How to store leica

[raucousimages]

If you need to put it in storage for a long time I would store it fired, unloaded, in a good case with Silica-Gel to protect from water. If at all possoble fire it at least a couple times a month to keep it lubed. I store my MP fired, in a small padded case, in the kitchen, loaded with Tri-X, ready to go any time. I want to see how much use I can give it before I die. If I shoot two rolls a month until my mid 80's that is about 30,000 exposures. That is nowhere close to wearing out o Leica.

[sepiareverb]

Why would you want to store it?

[Donald Boyd]

Uncocked, battery removed, wrapped in silk and that wrapped in a ziplock baggy. Finally, put it in a box and seal it with packaging tape.

[sepiareverb]

Uncocked, battery removed, wrapped in silk and that wrapped in a ziplock baggy. Finally, put it in a box and seal it with packaging tape.

Then with an address label that reads:

sepiareverb

[elekm]

Definitely add some silica gel. When I moved my cameras from overseas, I told the moving company that I wanted to pack them myself. The moving company gave me hundreds of silica gel packs.

I put one silica gel pack in the back, another in the shutter box with the lens removed. Then two more inside a ZIP-lock bag. That went into another ZIP-lock bag and then taped shut with packing tape.

They then went onto a container ship, and I saw them about eight weeks later. But I didn't unpack them right away because I took a job in another city. Some didn't get unpacked until last year (three years after I packed them). I'm glad I was careful about getting them ready for a lengthy -- although unexpected -- storage.

[David H. Bebbington]

Short answer - Tupperware-type container with a silica gel sachet (maybe two). MUCH easier to take the camera out when needed and then re-seal it. But - I just bought a Leica R3 which had spent quite a few years in a humidity-controlled cabinet, it was in great shape but the plastic support pad on the neckstrap was totally embrittled, which I think shows that finding ideal storage conditions for EVERY kind of material in a camera is not easy - low humidity can also cause grease to dry out.

Regards,

David