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Hi folk,
coming back home thru San Francisco, I bought an 85MM 1.8D, a 70-300MM ED zoom, an SB800 flash and some other bits.

However I got so carried away by the size of the Nikon counter and the low prices at Keeble and Schuchat in San Jose, I forgot to get any lens cases.
I actually got dizzy, had to hang on to a rail, and ended up whispering my order.

The Nikon cases apparently are outrageous, so what does everyone use? I'd like to keep the hoods in the cases as well, and buy them in Sydney if possible...any thoughts?

TIA Al.

Allan,
Welcome home! have you bring back some Cuban cigar?
Lens case! don't go for the Nikon brand, they're "razor sharp" and will cut your plastic money in pieces.

Look into the following link:

http://www.lowepro.com

and perhaps get them over here.

Thank's Birddog..I'll check out Lowepro.
Yes I bought a box and some in tubes at a premium cigar factory we visited. Amazing place...my son-in-law got the box for Xmas, but he doesn't know about the tubes.

Cuba is just absolute magic, we fell in love with it.
If anyone's thinking of going, do so before the regime changes and McDonalds gets in there followed by the screaming hordes. When that happens the place will be ruined, but the long suffering Cubans will make some money after all these years.
Go see the movie, The Motorbike Diaries....beautifully made.
Al.

Allan - hopefully you will post some pics of Cuba soon!!!

Chris

Hi Allan,

I grabbed one of these http://www.lowepro.com/Products/Backpacks/allWeather/Orion_AW.aspx just before xmas, and love it. It's two separate sections that clip together - basically a huge bumbag and a small backpack. The bumbag part fits the D70 w/ kit lens attached, SB800, 70-300ED and the Sigma 50-500 with all the lens hoods. The tricky part was the Bigma - it's 24.5cm long with the filter and both caps and weighs about 2kg, but it fits. The pack also has a loop on each side at the bottom to strap in your tripod. The website pic even shows it with a Nikon! Bought it at DigitalCity beside Wynyard station for $169. Probably paid too much, but was in a hurry. It comes with a separate shoulder strap too, so you can just cart the bottom section around over your shoulder, or use both bumbag and backpack if you want to carry more.

If you're not going to use a lens as long as the Bigma a friend has this one http://www.lowepro.com/Products/Backpacks/allWeather/Rover_AW_II.aspx and is very happy with it. He has a high end C@n0n with some decent glass for it, and the 400mm L IS won't fit in the bottom part so he puts it in the upper compartment and his wife carries the food... This one's about $250 at Ted's.

I noticed on Adorama that Op-Tech (whom we all know and love for our very own camera straps) have some lens cases that also have a separate section in the bottom that takes two filters (separated). I thought they looked pretty cool and am thinking of ordering some with some other gear.

Here's the manufacturer's description:
http://www.optechusa.com/product/detail/?PRODUCT_ID=17&PRODUCT_SUB_ID=

and here are the prices:
http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?page=searchresults&searchinfo=op%20tech%20lens%20filter%20pouch


I don't know if you can get these in OZ.

Gentlemen,
My question is:
Why do you need the lens case?
The lens cases are very bulky and how do you carry them along with you in a day out? You only need the lens cases only if you're intend to use with the vest, system belt or harness so you can attach the cases to them, your normal belt won't handle the lens cases very well, my experiences that why I have the vest, harness and belt system, otherwise a backpack from lowepro or other manufactures will keep and hold your lenses safely.
The 80-400/70-200 have all the cases supplied but I always keep those lenses in the backpack instead of its cases.

In my case, the answer to this is simple. Morbid fear of the sound of breaking glass. The padding in the middle and underneath/back of my Lowepro Mini Trekker is very comforting, but the top/front isn't as well protected, I feel.

Also one of us (won't say which one) is a little accident prone, so every precaution helps.

ru32day wrote:In my case, the answer to this is simple. Morbid fear of the sound of breaking glass. The padding in the middle and underneath/back of my Lowepro Mini Trekker is very comforting, but the top/front isn't as well protected, I feel.

Also one of us (won't say which one) is a little accident prone, so every precaution helps.

I always use some other soft stuff to cover prior to close the bag and the outer with some soft things as: lens cleaning cloth etc...
I never have any problem by using that way. If you use the case, how can you slot into the bag, if you can then it will take lot of room. Make sure you remember to close the zipper completely prior to lift it up.

Interesting you should mention that close zip before lifting thing. Quite recently, we were a mere scream away from disaster.

Hi guys,
just got back....thank you for your replies. Very interesting and have got me rethinking the whole thing. I originally wanted airtight cases to stop humidity getting at the glass while being stored a longish time. I've got 2 lens with spots inside even tho I refreshed the silicagel, this happened over 5 years or so.
But as I'm getting more lens, for mobility a Lowepro type bag with the lens in soft cases with mucho silicagel and padding seems the way to go and I'll be looking at this.

Yes the breaking glass syndrome was near the top of my list too.