gear storage ?

F

firehawk

Veteran
Is it better to store my gear in dedicated room where I keep the temps at normal room temp?
Or is it ok to store it in a large studio room where the temps will be higher and lower?

I'm trying to determine whether I need to spend extra to build a dedicated gear storage room or just store all the gear in bigger studio room. The studio room will be kept from extreme temps but to save money I would not keep the temp nice when no one is in there using it, so the temps would fluctuate.
The less rooms I have to wall in the lower my cost
 
Thank you
Humidity is high where I am. Summer temps can get around 100+. I was thinking of letting the room temps get in the 80s when not in use to save money but not in the 90s. Plan is to insulate really well and use energy efficient AC unit
 
I got a fairly large gun safe and safe dehumidifier for storing my lenses and cameras. Erik's house getting burglarized was a wake up call for me. You'll avoid so much wasted time, stress, and lost work time by spending $500-$3,000 on a safe. Any safe can be broken into, but it might be enough to deter the common burglar who is looking for cash, jewelry, portable electronics, and guns.
 
The electric dry cabinets are important for humidity which as Paul said is the real enemy.

Per my understanding, storage temps in the 80s are well within spec even with heat fluctuation. So I wouldn’t worry about that specifically, but the humidity I would.

Specifics are everything, though. I also wouldn’t store lithium batteries or expensive electronics in the garage with annual temps ranging from below freezing to above 100, as well as more exposure to humidity changes.
 
Thank you everyone. I was thinking of keeping the temp as low as 50s in the winter when room not in use and high as 80s in summer when not in use.
I like the cabinets for sure but I've got a lot of cameras and lenses so that would require numerous cabinets unless I just chose my most expensive

For about 20 years I've kept my gear in my closets which stay a little warmer and cooler than the other rooms but I'm planning to move into a building and I want to make some changes including ease of storage and loading
What do you guys do?
 
I have a room that is dedicated to gear. Temp holds the house temp, so generally 60-80 but vast majority of time around 70F. No special humidity control but it stays below <50% perhaps 99% of the time, and the 1% only creeps up to maybe 52%-55% on occassion.

A few metal shelves from home depot + wall mounted hooks. Several Thinktank bags and other cameras bags with everything commonly used loaded, a few thinktank bags that I tend to pull from to rearrange my kit depending on needs. For other gear, I have a couple dozen Sterilite cases labeled with a label maker and arranged neatly on the shelves. Stands, tripods, bulkier things like that hang from the wall. A work table with a charging station for assembling kit, cleaning lenses, charging batteries.
 
Thank you. I forgot to say my cameras all have a case or bag of their own labeled and I keep silica packets in all my gear cases and bags

I was planning on making a dedicated gear room with double wide locking doors that my van could park next to and load/offload. This would save a ton of time and lifting during a year. But then I thought to save money I could just store all the gear in the larger studio room. But then it's easier to steal and if anyone rents the studio they could meddle with my gear too
 
Even if it's secured, I don't think that's a good idea.

Leaving expensive equipment in a vehicle (unless maybe in your own garage, but there's still the temperature/humidity issue).
 
I meant in your own garage. Not sure whose garage you were thinking of. Can take out items that would suffer from humidity. I feel like vehicles prevent some humidity from getting in the vehicle, but maybe I'm imagining things. And, of course could get the garage air conditioned with motion sensor activated machine guns covering all points of entry. The sky is the limit for the imagination of a garage equipment fortress.
 
Ah, I didn't thoroughly read the topic. I was just talking to a friend who is buying a new studio about if he could store his grip truck inside his studio, and have another friend who owns a studio and does from what I recall store his grip truck inside the studio's garage, and have seen other studios do the same. Just saying it seems convenient to me rather than having to keep loading and unloading stuff due to the lacking safety of leaving a vehicle outside on the street or a driveway with expensive equipment in it, plus you then don't need as much indoor storage to deal with since it's mostly stored in the vehicle.
 
Eric Coughlin said:
Ah, I didn't thoroughly read the topic. I was just talking to a friend who is buying a new studio about if he could store his grip truck inside his studio, and have another friend who owns a studio and does from what I recall store his grip truck inside the studio's garage, and have seen other studios do the same. Just saying it seems convenient to me rather than having to keep loading and unloading stuff due to the lacking safety of leaving a vehicle outside on the street or a driveway with expensive equipment in it, plus you then don't need as much indoor storage to deal with since it's mostly stored in the vehicle.
Click to expand...

It's all good until you rent the use of the studio to someone or there's a big set and so no way to bring the vehicle inside.
 
firehawk said:
Thank you everyone. I was thinking of keeping the temp as low as 50s in the winter when room not in use and high as 80s in summer when not in use.
I like the cabinets for sure but I've got a lot of cameras and lenses so that would require numerous cabinets unless I just chose my most expensive

For about 20 years I've kept my gear in my closets which stay a little warmer and cooler than the other rooms but I'm planning to move into a building and I want to make some changes including ease of storage and loading
What do you guys do?
Click to expand...

50s-to-80s range is fine. You may want to consider getting a dehumidifier which can draw a lot less power than an air conditioner. Silica packets are good but at a certain point need to be replaced or recharged (dried out).
 
50-80 would be more than fine. If you look at the specs on even gear we consider “delicate”, the storage temperature ranges are usually pretty large, with many below freezing to well above 100 F. I mean most operating temps(which are usually given in safe ranges, too) are at least between (or just above) freezing and mid-90’s with “non-condensating humidity”. Of course, if those were the real limitations, nothing would(have) ever be(en) shot out in the field.
 
Mitch Gross said:
It's all good until you rent the use of the studio to someone or there's a big set and so no way to bring the vehicle inside.
Click to expand...
I'm not talking about having the vehicle in the loading dock area inside of the main-stage; I'm saying a dedicated vehicle garage at a studio building in addition to any loading dock for the main-stage.
 
The UK is usually described as wet and damp, and ranges from freezing to hot in short bursts. We’ve gone from really hot to wet and damp in a few weeks. I’ve seen no evidence over the years that storage is a problem unless excessively damp or subject to condensation that remains that way for long times. Most issues have gone away with cameras as it was tape faults that killed so many. Now this has gone away, storage surely is far less destructive. There seems little point in storing equipment at maintained temp or humidity when transport and use cannot be done like this. My store is indoors, and kit lives in their cases. Temperature varies between freezing nearly in winter as I am away for ten weeks each year over Christmas and the store heating is off, and in the summer it can be over 80. This is how it’s been for ever, for me, and it’s never been an issue at all. Damp and wet storage of any kind means flight cases get rust on the metalwork, so this is not good for kit clearly, but they don’t rust in the store, and that’s how my storage works ok?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top