"box" to protect equipment

[Mystwalker]

What box/case do you guys use to keep your equipment safe? Do you just keep it in bag?

My daughter found my camera bag (twice) and only matter of time before she figures out the latches and start rolling my 70-200 down the stairs.

I'm thinking Pelican looks pretty good (military grade so must be toddler proof), but I can't tell what size will work - going to feel stupid if I pay $400 for a giant case and end up with it being half empty. Have checked online but hard to tell what case can store when I only have dimensions and number of pieces of divider.

I'm looking for something that can store 2 bodies, 2 white zooms, and 3 or 4 regular size lens.

Any recommendations?

Thanks.

 

[eminart]

Hmmmmmmmm..... go buy an AMMO box from your local army surplus store. Put foam in it and cut it out to fit your gear.

CHEAP! Haha, I'm poor though. I think any locking box with padding would work fine. They sell tons of them on ebay.

 

[Aw45]

Based on the information regarding your camera gear I can not really tell you which specific case to purchase. I would suggest you looking at the Pelican and Tenba cases. They are both extremely solid, waterproof, shock proof, ect. You can also lock them.

I personally use a Pelican case to store and ship my gear when I go on assignment.

If you give me the camera types, and exact lens I can give you a couple suggestions about cases.

 

[Big Mike]

Best bet would be to find a retailer that has a good selection of sizes. I find that for bags and cases, it's easier to visualize it when you are hands on.

There are camera bags that lock (or you could use a luggage padlock to keep the zippers closed.

 

[Socrates]

My daughter found my camera bag (twice) and only matter of time before she figures out the latches and start rolling my 70-200 down the stairs.

LOL!

When I had young kids and some fairly expensive film gear, I made my own box out of 1" wood and filler foam. Surprisingly, it was only slightly inconvenient. All my gear fit in there nicely and I even had a small padlock for it. As a bonus, I could stand on the box when I needed just a tad more height to shoot over the heads of others.

 

[Mystwalker]

I have 30D, 50 f/1.8, 70-200 f/2.8L IS, 17-40L, 100mm macro, 580EXII, Kenko extender, and a couple hoods. Looking to get maybe a 2nd body plus a longer lens - probably 400mm.

I'm not craft oriented so building one myself is out. Prices I've seen have foam/dividers at around 50-75% of the case - not worth shooting myself in foot with nail gun for that savings

The two model numbers that are close to what I think I need are the 1550 and the 1604. There is a bigger 16XX - not sure if I need that one for the long white lens or if the smaller ones will do.

 

[JIP]

I have a Lowepro Omini Trekker Extreme I have only used it for my medium-format gear but I think it would be the perfect size for your list. The beauty of this setup is it is a soft-sided lowepro case that comes with and fits perfectly into a Pelican style case. With this toy can have a soft-sided case when you want to travel light but if you need protection you can slide it into the pelican and if you put a padlock on it you are totally protected from prying hands. Oh and another thing the entire inside of the case is modular so you can configure it exactly how you want it to be. If you look in the picture you will see they have a decent sized body with an 80-200 2.8 plus a few other lenses so it should cover your kit just right. One problem you might find withit is price http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/128389-REG/Lowepro_2000810_Omni_Trekker_Bag.html I am not sure if that is the one I have because mine is called the Omni Trekker Extreme but the one in the image is right.

 

[Mystwalker]

Thanks for that B&H search JIP.

That bag would be perfect with exception that it's soft, so I would still have to buy a Pelican case. However being able to just pull it out of case and use is an attractive feature.

Are you able to store two "long zoom" type lens in there? The sample illustration looks like one long zoom attached to camera + a bunch of little slots for other lens.

 

[Monz]

Lowe has some bags that fit into the pelicans sort of killing two birds at once you get the best of both when you need it.

 

[JIP]

Thanks for that B&H search JIP.

That bag would be perfect with exception that it's soft, so I would still have to buy a Pelican case. However being able to just pull it out of case and use is an attractive feature.

Are you able to store two "long zoom" type lens in there? The sample illustration looks like one long zoom attached to camera + a bunch of little slots for other lens.

As I said in my post that bag comes with the pelican case. The soft case is the exact size to fit inside the pelican case that comes with the bag. As far as the size goes the picture shows a upper-end Nikon body with a Nikon 80-200 2.8 on it and that would be just about the size for the bag. As I said I have not used digital gear with my bag but it eoulod fit that and a nice section of lenses or flashes as well.

 

[Mystwalker]

As I said in my post that bag comes with the pelican case. The soft case is the exact size to fit inside the pelican case that comes with the bag. As far as the size goes the picture shows a upper-end Nikon body with a Nikon 80-200 2.8 on it and that would be just about the size for the bag. As I said I have not used digital gear with my bag but it eoulod fit that and a nice section of lenses or flashes as well.

Thanks

Missed the part about it coming with the Pelican case.

Darn. Have to reconsider options again.

 

[CanadianMe]

I use an old army foot locker. I had one so it was convenient but I would look for one at an Army surplus store. If your lenses all have their own cases it is something to consider. The Canadian Army ones are very resilient and have a lock loop for a padlock. I looked at pelican and such and they look great if your lenses don't have cases but if they do there are many far cheaper and as secure options. It slides under the bench in my office, weather proof seal on it. It holds my camera., 5 lenses and monopod nicely inside.