HOW TO SAVE YOUR CAMERA AND LENSE FROM HUMIDITY AND FUNGUS?

For those of you who live in tropical areas (which means the humidity is high, above 70% to be exact), Saving the camera and lenses in a long time when not in use and storage require special strategy to combat moisture.

Why Humidity High Bad For Cameras and Lenses?

High humidity and constantly can damage electronic components as well as a camera sensor, while the fungus can grow and develop in the lens optics. Once the fungus grows, the optical quality can be affected and we have to bother cleaning it. If the mushrooms attached to the outer surface may still be easy, if the growth in our element inside the lens would be very inconvenience, cost of cleaning lens ranging from Rp 250 thousand to Rp. 750 thousand, depending on the difficulty and the serve. Do not forget, also read tips on storing lens cap and back cover that is not easily lost.


Why Humidity Too Low Also Not Good?

Cameras and lenses have mechanical parts that need to move smoothly, do you know in the lens or the camera is also given so that the mechanical movement of the oil well and not drag? Well if you put the camera and lens in the area is very dry (the humidity is too low) then this risk can drag and mechanical function impaired.

What is the Ideal humidity figures?

Number of around 40 - 50% RH (relative humidity, relative humidity) is ideal for camera and lens according to various articles. The safest rule is to check the manual lens and your camera, look for the words ideal operating range, then check out the recommended humidity ranges. So for long term storage, the rate was the number two. For example, the number of operating humidity ideal for Canon 5D Mark II is 85% or lower. So the ideal storage is about 35 to 45%.

Some of the Best Storage Method

Here are some safe ways that you can do to maintain the condition of the lens and the camera to remain optimal and vibrant;

• Buy Dry Cabinet or Dry Box Special, dry cabinet specially designed to store electronic goods sepperti photo above. You can buy it at a camera shop or store large appliances. Depending on the specification, we can set the number of humidity in the storage space as desired. Price cheapest dry cabinet is around Rp. 1 Million.
• Silica Gel Air and Watertight Box, For a cheap alternative, you can use an airtight box that was used to store and put some sachets (bag) silica gel. You can also buy specially equipped silica gel color indicator to determine the water content in the gel as in the photo below. When the silica gel in the box is already saturated with water, you can plug it into electricity to dry again. Price silica gel box below Rp 200.000.
• I recommend not buying a camera-safe heating element, the element of risk to overheat quite large. When the heater gets too hot, the sensor in the camera can be exposed to the sap.