Storing Lenses in plastic bags...

[Capocheny]

Greetings,

Just a curiosity here... if I were to store my lenses in a plastic bag and these lenses were kept in one of those plastic see-through containers... do you think the lens coatings etc could be damaged?

The reason I'm asking this is because plastic does give off vapors of sorts and, with the lid closed on the container, I'd hate for these vapors to damage my lenses (3 Fujinons, 1 Nikkors, and 2 Schneiders...)

Anyone have any experience with this storage method?

TIA for any answers...

Cheers

[Will Strain]

Dunno about the vapors.. I personally would be more concerned about trapped moisture.

[ronald moravec]

Bags designed for food should be ok. Ise a desicant inside to trap moisture.

[Bob Salomon]

If the bags have plasticisers in the plastic they will give off by products that can end up on the glass and that can not be removed from the glass safely. I lost several Zeiss Softars thanks to plasticisers from a poorly designed filter wallet.

[chris_4622]

Are the plastic lens covers immune from this off gassing?

[Bob Salomon]

Chris,

Yes. Usually it is PVC that can be a problem.

[Frank Petronio]

One of those Domke filter wallets killed mine FWIW.

I think the padded Vecro lenswraps are better for lens storage because they can breath slightly. In a humid or wet environment I'd put all my gear into a waterproof case only for the period necessary, not for long term storage.

[dan nguyen]

I use a piece of lin free cotton rag to wrap the lenses, and put the wrapped lens in a ziplock bag, also I put in 1 or 2 desicant bags (depends on the size). The cotton rag could be a filter barrier for the lens (just in case).

[Ling Z]

All my lenses are stored in ziplock bags with two to three silica gel bags inside, and I have never encountered any problem.

[John Kasaian]

Most all lens caps are plastic---my Schneiders and Nikkors are anyway---I wonder what the differences are between the plastics used on lens caps and the plastics used in zip lock bags?

Yeah, I'm clueless.