Storing a camera between uses

Cameras are more often damaged by sitting still than by being used. Three things do the damage, and all three are cheap to avoid.

Humidity, and fungus

Lens fungus grows in still, damp air and etches the coatings permanently. Once it is established the lens usually needs professional attention, and sometimes is not worth saving.

It needs moisture and darkness. A camera bag in a cupboard in a humid climate is close to ideal for it.

• Keep kit somewhere with moving air rather than sealed in a bag.
• Silica gel in the bag, dried out or replaced periodically.
• In a genuinely humid climate, a dry cabinet is worth the money.
• Let equipment see daylight occasionally; fungus does not like it.

Batteries

Lithium batteries do not like being stored full, and they do not like being stored empty.

• For long storage, leave them around half charged.
• Take them out of the camera if it will be months, so a slow drain cannot deep-discharge them.
• Store them somewhere cool. Heat ages them faster than use does.

Pressure and shape

A bag crushed under other things will eventually stress a lens mount or a screen. Store bodies with a lens or a cap fitted, and do not leave heavy items resting on a bag long-term.

Before it goes away

• Take the memory card out and copy everything off it.
• Brush the worst of any dust or salt off the outside.
• Cap both ends of every lens.
• If it has been near the sea, wipe everything down properly first. Salt keeps working.

Before it comes back out

Let it warm up before opening anything. Bringing a cold camera into a warm room condenses moisture on and inside it, which is exactly the condition fungus wants. Leave it in the bag for an hour.