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Thread: Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

  1. #1
    Name: ______William Booth
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Alabama, USA
    Posts
    195

    Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

    I am making standard DIY, cardboard and leather lens caps for my brass lenses. Aside from storing them in the open air as much as possible, are there any tips for keeping fungus out of my caps and lenses?

    I don't think spraying/wiping my caps with leather fungicide sounds like a good idea given that I don't know a thing about outgassing with those products, but hopefully you kind folks have some experience and/or tips to share with me.

    Alabama is reasonably humid, so moisture can be a problem where I am.

    Thanks,
    William

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    1,127

    Re: Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

    Poke some breather holes in the cap to prevent condensation ?
    Maybe line the inside of the cap with velvet ?
    Don't think you can get away from fungus, it's everywhere and if the conditions are right
    it will grow. I don't see any harm with wiping the leather with a fungicide, as long as it's
    given a chance to dry thoroughly.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Millom, Cumbria, England
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    387

    Re: Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

    Yeah, don't use caps! Where I live we can have over 250 days of rain a year so fungus is a big issue, lens caps, either front or rear, are a danger in this situation, don't use them, I use UV filters on all my lenses for protection, but I always take them off before the lens goes back into storage. I can't store my lenses in leather/vinyl cases either, I have to store em in a cabinet with a dehumidifier.

  4. #4
    Alex Timmermans
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Holland
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    589

    Re: Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

    My collection of lenses has an average age of obout 120 years.
    Originaly they all were equiped with lens caps and I have never seen any with fungus before.
    Only coated lenses can get fungus which can cause problems. As 99% of the brass lenses are not coated,
    there is no risk using lens caps.

    Here you find how to make them: http://collodion-art.blogspot.nl/201...isnt-that.html
    "You dont take a picture, it's given to you"

    www.alextimmermans.com
    www.collodion-art.blogspot.com
    email : collodion-art dot onsmail dot nl

  5. #5
    Name: ______William Booth
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Alabama, USA
    Posts
    195

    Re: Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

    Interesting, so you're saying that it's the coatings that fungus takes up a home in. Makes sense. By the way, your post on DIY caps was one of the two that I followed in making mine. Thanks for that and the information!

  6. #6
    Alex Timmermans
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Holland
    Posts
    589

    Re: Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

    Just curious. What was the other post on caps?
    "You dont take a picture, it's given to you"

    www.alextimmermans.com
    www.collodion-art.blogspot.com
    email : collodion-art dot onsmail dot nl

  7. #7
    Name: ______William Booth
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Alabama, USA
    Posts
    195

    Re: Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

    The other tutorial is located at http://www.lungov.com/wagner/DIYLensCap.html. His method and yours are very similar, although I don't have the ability to cut the wooden "puck", and so I used my lens shades/barrels as you did in your post.

    Thanks again for your contributions to the community and for your work. I was actually showing your blog to my fiancée last night before you responded to this thread...

  8. #8
    Alex Timmermans
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Holland
    Posts
    589

    Re: Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

    Thanks!
    "You dont take a picture, it's given to you"

    www.alextimmermans.com
    www.collodion-art.blogspot.com
    email : collodion-art dot onsmail dot nl

  9. #9
    loujon
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Western, PA.
    Posts
    1,645

    Re: Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

    Quote Originally Posted by alex from holland View Post
    My collection of lenses has an average age of obout 120 years.
    Originaly they all were equiped with lens caps and I have never seen any with fungus before.
    Only coated lenses can get fungus which can cause problems. As 99% of the brass lenses are not coated,
    there is no risk using lens caps.

    Here you find how to make them: http://collodion-art.blogspot.nl/201...isnt-that.html

    +1

  10. #10
    Name: ______William Booth
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Alabama, USA
    Posts
    195

    Re: Leather Lens Caps and Fungus

    Here's the first finished cap. The inside isn't as pretty, but it is functional and makes for a nice, snug fit.



    I used scrap leather (2 oz cow hide) from eBay that was a touch thicker than ideal. I believe it was about 0.8 mm in thickness, so still manageable for stretching, but it's just barely thin enough to allow the cap to fit comfortably. I thought I had used plenty of wraps of tape when sizing the cap, but I still cut it pretty close.

    Thanks for the tutorial, Alex! I imagine the subsequent caps will require less guesswork.

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