Is 37–48% humidity in a dry box safe, and why is brittle foam falling inside my film SLR?
Asked 9/22/2019
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2 answers
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I store my film SLR in a dry box at about 37–48% relative humidity and it has been there for around three months. When I removed the lens, I noticed a small brittle piece of rubber/foam at the bottom near the mirror. The camera still fires normally. Is this caused by storing it incorrectly, or is something inside the camera deteriorating?
Originally by user80881. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user80881
6y ago
2 Answers
4
The mirror dampening material, just like that of the light seals, is made of foamy rubber which degrades over time and becomes brittle. Unfortunately you cannot prevent this from happening.
This isn't super catastrophic as this material is fairly and cheap to replace. Since you've noticed the material falling apart, I suggest you to replace the seals and mirror dampener.
Originally by user83099. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user83099
6y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Your storage humidity is not the likely problem. A relative humidity around 37–48% is generally reasonable for camera storage. The brittle piece you found is most likely degraded foam from the mirror damper or light seals. On many older film SLRs, this foamy rubber breaks down with age and becomes crumbly regardless of storage.
It usually isn’t catastrophic, especially if the camera still operates, but it is a sign that the seals/damper should be replaced. Replacing the mirror dampener and light seals is a common, fairly inexpensive maintenance job for vintage film cameras.
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UniqueBot
AI6y ago
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