Any good dry cabinet for recommendation?

[wizard_de_weird]

I'm thinking of getting a dry cabinet to store my camera/video stuff. As I am not sure which brand to get, so can anyone help to recommend a good and reliable one? Most probably in the range of less than $150. Base on
my 'inventory' below, what capacity or size should I get? I'll probably add in 1 or 2 more SLR bodies in the next couples of years. So that has to be taken into account.

-04 SLR bodies
-02 P&S cameras
-02 video cameras
-About 12 pieces of lenses and some filters, hoods, tapes, etc.


Thanks.

 

[blurblock]

I'm thinking of getting a dry cabinet to store my camera/video stuff. As I am not sure which brand to get, so can anyone help to recommend a good and reliable one? Most probably in the range of less than $150. Base on
my 'inventory' below, what capacity or size should I get? I'll probably add in 1 or 2 more SLR bodies in the next couples of years. So that has to be taken into account.

-04 SLR bodies
-02 P&S cameras
-02 video cameras
-About 12 pieces of lenses and some filters, hoods, tapes, etc.


Thanks.

Less the $150 Dry Cabinet for those? I sincerely doubt there is one .....

 

[Gymrat76]

You'd need AT LEAST 2x55L cabinets to house those that you have now, not even considering your future purchases.. each is about $165 at DigitalPoint in Suntec (with free delivery)

 

[wizard_de_weird]

How about less than $200? Should be able to get a decent one?

 

[sriram]

No way you'll get a decent one for $200 for all the stuff you have. My $190 tropic dry has died three times within 1.5 years, and I have no confidence in it any more. My Toyo Living (same size) cost me $340+ at Cathay and it comes with a 5 year warranty and has been working flawlessly since the day I bought it. Now which one would you buy?

The last thing you want is to have your dry cabi die when you are away on a long vacation. Happened to my friend (who also got the Tropic Dry on my recommendation) but luckily no fungus after 2.5 weeks.

Don't cheap out on a dry cabi. Your equipment is worth a lot more.

 

[Dennis]

You will need at least a 80-100 litre cabinet. Should be around $270-$350 region

 

[Dann]

LOL thats cheap liao. Bought mine a couple of years back.. cost me $800 for a 2 door wan. Only thing is its made in Japan.

 

[ericp]

Concur with sriram, happy Toyo Living user here. I got the largest size they had, or perhaps 2nd largest ... 120 litres. I think it's more than $500, and will fit all your gear without problems, with space for expansion. Very nice quality build, check it out at Cathay Photo.

My father-in-law has a cheaper Value-branded one from Tangs, and it's still working fine after a couple of years, but doesn't exude "quality" like the Toyo Living. Little touches, like the metal vs plastic/polycarbonate shelves, non-slip lining, etc. But they have one model which is extra wide, and I think that's a good design feature.

Either way, you're well advised to get one, no matter how cheap ... those sealed boxes with silica gel just won't cut it. And in our climate, not having a dry cabinet for your expensive equipment is sheer folly, in my humble opinion.

 

[wizard_de_weird]

You will need at least a 80-100 litre cabinet. Should be around $270-$350 region

Do I really need that type of size of cabinet (80-100L) :what: for my stuff?

 

[ericp]

Mr Weird, on most "standard" cabinets, the usable area per shelf is about 1 foot square, so what you can do is to take a large piece of paper (or tape several sheets together), so that you get this shelf shape.

Then lay out your equipment on them, taking care to give yourself space between the items so they don't cram up against each other and scratch the surfaces. How many shelves do you need ? How much equipment do you anticipate buying in the future ? Is there anything else in the house that you'd like to put into the dry cabinet ?

My 120 litre cabinet has 5 shelves effectively ... you need decent space between shelves to put your hands in to put down and pick up items, and I'm wary of ones with shelves that slide out on rollers, if they don't have a "lip" on the shelf edges ... your nice lenses may just roll off and ... crack ... :bheart:

I'm not 100% sure on the 1ft x 1ft dimensions, but you can easily check them out at camera shops, or Tangs or Carrefour.

Search the old threads for user reports ...

 

[Xaler]

Do I really need that type of size of cabinet (80-100L) :what: for my stuff?

It may seem much, but 1 cubic metre (1m x 1m x 1m) is 1000L :bigeyes:
So 100L is 1/10 that. With all the equipments you have... close enough

 

[wizard_de_weird]

Look likes I have to go back and re-lay out my stuffs again, to double check on the area that I actually need . Anyway, thank everyone for the replies.

 

[Witness]

hmm...u got quite alot of stuff there...best is invest in a good cabinet to protect ya stuff...

cheers!!