Lens storage and carry - stupid but practical question

[Heroique]

Do you keep a cable release attached?

My three cables stay on my three lenses. However, when I wrap a lens with a snug lens wrap (cable coiled inside), I’m careful not to stress the cable connection. The wrap keeps the cable from “exploring” other items in my pack as I hike or travel, and prevents it from snagging on anything and being pulled or stressed.

[aphcl84]

I store my lenses in a hard case with a custom foam insert from mycasebuilder, aperture open and uncocked with caps on. When I take lenses with me in a backpack I generally only take three at most tucked into a padded insert in the pack, if I take a fourth I keep it on the camera.

[tgtaylor]

I keep all my lens in dedicated waterproof pelican cases by format size (35, MF, 4x5 and 8x,10 on their lensboards) with their apertures closed, uncocked and with their protective filter attached. If I am transporting a lens for service I'll open the aperture fully to protect the iris blades from inadvertent damage by a careless technician. When backpacking I place the 35mm and 4x5 lenses in Seagrams Crown Royal sacks which protect them from being scratched and the 8x10 lens I wrap in large Domke wraps. Cable releases are kept stored in the packs – I have 3 depending on the format - with the filters, light meter, etc stored separately on a shelf so that I can place them in the appropriate pack. The 35 and MF cameras are stored in the hardcase with their lenses and the 3 4x5's and 2 8x10's are stored in their individual waterproof hard case with their darkcloth which I now have 3 of. The tripods are kept in padded Manfrotto tripod bags.

Thi system keeps are the gear together and easily accessible so, for example, if I want to shoot 35mm but am not sure on which lenses I will be using, I'll grab the 35mm case which contains 2-F6's and 9 lenses along with the lightweight Gitzo CF tripod and the equally lightweight LowePro 350 AW Runner.
Camera batteries, including spares, are stored separately in the case. For 4x5 I have to choose beforehand which camera to bring as the fields and monorail are stored in separate cases. The 4x5 lenses are relatively small and are all stored in one case so I can either pick specific lenses beforehand and place them into the pack or bring the entire came with me. However the 8x10”s require careful consideration. With the 8x10 field I usually place the camera into the big Lowepro 600 AW II - which will carry the camera, up to 4 lenses, 5 film holders, tripod, meter, etc, - and choose which lenses I will bring – usually 2 or 3 at the most, and holders – usually 1 or 2. For the monorail the whole case goes along with a dolly and I carry the lenses and holders in a backpack.

So far this system has worked well for me and I have a similar system for astronomy related gear. For me it's imperative to consider gear storage at the point of purchase.

Thomas

[John Kasaian]

Lenses on boards, caps on and in zip locks to keep dust out.

[Greg]

For each of my formats I have a padded hard case and a padded backpack. They all carry the camera, 3-4 lenses, a few film holders, exposure meter, and a bunch of accessories. I always hated when I had to reconfigure my cases and backpacks when changing formats. For the extras which are used with each of the formats, I have a checklist that I absolutely religiously go over before leaving. Every lens has a front and rear cap dedicated to it. Lenses are usually stored with the last shutter speed and f/stop that I used last with the lens. I would love to declare that I routinely ran each of the shutters through their speeds but practically this never happens with the lenses that I rarely use. All the lenses have a "brother" brand label on the top of their lens boards boards ID'ing the focal length and brand name. Before this many a time when I accidentally took the wrong lens - lens caps unfortunately effectively cover up the writings on the lenses. Lens wraps I stopped using after one blew off the top of a cliff and another one blew off a second floor porch. Recently acquired a shutter tester but since my exposure speeds tend to be slower than 1/8 second, I rely more on how the speeds sound when I fire the shutters maybe twice before exposing the film.

[Joe O'Hara]

Thanks for these comments. I haven't been too worried about this, but figure there were some small changes I can and should make. I'm carrying 4 lenses now that I have a pack big enough, and the finer points: PREVIEW closed, APERTURE open, SHUTTER on T... these are worthy additional mods. Thanks for the suggestions here.

Joe: Really like your website btw. Some of those shots in the woods are literally inspiring. Love the way you've captured the light and the range of tones. Thanks for that. And of course I wondered: Lebanon PA? or elsewhere?

Love the shots I see from EVERYONE else as well (Philip and JimJim who had links)... just these stood out to me - not having looked earlier. As a FLICKR guy myself who hasn't posted much in an eon, have to say there's a difference between what I'd post on a blog and what I'd put on FLICKR... so there may fairly be a difference in target thinking more than the work. Just saying so that my compliments on a blog don't mean more than they should. I like a LOT of what I see on FLICKR... we just often post stuff for family and friends there that wouldn't match what we'd require of ourselves elsewhere.

Thanks for your remarks on my website. The pictures you refer to are from what used to be called Lebanon State Forest (now Brendan T. Byrne State Forest) in the Pinelands of South Jersey. I kept the older name for the area because it's a traditional place name, and a bit less clumsy than the new one, I think.

[Alan Klein]

I don't do anything special with my lenses. At my age, they'll outlive me.

[Bernice Loui]

Majority of lenses are in barrel. No shutter to be concerned with. Sticky aperture rings that are sticky when the lens has ben choose get the attention needed to resolve this problem.

After the lens is mounted into a Sinar lens board, they are stored in a plastic bag with the open end folded over - NOT tightly sealed. Just enough to keep the dust out.

Lenses are then stored in a wood storage case.


Bernice

[Graham Patterson]

I prefer to leave LF lens/shutters where I will need them on next use, so Preview closed, shutter speed where it was last used (it does not matter until I need to cock the shutter, and it is probably within a stop or so of what I need anyway). Aperture is also left at the last setting, as it will likely be close for the next exposure. I try to keep a cable release with each lens, but not usually fixed - I find they tend to loosen in transit so I like to screw them in. Most of my lenses are in firm cases. There are a couple that migrate between cameras (270mm G-Claron for 5x4 and 8x10, the 210 Symmar for 5x4 and the 8x10 when I plan to do 4x10 or 5x8).

There are a couple of oddities - a shutter mounted pinhole that stays on B, and a Wollaston-style shutter mounted meniscus that usually starts wide open.

LF is all about having a consistent routine. Whatever works.

[Alan Klein]

I prefer to leave LF lens/shutters where I will need them on next use, so Preview closed, shutter speed where it was last used (it does not matter until I need to cock the shutter, and it is probably within a stop or so of what I need anyway). Aperture is also left at the last setting, as it will likely be close for the next exposure. I try to keep a cable release with each lens, but not usually fixed - I find they tend to loosen in transit so I like to screw them in. Most of my lenses are in firm cases. There are a couple that migrate between cameras (270mm G-Claron for 5x4 and 8x10, the 210 Symmar for 5x4 and the 8x10 when I plan to do 4x10 or 5x8).

There are a couple of oddities - a shutter mounted pinhole that stays on B, and a Wollaston-style shutter mounted meniscus that usually starts wide open.

LF is all about having a consistent routine. Whatever works.

Why leave the aperture closed down. Don't you open it up to focus and compose?