| Author |
Message |
    
Ismaelg
Tinkerer
Username: Ismaelg
Post Number: 85
Registered: 11-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, October 26, 2012 - 08:20 am: | 
|
Hi,
I recently acquired an older pull string lens pouch in very good condition as part of a "case full of stuff" from a friend. According to him, those things have been in the case in a closet for almost 20 years. I'm not sure if it is leather or synthetic material. Soft liner inside (maybe flannel?) As you can see I'm not very good at materials LOL
I want to use it to protect my best lenses, but it smells like if it's been in storage for decades. It has!
Should I just "Febreeze" the heck out of it?
Any ideas?
Edit: Here is a picture of the stuff. The pouch I'm referring to is to the right: black outside, green inside.
http://images51.fotki.com/v103/photos/1/1233394/5529290/P3205590-vi.jpg
Thanks,
Ismael |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 1053
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, October 26, 2012 - 10:50 am: |
|
These old things can be full of all types of spores - the only way of really killing these things off is to place the item in a sealed plastic bag and deep freeze at -18 deg C or below for 6 to 8 weeks. Sticking the item in the ice box or frozen food compartment will be useless, the -18 or below is critical. Personally I would not let my best optics anywhere near old leather cases or storage pouches with an unknown history. Pouches are very good at protecting lenses when one is out in the field - a lens change is quickly accomplished, the lens filled pouch being dropped into the coat pocket whilst the shot of a lifetime is captured. However, it is the very versatility of the protection offered by the pouch that can lead to its downfall. A filled pouch can be placed on all sorts of contaminated surfaces or in grit and dirt contaminated pockets, eventually they can become very dirty and full of small grit particles. Before this happens they should be replaced, it is false economy to think that the protection will last for ever if one really uses one's kit.
If you just want to protect lenses whilst they are in a storage draw, you cannot beat a nice thick sock for cheapness and good protection from bumps and dings! |
Finnegan
Tinkerer
Username: Finnegan
Post Number: 235
Registered: 09-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, October 26, 2012 - 01:58 pm: |
|
Yes, it is vinyl and a synthetic flannel. Fabreeze won't work. It looks pretty worn but, if you want to "sterilize" it, soak/wash it in a bleach solution. I had to think a bit to remember the formula but it is 16 oz. of Clorox to 1 gallon of water and 2 oz. of dish detergent for killing mold/fungus, etc. Reduce the quantities as needed to make less formula.
Ok, I see an Olympus OM lens in the center and the Canon lens on the right and the Tamron on the left. The style of rubber rings on the Tamron make it to be from the 1980s. Is that a Bewi meter? The square hood looks like it goes on the Olympus so that would make it a wide angle lens and the round hood bayonets on the Canon. The Canon is an FD type and from sometime around when they made the A-1 (they used excessively bright orange on the numbers in that era). Is it a macro f3.5? The Olympus lens looks "fast". That is the $ lens in that trio if you are reselling. |
John_s
Tinkerer
Username: John_s
Post Number: 104
Registered: 07-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, October 26, 2012 - 03:47 pm: |
|
Bin it. I bought a lens in one of these. The green fibres were everywhere. |
Br1078lum
Tinkerer
Username: Br1078lum
Post Number: 410
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2012 - 09:48 am: |
|
Something that old, having been in storage for decades, is bound to be in a deteriorating mode by now. I'm with John s, go ahead and pitch it. You can get new ones for a decent price.
PF |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 1248
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2012 - 05:16 pm: |
|
What is that OM lens? |
Ismaelg
Tinkerer
Username: Ismaelg
Post Number: 86
Registered: 11-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2012 - 07:00 pm: |
|
Thanks for the comments! Away it goes then.
The lenses are:
Canon FD (Breechlock) 50 f1.8
Tamron 28mm f2.8 FD mount
Olympus Zuiko OM 50mm f1.4
I need to clean them up but they seem to be fungus free and in good shape. I'll start a new thread later about the lightmeter. I have no idea what it is....
Thanks,
Ismael |
Hollenbj
Tinkerer
Username: Hollenbj
Post Number: 93
Registered: 03-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 28, 2012 - 12:07 pm: |
|
A few things about this thread:
1. Those lens pouches (the kind discussed here) are almost never worth keeping around. The comment about fungus spores, and dirt, is spot on. Whenever I receive those lens pouches (and other similar storage bags) I throw them out before entering my house. They can be filled with fungus that I just don't want near my precious cameras. Leather cases are more difficult -- sometimes I do want to keep those, but they too can harbor huge loads of fungus. Whenever I get a new find, I separate them from gear and leave them in my garage where I deal with them later. Treating leather cases is a topic for another thread.
2. Febreeze is the devil in a spray bottle. The human health concerns surrounding this product are beginning to mount. Personally, I am severely affected by it and cannot have it anywhere near me or my home. In terms of lens health, it will offgas and may have effects on coatings or leave films on internal glass surfaces.
3. The Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 is a stunning lens. Most Zuiko lenses are stellar performers but don't get the respect that names like Zeiss and Schneider get. I no longer own any Olympus film gear, but recently bought an adapter to put OM lenses on my digital Olympus EP2 just so I can take advantage of the inexpensive OM lenses I keep finding in local thrift stores...I just can't pass on those extremely capable lenses for so little expense.
Nice find Ismaelg! |
