Hard case question

[elvezz]

I'm fixin to shio my Ike HL-DV7A off to Macie.
I need to buy a hard case.
It looks like the DSR 400 has damn near the w/h/d as my Ike.
Before I buy, I was hoping for some suggestions.

[dinosaur]

I ship mine to Roger in a Pelican 1650. TAKE THE LENS OFF !!!
Wrap the lens well. Cap the ends and camera lens mount.
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/pelican-flashlights_1910_10795597

[elvezz]

Thank you Dinosuar, I wanted a Pelican in the 1st place.

[Run&Gun]

Just don't ship it like they have it in the Pelican photo!!! ;)

You may also want to check into Storm Cases, they are usually less expensive, but built and guaranteed just as well. The latches are much better than Pelicans. The next time I need a hard case, I may go with Storm, instead...

[Spacey]

Dinosaur, did you use the Pick/Pluck with the 1650?

I've had a JVC 550 in the 1650, Pick n' Pluck. The blasted "pluckies" keep comming out whenever I pull the camera out. I have it so the camera "drops in" - camera vertical when the lid is top-wise.

Any suggestions?

[The Thing on The Sticks]

Try an army navy store they usually sell bats of foam rubber that can be cut and shaped to the size and dimensions you need just make sure what ever you buy is dense enough to handle the camera without being compressed. Also if I am not mistaken doesn’t pelican offer custom cut inserts for a price?

Geoff

[dinosaur]

Dinosaur, did you use the Pick/Pluck with the 1650?

I don't customize the space by using the "pick & pluck". I think it contaminates the case with tiny pieces and flakes of foam which can work their way inside your camera & gear.

When shipping the camera for service I take the middle layers of foam out and wrap the entire camera in bubble wrap and seal that. Same goes for the lens, but its separated from the camera. I cap the lens on both ends with the factory lens caps and then bubble wrap the entire lens. I cap the camera's bayonet lens mount with the Sony cap that is intended for this purpose and then tape a small piece of cardboard across the lens mount.

I loosen the viewfinder slide lock. I don't ship the mic unless that's part of the suspected problem.

I put a letter to the technician describing the trouble symptoms and, if possible, a recorded tape to demo the problem
inside the case.

You can even throw in a return FedEx label. Write your return address and phone # on the case with a white paint pen. Once on the lid side and once on the bottom half. Label and tags can come off inadvertantly. Heavy duty tie wrap or TSA Pelilock the case. Fax the lock combo to Roger.

[Matt Box]

I was once in a photo store and saw a aerosol can of some kind of stuff that you could spray on the pick and pluck foam and it would give it a kind of rubberized coating. Sorry I do not know what it was called or who made it.

BTW I just got my first stormcase. I got the gun case one for use with my lightstands. Its really well made and I would definitely recommend them to anyone in the market for a new case.

[dinosaur]

You can try this, but it can get very messy if you're not VERY careful. Its easy to screw up and get this epoxy based foam on your camera before it cures. In the end, it makes a nice custom mold for your camera and forms a "skin" that does not flake.
Some rental houses use this so they can change the foam configuration of a single case as needed & they don't have to deal with rotting or flaking foam.

AT YOUR OWN RISK: This is from a broadcast engineer's tip sheet - "Another way to do the case lining is to buy a can or two of "great stuff" polyurethane expanding foam at the home improvement center, along with some thick sheets of visqueen or plastic dropcloth. Put one layer in the case with a couple feet overlap on each side, then spray the goop in on top, let it start to expand a bit and throw another sheet of the plastic on top to make a sandwich.

Great Stuff expands 3-4 times it's initial size when it comes out, so use it in moderation at first, perhaps use one can for a test on a cardboard box first. You can also mix in some stiffer material like foam peanuts into the bottom layer to add crush resistance.

Lay your gear (perhaps wrapped in cling wrap just as extra insurance) on top of the sandwich, let it sink into the still-expanding foam and in an hour or three you have custom shaped nests for all the gear. Once the foam cures and is no longer expanding, trim the excess plastic and any foam that leaked out.
Be warned: this stuff is the stickiest thing you ever saw when it's wet. Alcohol will remove it if it hasn't fully hardened. Putting the first layer of plastic lining in the case makes the whole works removable if and when you desire it."
http://images.orgill.com/200x200/6405039.JPG

[Baltimore Shooter]

Damn good idea Dino! I'm going to try that sometime. I don't have anything that requires anything like that right now, but when the time comes, I'll definately give that a shot.

Warren

[The Thing on The Sticks]

http://www.browncor.com/ecommerce/eComm?template=iCatalog/0041&cust_no=&ship_no=-1&user_id=?

Sounds like the poor mans version of this. Very cool concept gotten a couple of packages done this way. Nice and re-useable too.

Geoff