last two are in a 100L tub with other 35mm camera accessories
My ToyCameras (except my Pentax 110 gear) are in a small tub
My first Pentax 110 system is in a Pentax 110 metal suitcase
My second and third Pentax 110 system are loose in a small tub with my first system
My Pentax ME, Pentax Super Program and 8 lenses are in a large, but very old shoulder bag at my parent's home
My Pentax LX system is in a metal case along with all my other accessories in a 100L tub in my parent's home
My Mom and Dad's Leica's are on display on my bookshelf
My Hasselblad camera and lenses are in a metal case with wheels
My Hasselblad accessories are another metal case with wheels
My DayLab equipment and associated accessories are in another 100L tub
My film is in several thermal containers in the fridge or freezer, at my home and my parents home
My Polaroid film is in a small tub
My uncut alternative paper sheets are in several large artists portfolios
Most of my other papers are in a low profile tubs
My matt cutters and other presentation equipment is another 100L tub
My glass plates for my ambrotypes are in another tub that I lined with foam
My extra camera bags, lens holders, backpacks, other junk is another 100L tub, when they are not lying about the place, that is
All my chemicals are individual containers in their own 66L tub, again when they are not lying about the bathroom and kitchen - would you like pepper or PtCL with your meal?
My Jobo is in it's own tub, the accessories in another
My tripods are in their own individual carrying bags - for storage I put them and all the lighting and background stand duffel bags in a 150L tub with wheels
I my Nikon D1X system is in a shoulder bag
My D2X system is in a Kata backpack
My digital hardware (scanner, printer, storage, Mac) and accessories will go in a couple 100L tub
My exchange prints are in a medium size tub
My exposed slides are in eighteen 100L tubs at my parents place mostly
My exposed roll film are in tubs at my place.

I think that's it. It's amazing how organized one can be when moving.

Regards, Art.

My gear owns the house. At the moment, the DSLR is in the bedroom, the majority of the rest of the gear is in the dining room (aka the studio), the dining table is in the living room, the 8x10 and its accessories are in the basement, some of the other small format stuff is also in the basement, and then there's the darkroom and its associated gear. Yikes.

Art, with a little effort that could become an epic poem.

TheFlyingCamera said:

My gear owns the house. At the moment, the DSLR is in the bedroom, the majority of the rest of the gear is in the dining room (aka the studio), the dining table is in the living room, the 8x10 and its accessories are in the basement, some of the other small format stuff is also in the basement, and then there's the darkroom and its associated gear. Yikes.

Click to expand...

LOL! So does mine. At least my husband would say so! But the majority of it (in my opinion) lives in the bedroom closet and in some plastic boxes on some shelving/under the bed.

Mine's locked in a cupboard to try and stop any more getting in.

I've got various cases and bags for everything. Humidity isn't too bad most of the year in NYC, just in the summers. If you were to visit my apartment, it may not look like it, but I've been trying to pare down the last couple of years. I've basically got ten cameras, many lenses, some lighting equipment, and darkroom gear.

Mine is all in the house somewhere.


Steve.

I've been pondering the same question. I have yet to find or even think of, a good solution for all the various formats and cameras I won. Nothing is shaped like a box, and despite what seems like two dozen box sizes, the box is always too large or too small for a given camera system or format.

I'm (very) slowly transforming a second bedroom (given it's size, more of a half-bedroom) into a darkroom. I put in four sets of the wire, baker's type shelving units, and that swallowed all but a 1/4 of my stuff. It's all in boxes, a few non-camera bags, and the LF stuff is just sitting out. Unfortunately, I need to move one of the units out to allow for the Beseler Adjus-Table that I'm working on putting together. I bought the fourth shelf just to stage everything and get it off the floor, not realizing I really need a FIFTH set of shelves to stage, not a fourth.

Okay,...some great information here on this thread! Now if I could just have some addresses, we'll be all set.

Actually, I have all my photo equipment (cameras, lenses, lighting, darkroom, etc.) in one climate controlled room (a.k.a.: the basement) when not in use. Same temp and humidity all year. The small camera gear (35mm/6x6/6x7) is stored (and transported around) in LowePro bags and backpacks. I'm considering, APUG sponsor, Photobackpacker's products Dead Link Removed for my 4x5 & 5x7 gear. Everything, except for the custom tubs containing my lighting equipment, is stored on shelves. Tubs are on the floor.

The so-called 'custom tubs' I mentioned are simply large Rubber Maid tubs with closed-cell foam padding I obtained from a local industrial supplier.

I have a bunch of old but working cameras on the basement shelves that I use once in a while. These are just some old '6 x something' folders, a 127 camera or two, various 1950's vintage 35mm stuff, a 35mm half-frame camera, etc. I have one cheap generic camera bag that I use for what ever old camera I decide to shoot with on any given day.

My address is not available by the way, and, the basement is guarded by, well.....I'll keep that part a surprise.

Marc