al shaikh
(K=15790) - Comment Date 6/3/2004
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Calument made a few and they should be cheap on ebay.
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Gabriel Dinim
(K=37) - Comment Date 6/18/2004
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I built a case for my Linhof Kardan Color 45s from: door skins, drywall corner beads, epoxy, 2 different foams, heavy duty vinyl fabric and shoemaker glue, 2 metal rings and 4 plastic buckles. I live in the Purcell Mountains in Canada in a fairly remote area and my camera box is bounced on rough roads in trucks, on carts, skis,and snowmobiles in all extremes of temperatures. My equipment is always in working order. I will provide more details if you are interested
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my camera case open
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John Weinland
(K=42) - Comment Date 8/29/2004
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Sears & Roebuck catalog # 0959027; stocked locally; wheels; tote handle that pulls out; two large nesting inside trays; bottom part easily holds a 4X5 view; lightweight; only have to glue some cushioning material (do not use styro with contact cement!); best part: $49.99. Worst part: bulky.
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Michael Sebastian
(K=179) - Comment Date 2/12/2005
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Here is the link for the Sears "Truck Tote" that John Weinland referenced above: http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00959027000.
I tried building one out of one of those Stanley rolling tool chests. I'm just not handy enough with a table saw to carry it off!
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james norman
(K=162) - Comment Date 3/20/2006
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i use a california cooler for my cambo 45nx - it is a soft case with lots of padding, and only cost about $50. i used it in the field for HABS/HAER work for almost 20 years. carried my lenses and accessories in an eddie bauer bag. inexpensive and easily portable solution. there were many times when i had to hike a couple of miles to get to a site i needed to shoot, such as abandoned tunnels and bridges. i always hated hard cases...
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Clay Turtle
(K=-42) - Comment Date 4/25/2006
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Hmm . . . seems like a lot of material but then I have yet to try producing a case. I would appreciate hearing more on the project?
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Gabriel Dinim
(K=37) - Comment Date 4/25/2006
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If you refer to my camera case. You will find a long list of materials in most camera cases. My circumstances are particular in that I live on an often bumpy gravel road and a lot of my photography happens at the end of a very rough ride by most standards especially in winter. I had to find a compromise between a soft case that I could carry some distances slung accross my back and a hard case that could roll down a slope for a fifty meters or so without busting open or breaking my equipment. It also had to be handle long stretches of moguls at minus twenty degrees C on the back of my snowmobil.
A mixture of soft and hard foams on the outside of the extra light wood frame will absorb most of the shocks that may crack a hard shell and its hardware or crush a soft shell. The foam also makes the case more comfortable to carry. The heavy vinyl fabric protects the foam.
The interior is also padded, the camera gear is stuffed and held so it cannot move at all during transport. It took me about 3 days to build, it is meticulous work but can be done with very simple and few tools, marine epoxy and vinyl glue.
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Kate Baker
(K=0) - Comment Date 6/1/2008
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Hello Gabriel,
I also have a Linhof Kardan Colour 45s Monorail and have been struggling to find a suitable case. I have been using a soft semi waterproof case which really isn't robust enough. If you have you case specs avaialble would really appreciate. I need something light enough to lug around (which I do) but robust enough to keep it safe. I live in Australia... and while a field camera would be a lot easier to carry i love this camera and tend to take it with me everywhere...
Thanks, Kate
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Gabriel Dinim
(K=37) - Comment Date 6/2/2008
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Hello Kate
I will gladly provide you with some specs for my camera case but first I have to make it clear that my camera case is too heavy and bulky to lug on my back for more than 2 or 3 kilometers at a stretch and going uphill is a slow and steady slug. I have a good pack frame (Canadian military surplus)that I fasten the camera case to then when I have to walk any distance with it. If I only have to go a few hundred feet then the carry strap is adequate I have made a number of small contraptions to wheel or ski my camera case around. If you do not go more than a kilometer or two away from your vehicle then my camera case on a good pack frame is fine. However a small plywood platform on 4 wheels makes life a lot easier and is probably even essential. Then you also need straps and bungees to tie, the case, tripod and whatever other gear onto the platform. The bush in Canada always has an element of danger to it and requires some extra gear just in case. It is never just a walk in the park so the wheeled platform, ends up carrying more than the camera gear anyway.
Do you want just the size of the various pieces of the camera case and a parts list or do you also want construction tips. If you are experienced with wood working and have experience with glueing vinyl fabrics then you will be able to assemble it without any problem. It just requires a slow careful approach just like using the camera itself.
Cheers
gabriel
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Dave Allies-Curtis
(K=5) - Comment Date 8/1/2008
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Hi Gabriel,
I too am interested in making my own case. Could you give a rough description of your methods and a parts list?
Cheers,
Dave
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Gabriel Dinim
(K=37) - Comment Date 12/15/2008
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Hello Dave
Sorry it took so long to respond, I was not aware of your post.
The box of my camera case is made with mahogany door skins. Those are the very thin plywood used to cover the doors that you find inside a home. The door skins are about 1/8" of an inch thick. They cut easily with large heavy duty scissors or with a jigsaw. I use corner beads and marine epoxy to attach the doors skins together. Corner beads are the thin 90degree angle metal used to make strong clean corners with the sheet rock (gyprock here) used on the inside walls of most houses.
This part is more time consuming because you have to glue each side of the box separately and then assemble all the parts together. Use the best quality marine epoxy and small clamps to fasten the corner beads to the door skins. Corner beads cut easily with tin snips.
I did not pop rivet the corner beads to the door skins or make any holes in the door skins because I did not want to weaken them. The marine epoxy is strong enough to hold them together. Glue the corner beads on the outside edges of the box, that makes them stronger and it protects the wood.Once the box is assembled glue corner beads in the inside edges, it does not add a lot of weight but contribute greatly to overall strength and stiffness. The design of the box itself should suit your carrying needs and equipment. I would recommend that you add at least two partitions in the box that connect the long sides together. Those door skin partitions are also fastened with corner beads on each side and bottom. It will give your box the rigidity needed for safe transport. Line the box inside and out with high density foam the kind used for sleeping pads on camping trips (about 1/2" thick). It will glue with contact cement. Then on the outside add another layer of thick dimpled foam (the kind shaped like egg cartons) with the dimples on the outside, a little more tricky to glue but contact cement should also do the trick. Then cover the hole thing with the heaviest duty vinyl that you can find I recommend a fabric weight of 22oz/square yard but if the box is used moderately 18oz may be enough. In any event use a very stiff fabric. The top of the box is a simple sheet of door skin with the same foam pattern however you want the dimpled foam on the inside of the lid as well as the outside. I weight 180 lbs and I can stand on my box. The lid is fastened to the box with plastic buckles of the kind found on backpacks. I have them set up so the lid opens from one side or the other at will.
The carry strap made of the same fabric as the bag requires some careful meticulous glueing and should be done by someone who knows how to glue vinyl if you do not have that experience a shoemaker will be able to do that for you. Large metal welded D rings are glued to the bag and the straps passed trough the rings and glued to the proper length. I reinforced the fabric corners by doubling the thickness of fabric in those spots. The material list depends on the size and shape that you want.
If you need more details please let me know I will keep an eye on this thread
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