I am looking for a better storage option for my photo gear, which is currently in a poorly-lit closet. There are not a lot of options with the way that the house is designed, and really the only possibility is to buy a storage cabinet.
Ideally, the cabinet would be large enough to hold several bodies and lenses, including larger lenses like the Sony 200-600 (and possibly larger as you never know what will happen in the future). I would like to put accessories in there as well to stay organized. Shelves should be adjustable. The climate is dry here, so humidity is not an issue, but if the cabinet has humidity control that is fine. I am more interested in keeping dust out as this area windy and there is a lot of dust in the air. During the summer, it can be smokey as well, so keeping smoke/ash out is also important. Good interior lighting is something that would be really valued as well.
Looking on the B&H website, the best options look to be the Ruggard 850L (or 1280L) electronic dry cabinet. Does anyone have experience with those? Are there other alternatives that would be worth looking at?
Geez you are not storing the Mona Lisa in the humid Congo. Why waste money on a 'photo' cabinet? I have stored camera gear in regular storage cabinets in the more humid BC than Oregon for 50+ years with nary a problem.
If you had a heat pump in your home you would not be bringing smoke and dust into your home. My wife has COPD, which is why we have a heat pump that is cooling our home now and not bringing any smoke from current wildfires in to our home.
Imagemaster wrote:
Geez you are not storing the Mona Lisa in the humid Congo. Why waste money on a 'photo' cabinet? I have stored camera gear in regular storage cabinets in the more humid BC than Oregon for 50+ years with nary a problem.
If you had a heat pump in your home you would not be bringing smoke and dust into your home. My wife has COPD, which is why we have a heat pump that is cooling our home now and not bringing any smoke from current wildfires in to our home.
I am certainly open to other idea besides a photo cabinet, but really want one to be sealed against dust and have good lighting.
With regard to the air situation, the room where I can put the cabinet has no place where a cooling system can go. We just had two mini-splits installed on the main level of the house and they are fantastic. If it were possible to add something like that to the daylight basement where I would put the cabinet, I would strongly consider it, but there is no place to mount a unit with the way that the room is built. I keep the windows closed when it is really smokey, but the house is not completely air tight. To be honest, usually dust is overall a bigger problem than smoke inside the house, even though we have high-end air purifiers running all the time. The summer smoke is of course more seasonal.
Most of my gear that is used is sitting in camera bags/backpacks. I don't need it on display and I don't notice any dust getting inside there with zippers closed. Is there a reason you need lighting and display of the equipment? Accessories can go in many kinds of furniture with closed doors. The small cabinets that claim humidity control usually have a small heater that reduces the %RH, but does not remove water. If the RH at room temp is below 40% usually no further dehumidification is needed. You can get a small portable dehumidifier (like in a basement) and run it on a timer if necessary.
EB-1 wrote:
Most of my gear that is used is sitting in camera bags/backpacks. I don't need it on display and I don't notice any dust getting inside there with zippers closed. Is there a reason you need lighting and display of the equipment? Accessories can go in many kinds of furniture with closed doors. The small cabinets that claim humidity control usually have a small heater that reduces the %RH, but does not remove water. If the RH at room temp is below 40% usually no further dehumidification is needed. You can get a small portable dehumidifier (like in a basement) and run it on a timer if necessary.
These are good questions. I don't need the display, so doors could be glass or a solid material. Either way is fine. The lighting is simply to help me see inside when I am getting things. One of the things that I get very frustrated with right now with my gear stored in a closet, is that the lighting is poor and it is difficult for me to see. I also have some of my gear stored in bags, which I totally agree keeps the dust out. What I would prefer though is to store things in a cabinet where I can see everything and take out what I need. A cabinet that is deeper than a typical book shelf would make it easier to use with storage cases, so that would most definitely be a bonus.
Humidity is not a problem where I live, so the dehumidifier aspect of a cabinet is not necessary and definitely is an extra expense. Dust is the bigger problem, which is why I would like to have doors that do a decent job of keeping dust out.
RoamingScott wrote:
I've used the Ruggards and Slingers (rebadged Ruggards for Adorama) for years. They are fantastic and I wouldn't go back to other solutions.
Go one size bigger than you think you need, trust me on that.
Thanks for the recommendation. I saw the Slingers cabinets earlier today, but did not know that they are Ruggards.
I know very well what you mean about the sizing. That is why I was looking at the larger models of the Ruggards. Looks like Slingers goes up to 600L, which would be fine.
I keep inactive for now in Pelican Cases inside of humidity controlled 72” safe. I place desiccants in the Pelican Cases. Some in a six foot corner lit display cabinet and active cameras with associated kit in sling bags, or backpack.
The cabinets are good for seeing the gear and moisture control, the latter of which apparently you don't need. My approach has been to control the overall home climate. We have a forced air system so in the winter, the heated air is extremely low humidity and in the summer, the AC keeps humidity generally in check. Our basement however tends to be more humid, so I've put a dehumidifier down there to help keep it in the 50% range when it's not heating season. Prior to that we did have some issues and I generally avoided equipment storage down there because of it.
I've contemplated the cabinets and would get them if overall moisture/humidity control was more difficult than it is in our area. Instead, my storage preference is hard cases such as Pelican, but lately I've mostly bought Nanuk. The past few years they've been pretty aggressive with sales through B&H, sometimes close to 50% off. It's funny yet sad that I can buy these made in Canada cases for less from B&H than I can directly from Nanuk here in Canada...
