Hi! How do you store and organize your cameras, lenses, accesories, etc. at home? Do you have a dedicated room or closet? If so, how is it organized? What kinds of cases or pieces of furniture do you use? Do you store your photography "stuff" on the bags that you use for traveling?
I notice not many amateurs or pros talk about these issues, but they are important! Right now I have a bunch of lenses, cases, batteries, etc. on top of my writing desk and chaos is starting to take over my study room (which is also where I work!)... Am I not the only one?
I don't have that much (photography) gear that requires me to have a separate peice of furniture, but I have stored everything in a (large) Lowepro Backpack (something like this https://www.lowepro.com/nl-en/pro-runner-bp-450-aw-ii-lp36875-pww/) and this backpack is stored in a corner of a room. And when going on a holiday for example I simply chuck this backpack in the car - it still has room for tablets and phone chargers etc, so we only have one bag with "all the electronics stuff" ;-)
When I go out to take photo's I just use a small shoulder bag that carries the gear I want to use at that time.
Anyway, maybe I'm not the right person to answer your question - I try to minimize gear as much as possible (so I prefer to have one charger with 4 outputs instead of 4 chargers for example) and really restrain myself from buying gear ;-)
I like to put my equipment on sturdy shelves in a dry room (if it's not dry I use a dehumidifier). I also like to have a shelf full of chargers because my batteries often run out :)
@ronaldsmeets thank you! I actually own the same backpack! I've been using it to store some of my equipment, but I need more room for my bulkier lenses, camera straps, cotton carrier, etc. And I am planning to buy a second camera, which will complicate things even more... :D
@jpolakphotography thank you! Yes, I have good bookshelves, but no room on them! Photography and literature are my passions (literature prof. & book collector, just imagine ;D). I was thinking more of cases or trunks that may be used for storage... And yes, a dehumidifier is a must where we live!
I don't have that much (photography) gear that requires me to have a separate peice of furniture, but I have stored everything in a (large) Lowepro Backpack
Change that to a Shimoda backpack and I'd ask - "Are you me?" I keep all my gear in the backpack, on a wooden hanger, hanging from the clothes rod in my closet.
Sometimes I just grab the backpack and go, sometimes I put a body and one lens in a sling.
My drone lives in its own bag, but I can fit the drone and controller in the Shimoda bag too, if I'm so inclined.
I don't have that much (photography) gear that requires me to have a separate peice of furniture, but I have stored everything in a (large) Lowepro Backpack
Change that to a Shimoda backpack and I'd ask - "Are you me?" I keep all my gear in the backpack, on a wooden hanger, hanging from the clothes rod in my closet.
Sometimes I just grab the backpack and go, sometimes I put a body and one lens in a sling.
My drone lives in its own bag, but I can fit the drone and controller in the Shimoda bag too, if I'm so inclined.
Ah so I'm not the only one in the world who does that ;-)
@ronaldsmeets thank you! I actually own the same backpack! I've been using it to store some of my equipment, but I need more room for my bulkier lenses, camera straps, cotton carrier, etc. And I am planning to buy a second camera, which will complicate things even more... :D
Yeah, more gear will complicate things I guess. If you don't want to arrange a whole lot of furniture, maybe a (big) hard shell (flight case) type of storage might be something to consider? Something from Pelican maybe.
Oh, apparently "dry cabinets" for electronic equipment exists too (of course they exist, anything for our beloved gear, right ;-) : https://www.ruggard.com/products/Gear-Protection/Dry-Cabinets - cool stuff 👍
Oh, apparently "dry cabinets" for electronic equipment exists too (of course they exist, anything for our beloved gear, right ;-) : https://www.ruggard.com/products/Gear-Protection/Dry-Cabinets - cool stuff 👍
Huh. One of those could be just the thing for 3D printer filament....
I store my all camera gear in a storage room in my basement. I run a dehumidifier in the summer. I use one of those large adjustable metal wire shelves to store things.
I keep my gear (camera, lenses, drone, gimbal, lights) in 3 Pelican 1510 cases, 2 Pelican 1500 cases and a Nanuk 935 case. Other stuff like batteries, memory cards, sliders, reflectors, and camera bags, etc, I keep on a separate shelf. Camera straps and monopods hang on hooks on the side of the shelf. C-stands and light stands are stored in bags next to my tripod which stand on the floor, leaned against the corner or my shelf.
BTW, I use dividers, not foam, in my cases, except the Nanuk since I store lights and gimbal in it. Dividers are easier to adjust over time as your interests and gear change.
Hope that helps...
For some years I stored my camera and two additional lenses in a messenger bag. An upgrade to an photo backpack was the next step but not so useful as I thought. (I had too often reorganise the backpack when I wanted go out for shooting.)
So I tidied up a IKEA Ivar cabinet and now that's my place. There's enough space for the tripods, I can easily pick up my lenses and I have furthermore storage options for small boxes with all the other tiny gear pieces. For me it works comfortable.
I use hardcases for most of my equioment.
A Nanuk 918 houses my Nikon Z core equipment with native glass, a Nanuk 935 all of my adaptable vintage lenses, which are still in use frequently.
A Tenba 2520w trolley then houses equipment, lenses, old analog bodys, Mamiya 645 Super, Canon F1, Pentax Spotmatic II, that is very rarely used.
All the equipment, accesoires is then housed in its own cabinet, customized according to my wishes, for perfect accommodation of my gear, together with various empty backpacks and bags, which I equip accordingly for smaller tours.
I like the order associated with having dedicated hardcases, one for Nikon Z native glass, one for adapted optics, a filter bag, etc., so that I always know where which lens, accessory is.
On day trips I usually go with much lighter luggage, but the cases always form the starting base for the respective gear composition and the equipment comes afterwards back to its ancestral place, back in the hardcases, each equipped with sufficient silica gel and a hygrometer for monitorin.
The complete photo equipment is then housed in this cabinet, which consists of 12 cubes.
Here are a few more pictures of the photo cabinet that a carpenter made to my specifications.
Looks narrower than it is in reality cause of the used 14mm, each of the 12 cubes measures 60x60 cm and swallows easily 2 hardcases the size of a Pelican 1535 or Nanuk 935.
Since I'm one of those people who have a hard time parting with old gear, this was the ideal solution to get everything organized according to my ideas.
Basically, I should have strived for such a consistent solution much earlier, over many years my equipment was suboptimally organized and mostly distributed on various backpacks / bags.
This way it's just much more fun for me, everything has its ancestral place and is no longer distributed in non-specific cabinets all over the house/apartment.
Up to a certain point this is not a problem, but if you have a lot of equipment, in my case equipment from several decades, including many old analog cameras, at some point you need a well thought-out organization.
Thanks a lot NikonPete!
In the living room I have another cabinet with glazing, there is an area for a few showcase pieces, like an old Zeiss Ikon Contaflex with a Tessar 50/2, a Ricoh TLS 401 Dual Viewfinder, Rollei 35, Yashica Atoron Mini Cam, a Braun Nizo Super 8 cam (lovely design), mostly heirlooms of my father, with which I started photography.
This cabinet should be inconspicuous from the start, especially since it should not be a focal point of the entertainment room, but should be visually almost imperceptible.
The way it is, it's a little like the Christmas calendar I used to have as a child, only behind the doors there's no chocolate, but most of my photographic equipment of several decades. :)