8x10 rolling case

[David de Gruyl]

I am thinking about possibilities for taking my 8x10 camera with me when I travel. It is a heavy beast (the Calumet folding... the one after the Green Monster, but that is only because the color changed). Anyway, it weighs approximately 1 ton. Maybe 2. So I would like to have a case for it, and the film holders (maybe 5-6) and odds and ends.

I guess I might want to have some room for a larger, as yet undetermined, lens and a dark tent as well.

Does anyone have specific ideas or (hope of hopes) a model number for a pelican case that should work? I doubt that this camera fits into a airplane legal carry-on sized bag, but that would be the ideal solution. (I know that I can't fit the camera and filmholders in any carry-on that I own).

So, any ideas?

[jeroldharter]

Join the club.

I use Pelican cases for my Wehman 8x10 and in a 1650 case with dividers http://www.pelican-case.com/1560.html. I can fit the following:

Wehman 8x10
4x5 reduction back
Black Jacket focusing cloth
210 G-Claron, 305 G-Claron, 450 Fujinon C, 600 Fujinon C
Loupe, light meter (a little Gossen incident meter), filter wallet, compendium hood

All that is a tight fit and with dividers, not foam. Trying to get film holders in there is another story. I suppose if you just had 2 holders, you could fit that in place of the reduction back, and maybe a 3rd holder if you had a less bulky dark cloth.

But I transports my holders in a separate case. I have a Pelican cube case with foam as well as smaller padded cases which hold ~5 holders each. You can also buy fly fishing reel cases from Cabela's http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0036834120770a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=reel+case&Ntk=Products&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/search/search-box.jsp.form1&Go.x=0 which will hold 5-6 holders, one on top of the other, not vertically.

[David de Gruyl]

So you end up with three bags (or items) minimum, for the camera. The bag with the camera / back / lenses, etc, another with film holders, and then the tripod.

I guess I need to think about that. Maybe my best bet is to go up a size.

[bvstaples]

I don't travel much without my own vehicle anymore, but when I flew a lot, I would pack up whatever equipment I wanted to take — sometimes it was photo equipment, sometimes astronomy equipment, and ship it to my final destination to arrive a day or so before I did. I used Skyline crates, which were these heavy heavy plastic crates with wheels and handles used to ship trade show materials around the country. I never encountered a problem doing this, and it kept me from hauling 1 or 2 tons of stuff around. There is a certain expense to it, but with the airlines charging to put your luggage on the plane with you, it's somewhat mitigated.

Just my dos centavos...

Brian

[David de Gruyl]

Yep. Weight penalties associated with shipping containers makes them... expensive to bring with you.

The other option is to try and have things held for pickup at the airport, or travel as "unaccompanied baggage". I would rather they waited for me at the hotel, though.

[jeroldharter]

I do a mix of things for travelling. For the last trip I took, I shipped my camera gear in a Pelican case, and a box of 15 loaded film holders to my first hotel via UPS. It cost me ~$90 as each package was ~45 pounds. I carried my tripod and film boxes on the airplane. I included some extra shipping tape inside the box with the film holders, saved the box, and then repackaged the holders to ship home (with the camera as well) at the end of the trip. So it cost me close to $200 to ship the gear. But it would have cost me $100 or so to bring the extra baggage on the plane and I would have to wrestle it from the baggage claim to the rental car via a bus, etc. In the end, I thought it was worth the expense.

[eddie]

get a cheap rolling suit case. you may get it in a carry on bag. you would be surprised. maybe check the film holders.....it really does not matter. check the camera and carry less.

use the rolling suit case to get "into " the shot.

[Filmsfun]

I just got a mag Green Monster, and I am thinking along the same lines as Jerold. "Worth the expense" can't be taken lightly. Just imagine how much it would cost to rent a kit of your equipment at your destination. And for how many days?! $200 starts to look like such a bargain. And assuming nothing is broken in transport, it will probably feel priceless to be able to use your own equipment. Photography is rarely cheap, so there is little reason to think that it could somehow become any less expensive to practice overseas.

Does anyone here have recent (last 5 years) experience shipping a heavy-duty tripod, say a Bogen 3051 and heavier? Did you get a hard-sided tripod case? Or actually carry it on the plane? Perhaps a tripod could be an item that could be rented or loaned at your destination location. But then again, what about your 5-pound Majestic head.

Where's my bus pass?!

Hailu

[Frank Petronio]

The Lightware and Tenba soft-sided cases are considerably lighter than the Anvil or Pelican type cases, although I think you'd still be pressing the 50lb limit with a C1 outfit. Since you're going to pay for overages anyway, shipping makes more and more sense.

I just priced an 80lb Anvil case going XC NY to CA for $66 FedEx Ground (5-day service).

That's competitive w the airlines and FedEx has better insurance coverage.

But truthfully, unless a client is paying, I will just take smaller cameras. It's nice not to HAVE to always take the big gun.

The Lightware Cargo cases are great for heavy tripods and you can fill them full of other gear or skateboards-tennis rackets, laundry, etc. The 12x12x33 size is light but it can hold all your bicycling gear - helmet, shoes, etc. - plus a big tripod and light stands, for example.

[erie patsellis]

.... It's nice not to HAVE to always take the big gun.
.....


Keep talking crazy and they'll take away your "he man who travels with 8x10" card you know..

[Filmsfun]

After a lot of lurking on that big auction site, I got a Pelican 1610 case at a very reasonable priced for a used case. There was enough foam in there that I could delaminate it, and carve out a profile for my 'lil Monster. It fits as snug as a bug. It is about 16-pounds without the camera. The camera is 14-pounds.

So currently, I am using the Pelican for camera storage. I would also use this to take it to urban locations (outdoors or indoors). And of course, if needed, I would use it to ship the camera if need be. I had considered getting a towing case. These can be much larger than the 1610, and hold both the C-1 and the two reduction backs. But those cases are heavy and take up room - not worth using them for storage.

[cosmicexplosion]

being a builder, i am a great believer in custom built,

i can actually make cases. all they are is bits put together. if you look at a rd case for musicians, they are just componants.

All that changes is the size of the alliminium and ply wood foam edging etc.

so if you look into a musician rd case maker, take all the gear you want to carry,
they will make one pretty cheap, well, like 300.

if you sniff around music shops or ask around you may find some one making cheaper. street mags for music usually have them in the back.

but i would suggest a concept i used in a rolling suit case i used for my own musical gear, worked a treat,

i made a pin out of wood in the middle of case, so that it was protected from the weakest point: right in the middle of the largest flat surface, where the span is largest.

edges are fine but push any suit case in middle and it will give, if you fix a shower curtain holder on one side and put the pin in after you have packed the box, you will be invincible.

you dont need a very wide dowel, but definitly wood, as it has better compression strength to steel rod like shower curtain.

you could put a couple in, and get even stronger by creating less span between points. like a house.
alot simpler that it might sound if you think it sounds hard, get the guy who build you a case to put them in very last thing.

You may even be able to stand on your case that way. travel will be safer and your mind made easier.