Storing Lenses

[Roland Vink]

"Most lenses are stored "bottom up""

"Store most lenses face down with caps"

What is the advantage of storing lenses this way vs storing the lens "top up"?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Stability.

[Akira]

Stability.

Okay, you are talking about the bigger lenses. 

As I mostly owned smaller Nikkors with 52mm filter threads, I haven't acquired the habit of storing the lenses face down.  Due to the design of the Nikon lens cap, it is a bit more stable to store the lenses with 52mm filter threads face up.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

That depends on the generation of the front cap design. The older ones are flat-faced so will ensure stability even front down.

In order to utilise storage space more efficiently, the smaller lenses go either bottom up or down depending on the shape of the barrels. If stored with hoods on, front down is again the better approach with the mentioned caveat of space optimisation. I'd guess around 70% of the smaller lenses are stored bottom up and >90% of the bigger ones likewise.

[Akira]

That depends on the generation of the front cap design. The older ones are flat-faced so will ensure stability even front down.

Yes, but, so far as I've observed, the latest lens cap is the most stable.  Any older versions are less stable because of the proudly embossed Nikon logo.   

[David H. Hartman]

Make dividers in a storage drawer out of stips of cardboard. Allow for padding the sides as cardboard is abrasive. Allow for lenses with 72mm filter threads. Plastic shopping bags or strip shredded paper can cushion the bottle. They can shake, rattle and roll but hope your dog gone soul they don't bounce so hard that they hit the drawer above. 

Cupboard (cup board)? Plan on the domino effect.

Dave

[pluton]

If you are storing the lens face down, it doesn't need a cap.  I store them face down with the hood/shade attached. Longer lenses(for me, a 300/4, 50-135/3.5 and 80-200/4) lie sideways because the space isn't tall enough.

[pluton]

Make dividers in a storage drawer out of stips of cardboard. Allow for padding the sides as cardboard is abrasive. Allow for lenses with 72mm filter threads. Plastic shopping bags or strip shredded paper can cushion the bottle. They can shake, rattle and roll but hope your dog gone soul they don't bounce so hard that they hit the drawer above. 

Cupboard (cup board)? Plan on the domino effect.

Dave

It occurs to me that corrugated plastic ('Corplast' or 'Coroplast' in the USA) would be cleaner and more elegant that cardboard, and could be used as a shock-absorbing floor as well.

[Akira]

The cardboard or paper-based material absorbs moisture, so I don't think it is suitable for the use as part of the storage of the optics.

[David H. Hartman]

The cardboard or paper-based material absorbs moisture, so I don't think it is suitable for the use as part of the storage of the optics.

OK, plastic sheet dividers for humid environments. I've seen plastic formed like corrugated cardboard. That should do nicely. Plastic bags from the hardware store if the PC types have outlawed grocery bags.

These divider frameworks are like box dividers for wine or other spirits but not ghosts. The material can be cut with an X-Acto knife. Soft plastic Coroplast is assumed.

Dave who is more than willing to adapt.

[Two new sentence added after reading pluton's post above.]

[David H. Hartman]

It occurs to me that corrugated plastic ('Corplast' or 'Coroplast' in the USA) would be cleaner and more elegant that cardboard, and could be used as a shock-absorbing floor as well.

That's it!

+1

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The soft Coroplast would not be abrasive like cardboard, another plus.

[Akira]

That's it!

+1

---

The soft Coroplast would not be abrasive like cardboard, another plus.

+1 

[richardHaw]

I remember mentioning about this a few years ago, store lenses with their iris set to the smallest or half-way.
This is an old-wive's tale but now I know why 

it is to prevent the iris' spring from being tense while you store it. it may be OK if you leave it like that for a day but if this was stored like this for years or even decades, the spring will lose its tension. this is very apparent on iris designs that rely on a strong spring to actuate this will also vary depending on the iris design (depending on lens)

[David H. Hartman]

I'll bet most of my lenses are set to f/5.6. Who knows why?

Dave

Caution: you might give away your age.

[richardHaw]

this problem manifested itself on very early Nikkors with 9-bladed designs

it happened on my lens and another member's lens

I also noticed that early Nikkors for the F-mount have sloppy iris construction meaning that the machining was not precise and people had to make adjustments. I noticed this on several lenses from the very early days of the F-mount.

https://richardhaw.com/2017/04/17/repair-auto-nikkor-p-105mm-f2-5/



and here is an example. I saw some sloppier examples that I don't have online but I will show later when I have the chance. for example, holes were drilled on incorrect places and the correct holes were drilled just beside the wrong one. Not making things up, they really exist!

Looks like Nikon was learning how to make automatic apertures and these were the result of that.