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Posted by toolman946 via CraftKB.com on January 8, 2008, 1:15 am
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I have an older (uncommon) Canon SLR film camera with an assortment of
expensive lenses that I retired from service when I went digital. It's in
mint condition (I bought it new) and the thought of trading or selling just
isn't in the cards. I want to store it so that someday my grandchildren (or
great grandchildren) can take it to the Antiques Roadshow and have an expert
tell them it's worth a bazzilion dollars. I have this crazy idea to put it
into a vacuum bag and suck out the air... then hook up an argon bottle from
my tig welder or a mixed gas bottle from my mig welder and replenish the
atmosphere with an inert gas. My thought is that the inert gas may help to
preserve the non-metallic components like the shutter and screens.
Are there any chemists amongst us that can comment on the effectiveness of
this little exercise? Could the inert gases have any deleterious effects on
the camera and lens components? Or would I be better off just storing it in a
vacuum?
If none of you wizards can give me a correct answer, should I ask Clinton,
Obama, Huckabee or McCain (snicker).
Cheers
--
Message posted via http://www.craftkb.com
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Posted by Ernie Leimkuhler on January 8, 2008, 3:03 am
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> I have an older (uncommon) Canon SLR film camera with an assortment of
> expensive lenses that I retired from service when I went digital. It's in
> mint condition (I bought it new) and the thought of trading or selling just
> isn't in the cards. I want to store it so that someday my grandchildren (or
> great grandchildren) can take it to the Antiques Roadshow and have an expert
> tell them it's worth a bazzilion dollars. I have this crazy idea to put it
> into a vacuum bag and suck out the air... then hook up an argon bottle from
> my tig welder or a mixed gas bottle from my mig welder and replenish the
> atmosphere with an inert gas. My thought is that the inert gas may help to
> preserve the non-metallic components like the shutter and screens.
>
> Are there any chemists amongst us that can comment on the effectiveness of
> this little exercise? Could the inert gases have any deleterious effects on
> the camera and lens components? Or would I be better off just storing it in a
> vacuum?
>
> If none of you wizards can give me a correct answer, should I ask Clinton,
> Obama, Huckabee or McCain (snicker).
>
> Cheers
Argon is inert, but unless your vacuum bag is perfect it will leak out.
Some form of sealed tupperware bowl might work better, or best of all
glass.
Argon is heavier than air.
If you fill the argon from the top, it will settle into the container,
driving the air up.
You might want to pack it in bags of desicant to prevent any moisture
from condensing.
The moisture would come from air inside the camera.
Potassium Permanganate makes a great desicant.
When it is dry it is purple, when it has absorbed it's limit of water it
turns clear.
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Posted by TinLizziedl on January 8, 2008, 4:29 am
Please log in for more thread options Unless you can put your camera and lenses in a tank, then purge the tank
with argon, I'm not sure you could maintain and inert atmosphere for a
significant amount of time. Do you have a way of testing it? I do not
know the make and model of the machine, but our gas-free technicians use
portable testers to check how much oxygen is in a space.
Ernie's right- put your camera in an air-tight container, fill with
argon from the top down, seal the lid on.
To check atmosphere, try putting your container inside a larger
container, put a lit candle next to it in the bigger container, then
fill smaller container with argon. When candle goes out for lack of O2,
close and seal smaller container.
Mixed gas isn't inert- the CO2 is slightly reactive. I'd stick to pure
argon.
Good luck!
--
Tin Lizzie
"Elephant: A mouse built to government specifications."-Lazarus Long
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Posted by Leo Lichtman on January 8, 2008, 1:20 pm
Please log in for more thread options Photography has long been one of the most popular of all hobbies, and the
entire population is switching/haas switched to digital. Almost all their
film stuff is now idle, and too good to throw away, so it will be a long,
long time before it starts to gain value in the antique world. Cameras are
designed to function in a normal atmosphere, with moisture, dust and oxygen.
An an old camera that hasn't been used will probably develop a sticky
shutter, due to gumming of the lubricant or collection of dust. In my
opinion, the easiest way to counteract this would be to seal it in a plastic
Food-saver bag. Include a note giving pertinent history on the camera, any
provenance and maybe even a few snapshots. Then, "set it and forget it."
As Gunner will probably attest, the Food Saver is a wonderful thing. My
avocadoes last for about three weeks after they are started in a vacuum
sealed bag.
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Posted by David Billington on January 8, 2008, 4:00 pm
Please log in for more thread options toolman946 via CraftKB.com wrote:
> I have an older (uncommon) Canon SLR film camera with an assortment of
> expensive lenses that I retired from service when I went digital. It's in
> mint condition (I bought it new) and the thought of trading or selling just
> isn't in the cards. I want to store it so that someday my grandchildren (or
> great grandchildren) can take it to the Antiques Roadshow and have an expert
> tell them it's worth a bazzilion dollars. I have this crazy idea to put it
> into a vacuum bag and suck out the air... then hook up an argon bottle from
> my tig welder or a mixed gas bottle from my mig welder and replenish the
> atmosphere with an inert gas. My thought is that the inert gas may help to
> preserve the non-metallic components like the shutter and screens.
>
> Are there any chemists amongst us that can comment on the effectiveness of
> this little exercise? Could the inert gases have any deleterious effects on
> the camera and lens components? Or would I be better off just storing it in a
> vacuum?
>
> If none of you wizards can give me a correct answer, should I ask Clinton,
> Obama, Huckabee or McCain (snicker).
>
> Cheers
>
>
The Antiques Roadshow in the UK, about 2 weeks ago, was about future
valuables. A guy had a collection of cameras, all or mainly Nikon IIRC,
and the expert reckoned that the small part of the collection the guy
had brought along was already worth a very considerable sum. The cameras
in question were classics of their kind and were examples of many which
had been used by photo journalists the world over covering wars and all
sorts of things for decades. I somehow don't think my OM20 is in the
same league.
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> expensive lenses that I retired from service when I went digital. It's in
> mint condition (I bought it new) and the thought of trading or selling just
> isn't in the cards. I want to store it so that someday my grandchildren (or
> great grandchildren) can take it to the Antiques Roadshow and have an expert
> tell them it's worth a bazzilion dollars. I have this crazy idea to put it
> into a vacuum bag and suck out the air... then hook up an argon bottle from
> my tig welder or a mixed gas bottle from my mig welder and replenish the
> atmosphere with an inert gas. My thought is that the inert gas may help to
> preserve the non-metallic components like the shutter and screens.
>
> Are there any chemists amongst us that can comment on the effectiveness of
> this little exercise? Could the inert gases have any deleterious effects on
> the camera and lens components? Or would I be better off just storing it in a
> vacuum?
>
> If none of you wizards can give me a correct answer, should I ask Clinton,
> Obama, Huckabee or McCain (snicker).
>
> Cheers