My thinking with the cases is that they're portable and protective. If something crazy happened like a flood or burst pipe, the cases are waterproof. Also impact resistant in case something weird like that happened in the house. And should there be a reason to move the gear en masse, it's already packed and ready to go. Biggest downside is that you have to open them to see what's inside. But there's probably some sort of inventory software available that could address that, too.
Rather than IKEA drawers, or similar, I'd look at a tool storage system. Some of those are pretty fancy. Or a metal shop cabinet. Just line it with some padding. I'd prefer a metal storage system over wood particleboard drawers - no off-gassing, etc. For lighting, you can get motion activated battery powered closet lights. Some of those have magnetic mounting options that should work well with a metal cabinet.
I got a used cabinet off of marketplace, painted it, lined it with thin foam and stored in the basement. Don’t need a light as when I open the doors, it’s very bright. I live in an area where we have constant wildfire smoke and in fact lots of ash. None of that ash ever makes it into the gear.
Sometimes the simple solution is the right solution…don’t over think things.
Chez beat me to it I am currently searching FB Marketplace - The search terms I use are "armoire" or "wardrobe". I prefer the top section to be shelves and the lower area drawers. Because I have to move it in our suv there are dimension restraints. You can find units (lit and not) starting at $30 up to a few hundred.
No one seems to be talking about secure storeage. If you have a fair amount of gear I would not store it in a cabinet with glass door even if lockable. A gun safe or a burgular proof safe would be a better option. Of you have a humidity problem just add a “damp chaser made for pianos”.
I’ve kept all my cameras and lenses in a heavy safe for 30 years here in humid Hawaii. Damp chaser on the bottom, wire shelves for good air circulation, and bolted to the floor. And no worries.
Also “fire proof safes” can be easily and quickly broken into.
I have the Ruggard EDC-600LT Electronic Dry Cabinet, which allows me to store all of my gear including super-teles with plenty of room left over for batteries and other accessories. Now that I have one, I would not want to give it up. It looks good, keeps things organized and safe from both dust and humidity, and has good lighting.
I used to use pelican cases with desiccant packets, but this solution is much better. It comes in two large wooden crates, which takes some work to open up. It can be uncrated alone, but I had my daughter help me with the lifting and moving of the cabinets.
The only real down-side is the cost. I waited until it was on sale at B&H and bought it for $500 less than the posted price (1/3 off). I find it interesting to hear some folks discount these cabinets as not worth the price. Seems silly to me seeing as many of us have photography equipment that when added up equals the cost of a new car.
Is a cabinet of this type necessary? Of course not. Is it worth it? Absolutely.
Desmolicious wrote:
I would use the IKEA option for Hasselblads.
I sold off my Hasselblads but I do use IKEA cabinets for camera gear storage. The kitchen system is very modular so you can piece together something useful to fit in most places. Mine is an 80cm wide unit next to a 60cm wide that fits in the alcove here in my home office. Have mostly drawers and solid door cabinets but put two glass doors in so I can display the "prettier" things (which I subsequently sold...).
Can highly recommend this setup if you have a little space and need something flexible for storage.
My approach to humidity and dust has been ZipLoc bags and one or two of the moisture absorbent packs that come with the gear that I buy, but I don't have a special cabinet for keeping them. They are either in my camera bags or in a walk-in storage closet that's just off the rear of my photo studio shooting room (former 2nd Master Bedroom Suite upstairs in my house). If in the camera bags, the cameras and lenses also remain in the ZipLoc bags, removed from the bags only when the bag and it's contents will be used. When I return home, the ZipLoc bags are then put back on them again. My studio is heated and air conditioned (part of my home), so moisture and dust is kept to a minimum anyway. Cameras that remain on the tripods or camera stands in the studio always have their lens caps installed when not actually using them, and I cover the camera and lens with a micro fiber towel when they will remain there over night, to provide some dust protection. I use bright orange work towels for this, since they assure that they are seen to avoid bumps by anyone in the studio and orange is only used for covering the cameras and lenses when mounted on tripods or camera stands. I have other shop towels of different colors for general use.
Thanks for all of the ideas and information on what everyone does for storing their gear. My main goal is to get everything out of a closet and into a cabinet that makes my gear easier to organize and access, as well as making room in the closet. Humidity is not an issue here at all, in fact, it typically is below 20%.
Fortunately, while theft can be a risk anywhere, that is not a big concern. However, the spot where the cabinet would go can be seen from windows, so not having glass doors does seem like a good idea.
There is only one place in the house where I can reasonably put a cabinet to store photo gear. While there is not much risk of water damage to a wooden cabinet from a bathroom, the room where I would put the cabinet does have in-floor heating and there is always the possibility of a tube cracking, so this is something that I will keep in mind.
Because the room where the cabinet would go is also my office/tv room/guest room, I want to get something that looks nice too. So, I will keep my eye out for either a wooden or metal cabinet that fits in the space and that I can put interior lighting in, if it does not have it, as well as doors. I don't want to lighting to use for display, just so that I can see things more easily when getting into the cabinet.
While I understand keeping an eye out on Marketplace for something, I deleted my Facebook account a couple of years ago and don't plan to get back on. However, there are other options for finding used items.
I really appreciate all of the input that everyone has provided.
I am currently searching FB Marketplace - The search terms I use are "armoire" or "wardrobe". I prefer the top section to be shelves and the lower area drawers. Because I have to move it in our suv there are dimension restraints. You can find units (lit and not) starting at $30 up to a few hundred.