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If you have more lenses than will fit in your camera bag, how do you store them? Is there a container that works well, like maybe an empty 6-pack? (OK, not an empty 6-pack. But I think your Summicrons would fit.)

s-a
 

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I only have one lens that doesn't fit in my Nikkormat bag, it's a pre-AI 300mm f4.5 and I have the factory leather carrying case for it so I just sling that around my shoulder.
 
I use lens wraps. Lens wraps provide some padding and they breath so that the lens stays dry.
 
I have lots of camera bags. They seem to multiply when I'm not looking, and extra equipment goes into them, but I sometimes rearrange bags to go out with more or less gear, depending on what I have in mind.
 
When I go out it's usually with two bodies and two lenses, the rest of my gear stays home in felt Crown Royal bags. The accumulation of old Minolta gear, which hasn't been used for a couple of years now, is resting peacefully in divided cardboard boxes arrayed in some dresser drawers.
 
My only interchangeable lens system is my Canon EOS system and I have four bodies (two film, two digital) and any excess lenses sit on the spare bodies. Not that I have that many lenses - most of my cameras are rangefinders or viewfinders.
 
I keep all the equipment I'm not using in two Peli cases that are locked in a metal office cupboard.
 
I have little padded lens pouches that are stored in boxes in my bookshelf, with front and rear caps, and out of the way.
Usually I stick one lens on the camera and use it for a long time until it occurs to me that I have several others to use. :smile:
 
I use the Lowepro lens cases for my 35mm kit and a small aluminium flight case for the Bronica (although it's no longer quite big enough).

Part of the advantage of shooting older gear is that you can use smaller cases. My 1970s 120mm f2.8 is smaller than a Coke can, you'd struggle to find anything with the same focal length and speed in a small package now. That lives in a Lowepro Lens Case 1S, which fits nicely on a belt and holds the lens snugly.

My only complaint with the Lowepro system is that there's a bit of a gap between sizes. I could do with something like a Lens Case 1.5, as while the 1 isn't quite long enough for my 200mm f4 the 2 is massively oversized.
 
I keep all the equipment I'm not using in two Peli cases that are locked in a metal office cupboard.

I like the locked cupboard, I'm going through one of my paranoid phases where I think I'm going to come home and everything will be gone. Did you just have that cupboard or did you buy it from some office supply type store?

s-a
 
When I go out it's usually with two bodies and two lenses, the rest of my gear stays home in felt Crown Royal bags.

A good reason to keep buying more gear. Can't let those lovely bags go to waste, or conversely, it makes sure you have to keep acquiring them.:smile:
 
I have an old, brown hard-side suit case that i've adapted to camera/lens storage. I bought 3" sponge/foam and made the appropriate sized cut-outs for the my various lenses and extra 35mm bodies. It works a treat and it offers a high level of drop/impact protection - all for about $15 US in supplies (suit case bought at Good Will, sponge/foam bought at a fabric store).
 
In a lowepro zippered lens case or in a cloth/padded lens wrap. At home, they rest on padded small egg crate styled foam pads in drawers.
 
You can often pick up used, but clean, camera bags at yard sales, charity outlets, flea markets, etc. they're cheap, they protect the equipment, and you can arrange the internal compartments to suit the sized you need. I hang a little cardboard tag on them to tell me what's inside.
 
I've got some 7 Nikon and 3 Contax bodies in working order (they're all fitted with lenses), and some10 additional lenses, primes but for one zoom. They stand, resting on their lens hoods, on a bookshelf in the study, together with an assortment of lens and bodycaps. It's getting crowded there. I'm moving in a few weeks time and will create some space on that shelf :smile:
 
I like the locked cupboard, I'm going through one of my paranoid phases where I think I'm going to come home and everything will be gone. Did you just have that cupboard or did you buy it from some office supply type store?

s-a
I got it from a government department I used to work for, they were throwing it out, and I asked if I could have it, it has adjustable shelves, a double skin with asbestos between, and is fire resistant, you can buy them from office supply companys but they are expensive, I suggest you look at second hand furniture stores or junk shops for one.
 
Just make sure the asbestos is properly sealed in. It's only dangerous if if starts to break up, so you're at no risk providing the metalwork is solid around it. I've been following a group rebuilding a railway carriage after asbestos (used as insulation in the 1950s) was removed from the sides. It was fine until the outer body skins developed corrosion holes, at which point they had to call the hazmat team in.

Ebay gear sales can be a source of neat small bags. I bought a near mint MX last year which came with an external light meter, mint and boxed generic flash...and most usefully of all a neat little black leatherette shoulder bag. It's just big enough for an MX, 28/50/135mm lenses, a small flash and a couple of rolls of film, nestles under your arm when carried and can be slipped under the car seat if you have to stop for a few minutes and don't want to take it with you.
 
Just make sure the asbestos is properly sealed in. It's only dangerous if if starts to break up, so you're at no risk providing the metalwork is solid around it. I've been following a group rebuilding a railway carriage after asbestos (used as insulation in the 1950s) was removed from the sides. It was fine until the outer body skins developed corrosion holes, at which point they had to call the hazmat team in.

Ebay gear sales can be a source of neat small bags. I bought a near mint MX last year which came with an external light meter, mint and boxed generic flash...and most usefully of all a neat little black leatherette shoulder bag. It's just big enough for an MX, 28/50/135mm lenses, a small flash and a couple of rolls of film, nestles under your arm when carried and can be slipped under the car seat if you have to stop for a few minutes and don't want to take it with you.
Thanks I'll keep an eye on it, I'm actually already aware of this I used to work for the Department Of Work And Pensions where we handled industrial injury claims for asbestosis, and even workmen s wives could contract asbestosis from washing their overalls :sad:
 
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I now keep my WideLux F7 in a Crown Royal [really good stuff from Canada] bag in the camera bag.
 
I use the plastic storage bins. Having multiple systems, I keep a separate bin for each system. Each camera or lens is wrapped in bubble wrap, in a hard case, or in a wrap.
 
A good reason to keep buying more gear. Can't let those lovely bags go to waste, or conversely, it makes sure you have to keep acquiring them.:smile:

I had a rough time emptying enough Crown Royal bags for my needs.
I think I'll need another one tomorrow as well. Better get busy! :munch:
 
I have lots of camera bags. They seem to multiply when I'm not looking, and extra equipment goes into them, but I sometimes rearrange bags to go out with more or less gear, depending on what I have in mind.

+1. A pair of Domkes for the Nikons (an old F2 and a newer F2X?), a Billingham for the Leicas, and two different-sized Lowepro backpacks for the Hasselblads. And I still find myself constantly rearranging the innards of each to suit the needs at hand...:whistling:
 
Buy a larger bag or additional case...


~Stone

The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic

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