Idea for Camera gear closet

Pindy · February 4, 2008

Mrs Pindy has given me 1/2 a closet with which to store all camera-related gear. I wish there was some sort of handy cabinet or chest of drawers made to store individual photo gear (lenses, brackets, transmitters, ext tubes, etc) similar to a microphone cabinet, where each thing has a little cubby. It makes it easy to take what you need for the day rather than have things packed into a couple of bags.

Short of building one, anybody know of such a thing that would work, that isn't chintzy?

nightowlcat · February 4, 2008

Something like this, you mean?

http://www.amazon.com/ClosetMaid-15-Cube-Organizer-White-8505/dp/B000AXM2EY/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_i/105-2558204-2575634

Pindy · February 4, 2008

That's not at all bad. Some varying sizes would be great, as well as some drawers so the little devils don't fall out. A good start—thanks.

Art Scott · February 4, 2008

Personally I am going to modify a gun safe.......you can put shelves in them and it locks......using the cheaper safes makes modding easier but using one of the higher end (browning) makes it actually safer, from theives and such things as fire also.....just depends on what one has to spend

If it is pretty you want then purchase a nice armoire and retrofit it to your specs.....This was an option then I decided I wanted my gear safe..........................

SavedByZero · February 5, 2008

I'd say goto IKEA

==> http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S99829029

Add on a few of these for small items

==> http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70093307

And maybe a couple of these too.

==> http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60115480

Or something from their clothes storage systems
==> http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/range/10364/11466/

And if you don't have an IKEA, try Lowes or Home Depot.

leaforte · February 5, 2008

When it comes to storage, I find the equipment is OK, it's the boxes I
struggle with....so many Canon boxes. And of course, don't forget insurance.

SavedByZero · February 5, 2008

Seymore wrote:

Hey people... Don't leave your gear in dark areas if you live in humid climates. You're just asking for Mr Fungus to visit your gear... and this is NOT a good thing. Sunshine IS a good thing on a regular basis, for everything...

I'm quite sure he was asking aboot a place to keep his gear tidy and neat while not using it and not some years long storage place for them. Beside many a camera body and lens never see the outside of a darkened studio and they seem to work just fine with out fungus on them for years on end.

Keep the central A/C running to provide air flow and pack in some Damprid or Silca Gel and it's all good for a out of the way storeage place for all your gear and stuff.

hgernhardtjr · February 5, 2008

SavedByZero wrote:

I'm quite sure he was asking aboot a place to keep his gear tidy and neat while not using it and not some years long storage place for them. Beside many a camera body and lens never see the outside of a darkened studio and they seem to work just fine with out fungus on them for years on end.

Keep the central A/C running to provide air flow and pack in some Damprid or Silca Gel and it's all good for a out of the way storeage place for all your gear and stuff.

Yes, but Art mentioned a gun-safe. And that IS enclosed. Even guns can rust in one if you are not careful. If you use a gun safe, be absolutely sure to use several 1 pound bags or containers of silicagel and recharge them in an oven on a regular basis. If you don't, you WILL get mold and mildew ... and that, as you know, is quite detrimental to the health of photographic gear. Been there, done that.

SavedByZero · February 5, 2008

hgernhardtjr wrote:

Yes, but Art mentioned a gun-safe. And that IS enclosed. Even guns can rust in one if you are not careful. If you use a gun safe, be absolutely sure to use several 1 pound bags or containers of silicagel and recharge them in an oven on a regular basis. If you don't, you WILL get mold and mildew ... and that, as you know, is quite detrimental to the health of photographic gear. Been there, done that.

Well to honest the gun safe idea is well umm out there IMHO. The day I have to store my equipment in a gun safe is the day I need to move out of the hood, for real.

Photoskipper · February 5, 2008

I recommend all the camera owners to consider a dedicated dry box for the belove camea gears. Take such toys more seriously!!! I made a big mistake early dates - left the camera in a bag in the draw for a month, the fungus got it and I had to write off a thousand dollars worth gears in the early 80's.
It is important to use dedicated dry box to keep the gears clean and dry. I don't even allow my wife to put her jewelly in the box.

Nobody like to see a mold on the glass or a dusty camera body. For today's DSLR, the sensor is very attractive to the dust and you will find dozens of tiny black spots on the photos after a long photo holiday trip and need to spend hours in front of photoshop to touch up the spots.

We pay thousands dollars for the gears. we should spare a hundred to protect it.

The latest electrical dry box is very nice, It comes with glass door panel(s), shelves, temperature and humidity meters. some of them even allow you to adjust the condition inside the box.

