Storing equipment long term (6 to 12 months)

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Ranger Smith
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Steve
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Given the extremely likelihood I won't get my annual four week trip to the Pyrenees this Autumn and the extreme likelihood of a poor cold wet damp autumn I doubt I will be using my equipment very much until better times. My workshop business has collapsed and I am back in a PAYE job. I have 4 bodies and probably need just one, maybe 2 for the duration of the Autumn/winter. 2 of the bodies won't be used until October 2021 at this rate. And NO - I ain't selling them :D

What's the best way to store gear?

I would assume batteries out the body and body/camera stored in a camera bag.
 
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Nail on the head Steve

Batteries out - I always remove the DS car too

Clean the equipment - dust etc - wrap in bubble wrap ( well I do) - & store in a dry place - Mines a cupboard in my home office

Les :)
 
Are you storing any lenses? One method is to leave the lens cap off in a bright well lit room as the UV in daylight kills off fungus. Also means a dusty lens, but I'd rather be cleaning a dusty front element than having a lens stripped down for mould and fungus.
 
I bought a big bag of those little moisture absorbing gel packets and I sprinkle them about within the storage box.

Just bear in mind that Silica Gel will absorb once exposed to the air i.e. if you by a large bag and they are all 'sealed' together in a single bag (not individually) then once opened and left a few months before using the rest they will need re-activating. The annoying thing is that you can't see the gel colour in those sachets......they change from red to blue ( or it vice versa???) when exhausted. Oh, and to be most effective the storage box needs to be airtight.

The other thing to think about is charge the Li-ion batteries before storing and get them out every few (6?) months to top them up. They AFAIK don't take well to being drained and left in that state.
 
Are you storing any lenses? One method is to leave the lens cap off in a bright well lit room as the UV in daylight kills off fungus. Also means a dusty lens, but I'd rather be cleaning a dusty front element than having a lens stripped down for mould and fungus.

Probably won't be using the 70-200 or 24-70. For my local shots I get by with a 14-24 and Sigma ART primes for Glencoe/Skye. I do so little UK landscape photography now - the bulk of my work comes from over seas travel which is looking extremely challenging this year and probably for 2021 as well. I'd be willing to take a risk travel abroad but not with random lockdowns and every changing government advice making safe places suddenly unsafe and thus invalidating your travel insurance at a moments notice.

So some of my gear is going on furlough!!!
 
The other thing to think about is charge the Li-ion batteries before storing and get them out every few (6?) months to top them up. They AFAIK don't take well to being drained and left in that state.

Both are fully charged and removed - how long will the small internal battery in the camera hold out that powers the clock etc without the main battery. I could always pop them in and out now and then.
 
Just bear in mind that Silica Gel will absorb once exposed to the air i.e. if you by a large bag and they are all 'sealed' together in a single bag (not individually) then once opened and left a few months before using the rest they will need re-activating. The annoying thing is that you can't see the gel colour in those sachets......they change from red to blue ( or it vice versa???) when exhausted. Oh, and to be most effective the storage box needs to be airtight.

The other thing to think about is charge the Li-ion batteries before storing and get them out every few (6?) months to top them up. They AFAIK don't take well to being drained and left in that state.

For people storing their gel packs in a bowl in their saunas this is good advice but others with a degree of common sense may be aware of how and why gel packs may become useless. Mine are fine and they are stored and used carefully and responsibly as are my camera lenses.
 
Both are fully charged and removed - how long will the small internal battery in the camera hold out that powers the clock etc without the main battery. I could always pop them in and out now and then.

In the past I've stored cameras for a while and their internal batteries have discharged and they've lost their setting, or at least some settings if not all. If you don't want the potential hassle of losing settings you could leave the batteries in and periodically retrieve the kit from storage to run through some shots and then recharge the batteries and return the kit to storage.
 
For people storing their gel packs in a bowl in their saunas this is good advice but others with a degree of common sense may be aware of how and why gel packs may become useless. Mine are fine and they are stored and used carefully and responsibly as are my camera lenses.

Granted, though I quoted your post my thoughts/advice were intended for all readers and not specifically in answer to your post. Sorry if I caused you any offence :(

I have read in the past of some folk advising along the lines of how useful the Silica Gel packs are that come with the kit they buy......without qualifying that they need to be re-activated as needed.
 
In the past I've stored cameras for a while and their internal batteries have discharged and they've lost their setting, or at least some settings if not all. If you don't want the potential hassle of losing settings you could leave the batteries in and periodically retrieve the kit from storage to run through some shots and then recharge the batteries and return the kit to storage............

agreed - I stored my Nikon D300 for about 2 years. Would not 'boot'. I would fire off a few shots every 3 months with a new battery installed.
 
agreed - I stored my Nikon D300 for about 2 years. Would not 'boot'. I would fire off a few shots every 3 months with a new battery installed.

One annoying and puzzling thing for me was that some settings would be lost and others wouldn't, and much ensuing bafflement and confusion followed :D
 
Just bear in mind that Silica Gel will absorb once exposed to the air i.e. if you by a large bag and they are all 'sealed' together in a single bag (not individually) then once opened and left a few months before using the rest they will need re-activating. The annoying thing is that you can't see the gel colour in those sachets......they change from red to blue ( or it vice versa???) when exhausted. Oh, and to be most effective the storage box needs to be airtight.

The other thing to think about is charge the Li-ion batteries before storing and get them out every few (6?) months to top them up. They AFAIK don't take well to being drained and left in that state.

Sorry, it was tongue in cheek and I do realise we have to be clear for any uninitiated reading this :D
 
In the past I've stored cameras for a while and their internal batteries have discharged and they've lost their setting, or at least some settings if not all. If you don't want the potential hassle of losing settings you could leave the batteries in and periodically retrieve the kit from storage to run through some shots and then recharge the batteries and return the kit to storage.

Thanks for that advice.
 
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