iandiam
Member
I wanted to share this with people on the forum who may be budget- and ergonomically-minded and have bottom-loaders that are rather tricky to load in a hurry or in a tight place...Sorry they're not-the-best - camera phone pics.
I made this case for the CL recently acquired B/W/O @Sepiareverb (Thanks, Bob). It now hangs normally and the strap doesn't get in the way of the eyepiece every time I hoist it to fire off a frame. Nice. It is from a salvaged thrift store purse (actually, two. What? Im comfortable in my manhood enough to buy a pair of purses from an old lady in a thrift store...)
Seemed like a pain in the keester to have to unscrew the thing from the bottom every time I wanted to change the film, and seeing as the locking cam is situated around the tripod socket, there wasn't really any way to take the case and back off in one piece. If you're cheap with bulk film ends (rolls of six and seven for test rolls sometimes...) or buy lots of cheap 12's like me, this is a huge PITA. So it's bottomless:
Then, seeing as the stock strap lugs are located inconveniently on two different parts of the body, there has to be a way to use BOTH if it's to hang right. Using just the top would likely cause the case to fall off, seeing as it's not screwed into the body. Enter the thru strap plan, adding the bonus of being able to change film while standing WITHOUT dropping the back through those slots between those decking boards on the pier or into the storm sewer...The case and back hang together at strap height while you can manipulate the body as necessary (sorry I didn't bother to reverse the mirror pic...):
Note also that the bottom strap lug acts as a stay to keep the case attached to the back, preventing it from flopping loose in your lap while fiddling with the new roll of film... Finally, you want to keep the backs of those quick rivets away from the paint of your baby, so you need to find a nice, soft-ish coating to cover them up on the inside. I went with this plaid polyester stuff (another purse) that is rather stiff of composition, so as to help prevent stretching of the leather by the weight of the camera against the bottomless case:
Finally, for the battery conscious, limited access to the test button so it won't be accidentally depressed in your pocket or bag, and free but somewhat restricted access to the lens release so all that expensive glass is a little less likely to pop off in a hasty way:
I guess this took me two afternoons, including making a pattern out of some stiff paper and various bouts with trial and error. But, hey, it can be done, so make it your own if you want. **If you're going to make them commercially, though, I have documents!
Cheers:
I made this case for the CL recently acquired B/W/O @Sepiareverb (Thanks, Bob). It now hangs normally and the strap doesn't get in the way of the eyepiece every time I hoist it to fire off a frame. Nice. It is from a salvaged thrift store purse (actually, two. What? Im comfortable in my manhood enough to buy a pair of purses from an old lady in a thrift store...)
Seemed like a pain in the keester to have to unscrew the thing from the bottom every time I wanted to change the film, and seeing as the locking cam is situated around the tripod socket, there wasn't really any way to take the case and back off in one piece. If you're cheap with bulk film ends (rolls of six and seven for test rolls sometimes...) or buy lots of cheap 12's like me, this is a huge PITA. So it's bottomless:
Then, seeing as the stock strap lugs are located inconveniently on two different parts of the body, there has to be a way to use BOTH if it's to hang right. Using just the top would likely cause the case to fall off, seeing as it's not screwed into the body. Enter the thru strap plan, adding the bonus of being able to change film while standing WITHOUT dropping the back through those slots between those decking boards on the pier or into the storm sewer...The case and back hang together at strap height while you can manipulate the body as necessary (sorry I didn't bother to reverse the mirror pic...):
Note also that the bottom strap lug acts as a stay to keep the case attached to the back, preventing it from flopping loose in your lap while fiddling with the new roll of film... Finally, you want to keep the backs of those quick rivets away from the paint of your baby, so you need to find a nice, soft-ish coating to cover them up on the inside. I went with this plaid polyester stuff (another purse) that is rather stiff of composition, so as to help prevent stretching of the leather by the weight of the camera against the bottomless case:
Finally, for the battery conscious, limited access to the test button so it won't be accidentally depressed in your pocket or bag, and free but somewhat restricted access to the lens release so all that expensive glass is a little less likely to pop off in a hasty way:
I guess this took me two afternoons, including making a pattern out of some stiff paper and various bouts with trial and error. But, hey, it can be done, so make it your own if you want. **If you're going to make them commercially, though, I have documents!
Cheers:
cambolt
Green Spotted Nose Turtle
Doesn't look bad actually. I know if I tried anything similar I would most likely be left with a handful of leather vaguely resembling a flattened banana.
iandiam
Member
Ha ha... Yeah, I've had that 'squashed banana' thing happen in the past. I'll tell you that if you can use scissors and bang a hammer you could do this.
Originally, I was going to go whole-hog and stitch a bottom on it. It was going to have stitching at the edges, too. Instead, it got rivets and looks kind punk.
Although it doesn't have the fancy stitching and extra-fancy price tag, it does everything I need it to without getting in the way of its job.
Originally, I was going to go whole-hog and stitch a bottom on it. It was going to have stitching at the edges, too. Instead, it got rivets and looks kind punk.
Although it doesn't have the fancy stitching and extra-fancy price tag, it does everything I need it to without getting in the way of its job.
Mr_Toad
Fluffy Marsupial
Hmmmm....
Do you think you might consider pursuing this further as a hobby (refining the product, adding stitching, a logo) .....and then a business?
There are a handful of handgun holster makers on the web who have turned their hobby into some well-designed and high-demand products.
As a niche, I know I'd pay a premium for a secure case that held my cameras vertically.
Do you think you might consider pursuing this further as a hobby (refining the product, adding stitching, a logo) .....and then a business?
There are a handful of handgun holster makers on the web who have turned their hobby into some well-designed and high-demand products.
As a niche, I know I'd pay a premium for a secure case that held my cameras vertically.
iandiam
Member
Not quite sure what you mean by vertically - meaning, eh, well, 'portrait' orientation? The CL and the M5 (sometimes) have two strap lugs on the same end of the body, meaning that the camera would hang longways, top to bottom.
I'm not too interested in doing this a lot, but depending on the camera, (or if I can find one to borrow to make a pattern) I might consider it. It would NOT be fast. At all.
I'm not too interested in doing this a lot, but depending on the camera, (or if I can find one to borrow to make a pattern) I might consider it. It would NOT be fast. At all.