The silicon beans are not so reliable for long term use. Particular for those photographers who need to access the gear frequently. It is only great for those airtight transport case.

cmason · February 5, 2008

Well I keep all my gear in a Lowepro Computrekker Plus and one of these:

Fancy huh?

crmitche · February 5, 2008

I just store my gear on a dedicated bookshelf next to my desk; batteries and chargers on top; bodies, lenses and flash below that; tripod, monopod and cleaning supplies next and boxes and manuals on the very bottom. Works for me so far.

Cheers
Craig

Photoskipper · February 5, 2008

You guys are luck to have dry weather at home. I live in the tropical country which has humidity up to 99% is some days. Average humidity is about 70 to 80% everyday.

It is a disaster to leave the gears on the table just for a day.

Everytime if I travel to the cold countries, I need to take extra precaustion for the gears. Extra wrapping, silicon gel, water tight bags to keep the gear for transport. Need to leave it in the room for couple hours to wait for it to get to the room temperature without condensation.

When reach home, I need to put the whole CompuTrekker to a big plastic box with silicon gel for a day to get the gear back to ambient temperature then quickly transfer to the dry cabinet for few days before use again. Otherwise, I can feel moist condensation on the body and the filter.

I am using the one from Eueka, it works ok for me. http://www.drytech.com.tw/english/electronic-dry-cabinet.htm

jdfaith · February 5, 2008

I've got one of these multi-drawer carts. Smaller drawers are great for filters, flashes/accessories, smaller lenses and printer accessories. Larger ones can be used for bigger lenses, computer hardware/cables/etc. and spare camera bodies. Nicest is that it's reasonably priced and sized, and easily fits into a closet.

claudermilk · February 6, 2008

Photoskipper wrote:

You guys are luck to have dry weather at home. I live in the tropical country which has humidity up to 99% is some days. Average humidity is about 70 to 80% everyday.

Yup. Remember that not everyone needs such an extreme solution as you might. I have gear from 1970 that has simply sat in a closet, in a camera bag that still works fine. No special measures needed. Oh, and the closet is 5 miles from the coast.

Different climate, different requirements.

For now, I have a couple of bookshelves holding the gear. Needs a little reorganization.

SloYerRoll · February 6, 2008

Art Scott wrote:

Personally I am going to modify a gun safe.......you can put shelves in them and it locks......using the cheaper safes makes modding easier but using one of the higher end (browning) makes it actually safer, from thieves and such things as fire also..

I think this is a great idea!
I have my gear insured. But I don't care to ever part w/ it or wait for a claim check to replace it.
I'm gonna look into this since I live in Central Oregon. TONS of people out here hunt and are outdoorspeople. I should be able to find a great deal on CL.
Thanks Art!

Pindy · July 20, 2008

jdfaith wrote:

I've got one of these multi-drawer carts. Smaller drawers are great for filters, flashes/accessories, smaller lenses and printer accessories. Larger ones can be used for bigger lenses, computer hardware/cables/etc. and spare camera bodies. Nicest is that it's reasonably priced and sized, and easily fits into a closet.

I'm in SoCal, so I'm not concerned with humidity, so something like this, however not pretty it is, might be a good solution. The real question is what to do with all my BAGS

Pindy · July 20, 2008

jdfaith wrote:

I've got one of these multi-drawer carts. Smaller drawers are great for filters, flashes/accessories, smaller lenses and printer accessories. Larger ones can be used for bigger lenses, computer hardware/cables/etc. and spare camera bodies. Nicest is that it's reasonably priced and sized, and easily fits into a closet.

I'm in SoCal, so I'm not concerned with humidity, so something like this, however not pretty it is, might be a good solution. The real question is what to do with all my BAGS

Pindy · July 20, 2008

Photoskipper wrote:

I am using the one from Eueka, it works ok for me. http://www.drytech.com.tw/english/electronic-dry-cabinet.htm

This is pretty cool, actually.

Joves · July 20, 2008

jdfaith wrote:

I was going to suggest the Rubbermaid stackers that looks much better. Im in Az we think it is humid at 40%.

ziggy53 · July 20, 2008

Joves wrote:

I was going to suggest the Rubbermaid stackers that looks much better. Im in Az we think it is humid at 40%.

I'm in Illinois and I think it's humid when I'm sweating just out of the shower.

Pindy · July 20, 2008

I think these are going to be way too expensive, but the dimensions are right for me and I like the locking doors.

Here

Scott_Quier · July 21, 2008

Photoskipper wrote:

You guys are luck to have dry weather at home. I live in the tropical country which has humidity up to 99% is some days. Average humidity is about 70 to 80% everyday.

It is a disaster to leave the gears on the table just for a day.

