Lens cases or pouches or wraps?

Lens cases

I've pretty much settled on the Lowepro line of lens cases—they're well made, padded, zip nicely, and have a solid back attachment that can work with belts, etc. Good size range, too, and at a fair price. But even their smallest cases are too big for small lenses. (Good fit for the 14-140 with lens hood reversed on it, for example, in their smallest (or maybe next to smallest) case.) These really are stand alone cases, as opposed to pouches, which would be better (take up less room) if you were putting lenses into a pretty secure bag, but wanted to keep them separated.

I got an Optech accessory case a few weeks ago; they come in two sizes. The small one (5 x 8 x 2 approximately) holds six small to medium (for m4/3) lenses! Well protected from each other, and readily accessible when you unzip it. (Or could be two lenses and a bunch of smaller accessories, whatever.) This is a great way for me to have them all in a pack, and just grab the whole case, unzip it, and there they are for the picking.

Here's a link to the Optech cases:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/387552-REG/OP_TECH_USA_4901002_8_0_Accessory_Pack.html

 

Hey, since you're in NYC, head over to Muji and check out their stuff. They have a line of padded cases designed for holding travel, makeup, and other items that I've been using. Inexpensive and very well made. The outlet in Chelsea has a better selection of these than does the one in the NYT building or in Soho.

 

Ah, I have NYC-centric vision apparently and inserted a 'City' into the address...  

 

I use soft leather pouches, which I buy used for a few pennies at a local camera shop.

 

I bet if you can find a small independent camera shop they'll have a cupboard somewhere full of old cases and pouches (I was in a shop like that recently when they opened one, and dozens quite literally fell out onto the floor) ...

 

If I used the cases shown and talked about here I'd never get nearly as many spare lenses etc in my bags - and I would never use something with a zip as it could scratch the lens on putting away or taking out. For lenses I use kids' sport socks (Price: 3€/4 USD for 3 pairs) - the ones that come to just below the ankles - and find them quite adequate for the spare lenses I usually carry ( combinations of CV 25mm and 50mm, Oly 17mm or kitzoom, 90mm Elmar ). If I take my Oly 4/3 40 - 150 it has its own compartment in my largest bag. I also bought some neoprene pouches for sunglasses ( 99p/ 1.50 USD each) when I was in England which are very good.

 

I purchased a set of soft, padded lens pouches from eBay. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the pouches. They come in a variety of sizes; these are the ones that I ordered. Although they shipped from Hong Kong, they arrived in about a week.

C1 SOFT Lens Pouch Case 70mm x 100mm / 2.76" x 3.94"
C2 SOFT Lens Pouch Case 70mm x 110mm / 2.76" x 4.34"
C3 SOFT Lens Pouch Case 80mm x 150mm / 3.15" x 5.90"

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

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Carl Fenske
Lumix GF1, Lumix 14-42mm, M-Rokkor 40mm, Tele-Elmatit 90mm

 

I've been using neoprene pouches, but yearn for something that disappears a bit less in my bag but doesn't take up more space than necessary.