Molded Camera Bag

[MonicaJacobson]

I finally finished the camera bag I started a few weeks back. This one is for personal use, which is a good thing because I learned a lot from making it, and it's certainly not perfect! Over all though, I'm not at all displeased with how it turned out. It fits our camera well (I added 1/2 inch board underneath the camera when I formed the leather), and even fits the bigger lens. I'm looking forward to hauling it along for many hikes.

Cheers,

Monica

[Tree Reaper]

Monica;

You've been busy getting that done.

Nice case, does your camera still take pictures after all that molding?

Kevin

[Leatherbaron]

Real nice Job mate

[MonicaJacobson]

LOL, yeah, well, it still seems to work. Good thing. Kevin, I did a bit of a hack job on those corners, but it definitely looks better than it did, hack or no. I added two little pieces of leather and sewed them in and glued them. Next time I'll avoid the whole scenario.

Thanks, Leatherbaron!

[Tree Reaper]

It would be interesting to find out what a camera model made from a 3D printer would cost.

[MonicaJacobson]

As it happens, my husband happens to work with 3D printer maker bots, but actually modeling the camera in CAD would take a ridiculous amount of time. He says if you had the CAD, it'd take $20.00 of materials (plus whatever time it took), but if you don't have the CAD, it'd be a thousand dollar project.

[Alvetjarn]

Very nice camera molding! I can see you make additional ones for other lenses that you can hang onto this one as well.

Regarding the camera and molding. Cameras today are sturdy things and if you wrap it in plastics to avoid the wet then it should be able to handle it without any problem. Otherwise do a rough wooden version.

[Wrumble]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what did you use to dye/darken that veg tanned? The finish is awesome!

[MonicaJacobson]

Thank you, Alvetjarn! I appreciate the kind words. It actually fits a 24-70 and a 50mm 1:1.4 lens (not at the same time, obviously), which are our favorite lenses. I need to make a flash case to go with it. I plan to make the flash case with a clip on the back so that you can just clip it onto your belt. If we were as into photography as we used to be, I'd just make an over the shoulder lens case that could hold another two lenses. You know, the way a quiver sits, but not shaped like a quiver. You only want so many bags impeding your movement.

And thank you Wrumble - I'm not really sure what the ideal finish is, but I used neatsfoot oil and then waxed it. I'm letting it darken in the sun as well. I really like the golden caramel look of undyed and aged leather.

[Volksdad]

Thats a beautiful case. No kitschy adornment, just a sincere functional purpose design and the raw beauty of leather.

Well done!

[MonicaJacobson]

Thank you!

[capretta]

Nice looking case, ive been thinking about doing something similar myself! Can you tell me now youve been using it how it goes as far as ease of use? I was thinking of putting a matchbox sized block near the side of the camera for moulding so I could get my fingers in and get around the finger grip. I could see it being a bit of a pain to get out sometimes in my imagination?

Nice looking case, ive been thinking about doing something similar myself! Can you tell me now youve been using it how it goes as far as ease of use? I was thinking of putting a matchbox sized block near the side of the camera for moulding so I could get my fingers in and get around the finger grip. I could see it being a bit of a pain to get out sometimes in my imagination?

[MonicaJacobson]

Thank you, Capretta,

I haven't actually put it to serious use, yet. Not an actual hike with breaks to take pictures, though we have taken it with us on casual trips. However, I have taken it out of the case 30 odd times, and it's not frustrating at all. When I molded it, I added padding on the sides so it wouldn't be too tight there, much like you were thinking of doing. I also gave the camera an additional 1/2 inch of height with a board underneath it. And I didn't stress about it being super tight over the camera, so it's not. It's not quite as convenient as a normal camera bag, but leather is naturally stiffer.

[capretta]

cool, thanks for the reply!

[Spindrift57]

Looks great. Not sure I'd trust myself with all that water around my camera.

If you're thinking of accessories have a look at this http://www.skytoptrading.com/accessories.html. I bought one secondhand but plant make my own additional lens cases etc for the stuff I carry.

[MonicaJacobson]

I covered it with several layers of plastic wrap, just to be safe. Thanks for the link!

[OdinUK]

Thats really nice. Hope you dont change your camera any time soon.

[MonicaJacobson]

Thanks! That hadn't struck me, but there's definitely something in that.