Everytime if I travel to the cold countries, I need to take extra precaustion for the gears. Extra wrapping, silicon gel, water tight bags to keep the gear for transport. Need to leave it in the room for couple hours to wait for it to get to the room temperature without condensation.

When reach home, I need to put the whole CompuTrekker to a big plastic box with silicon gel for a day to get the gear back to ambient temperature then quickly transfer to the dry cabinet for few days before use again. Otherwise, I can feel moist condensation on the body and the filter.

I am using the one from Eueka, it works ok for me. http://www.drytech.com.tw/english/electronic-dry-cabinet.htm

These are interesting. Here, we don't have the humidity you have, but it's high enough that I have concerns.

Anyone know a source for this or similar in the USA?

Pindy · July 21, 2008

Scott_Quier wrote:

These are interesting. Here, we don't have the humidity you have, but it's high enough that I have concerns.

Anyone know a source for this or similar in the USA?

www.cabiusa.com is the only one I could find, but they haven't responded to my email. No prices on the web site—natch.

Art Scott · July 22, 2008

There are a few gun safes made that are under $200 and you can get dehunidifiers that go in the botom of them....som of theses safes will have book shelf strips attached to each side so that they can be converted to a shelved unit holding NO rifles......Stores such a wallys world carries them during hunting season..some have electronic (battery operated) locks....some have dual key locks (like the soft drink machines) and some just a tumbler style combination safe lock.....I like the dual key lock.....to make them more secure they have pre-drilled hole to lag bolt the safe to a closet wall and the floor.

Pindy · July 22, 2008

Art, I went browsing gun safes and I realise I want a glass front and more of a "wine captain" fridge shape, but with pull-out shelves. An object like that would simply be alien looking in my house.

Scott_Quier · July 22, 2008

I may be making a trip to Wally World later this summer - just to see what I can see. Maybe

Art Scott · July 22, 2008

Pindy wrote:

Art, I went browsing gun safes and I realise I want a glass front and more of a "wine captain" fridge shape, but with pull-out shelves. An object like that would simply be alien looking in my house.

I understand the notion of the Looking beautiful.....but what you describe has not value as to keeping your precious expemsive camera SAFE from un-desirables......also these can be "hidden" inside a closet if need be.....but each to his own......a brother of mine had a beautiful gun cabinet all hand carved and finished with etched glass and all cost around 2500 23 yrs ago.....one weekend he lost all of his guns, his wifes jewels and other precious items....that etched glass did not even slow down the theives......
Good Luck

anwmn1 · July 22, 2008

Ikea is good for cheap storage-

I bought 3 of these
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30053921

a few sets of these
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90050590

and installed handles onto the drawers. Some of the cabinets have board games and such and one is dedicated to camera gear. It is somewhat inconspicuous which is a good thing. Everything is nice and tidy and if I feel I need more security I can easily install a tubular lock in each drawer or a slide bar that will block all 3 drawers.

Is it vandal proof- nope. But a home alarm and video system help solve some of that concern.

As far as fire proof- none of the safes less than $600 are going to prevent fire damage. I paid for a nice gun safe and it is only rated at 1200 degrees for 40 minutes. Even then you will get some heat and smoke damage. It is also too heavy to go upstairs and too big to fit in most closets.

Personally I feel I have documents and other items far more valuable than the cameras so they are in the safe instead. Heck there is barely enough room for the guns in the gun safe.

I plan on buying a wardrobe closet from Ikea as well to store the strobes, stands, and material used for studio stuff too. One with a full length mirror will serve many other purposes too.

Art Scott · July 23, 2008

Gun safes: Stack On
I did a little snooping to day at Sports Authority.....it was strange...no one had keys or combinations for the safes....one hunting area clerk went to find the combinations and returned 45 minutes later with a hand full of product packages....anyway......they carried Stack On Gun Safes....these are Plain smooth metal will hold 16 long guns with one solid shelf at the top....they no long come wit hthe shelving standards on the 2 sides but you could easily attach with JB Weld or spot weld them in or even use sheet metal screws to attach.....here is a link to one I am going to get prices on for me....personally I am more interested in security than pretty looks (nothing wrong with pretty looks)........ Stack On Gun Safe ....... here is the type I was originally mentioned .... Gun Safe .......these are not fire resistant at all....for that it have to be Browning or Remington....for a 30 minute fire resistance the price for remington is approx $1500.00

ChatKat · July 23, 2008

Costco
Costco has gun safes too. They were in the $800-900 range with shelving. I was going to get one to keep in the studio and my landlord said not to because he has had people robbed because they had a safe and/or the theives know exactly where things are if they want them - so that defeats some of the purpose.

Idea for Camera gear closet

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