[Leica] Humidty, fungus, care of gear, etc

[gammanine at yahoo.com (Keith Johnson)]

I've been reading all the care suggesitons here for
camera gear and  there's one thing thats been missed. 
 Sunlight. 
 Fungus loves dark. It thrives in it. While a pelican
case is an excellent suggesiong for keeping moisture
out, I would also add that during long periods when a 
lens isn't seeing action, occasional exposure to
direct sunlight is important. I'm not certain but I
think it's the UV in sunlight that kills off fungus. 
 A tech once told me that most lenses that come in
with fungus damage were stored in closets or cases for
longish periods of time. He also suggested that
regular exposure to sunlight, regular cla's and
careful storage with low humidity were a good plan for
longer more problem free lens owner/usership. 
 I suppose that one could build a cabinet, with uv
bulbs or something and use it like an incubator or
something along those lines too. 
 Personally, I'm not sure a zero humidity environment
is good for the lubricants in lenses. Seems to me that
the lube would dry out faster. Of course this is
better than fungus, so maybe it's a choice of 'the
lesser of two evils.' 
 But I do believe in the exposure to sunlight theory.
So I thought it was worth mentioning.   

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