Eveready Cases

[gmail.com]

Why everybody seems to hate them?

I find them very elegant and practical in keeping the camera ready for shooting. Plus, they harder than most of the new synthetic camera bags. Cameras are more prone to fall from a bag that an Eveready case secured by a screw.

 

[Matthew Allen]

I find they make cameras bulky and unergonomic, and I don't like having half the case dangling below the camera.

Matthew

 

[Laforet]

Because cameras nowadays are too bulky for a case with a long nose to fit over and drop off efficently. Most of us jus settle with half-cases. IMHO if you do not mind looking like an average tourist, a small bag for digicam is the best way to go.

 

[btgc]

As noted before me, it depends on camera. For RF's I like ERC's - to carry in them while just slipping in casual bag; and using with detached upper cover (to avoid Neverready factor). Strap is good because of weight and slippery metal surfaces strapless RF sooner or later hits ground. So lower side of ERC with attached neckstrap is good to have. Upper halve is good for carrying purposes because I carry RFs without special bags.

SLR usually sits in it's own bag with couple of lenses and when used, I keep in by hand, securing neckstrap around hand (hanging on neck abuses neck and personally I don't like that camera swings from side to side as I walk). So i tend to use SLRs without ERC because when not using I put it back in camera bag.

And small palm-fitting camera is just fine with handstrap. XA2 even doesn't has one attached, but after this post will look for one.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Why everybody seems to hate them?

Because they add unnecessary bulk and because it can never be as quick to use a camera if you have to get it out of its case first (or flip the upper part of the case off). Then there's trying to shoot with a floppy pendulum under the camera, never mind the possibility of the flap getting in front of the lens. I use these things from Optech for transporting cameras:

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/review optech camera case.html

but the only 'ER' case I ever use is on my Retina IIa, which is so tiny I don't really mind it. Even then, I normally care the camera 'naked' (the camera, not me).

Cheers,

Roger

 

[ChrisPlatt]

I like the poor maligned eveready case. I get them for all my cameras. They don't get in my way at all.
They offer a bit of protection when you're taking just the camera with lens out. Ditch that camera bag!

Chris

 

[Dektol Dan]

No snobby Italian half cases for me.

No snobby Italian half cases for me.

I like the poor maligned eveready case. I get them for all my cameras. They don't get in my way at all.
They offer a bit of protection when you're taking just the camera with lens out. Ditch that camera bag!

Chris

I totally agree. I don't like loose lugs on an expensive camera. I shoot on the street and in crowds and like being able to have quick protection. I hike over rough terrain and don't like extra weight, and I like stowing my camera under a car seat and out of view.

I know how to use an eveready case and they never give me problems. I was born with 5 digits on each hand and I know how to use them.

Rangefinders are like shooting a single action pistol quick draw. Some can master it, most can't.

Please sell me your unloved eveready if it's in good shape. I'm sure to find a home for it.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I totally agree. I don't like loose lugs on an expensive camera. I shoot on the street and in crowds and like being able to have quick protection. I hike over rough terrain and don't like extra weight, and I like stowing my camera under a car seat and out of view.

I know how to use an eveready case and they never give me problems. I was born with 5 digits on each hand and I know how to use them.

Rangefinders are like shooting a single action pistol quick draw. Some can master it, most can't.

Please sell me your unloved eveready if it's in good shape. I'm sure to find a home for it.

Are you seriously saying that you can work faster with an ERC than without one?

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Dektol Dan]

Are you seriously saying that you can work faster with an ERC than without one?

Cheers,

Roger

I can work faster than you can!

 

[payasam]

When I carried just a fixed lens camera -- a Rolleicord or a Canonet -- I carried it in its ERC. With interchangeable lens cameras came lenses and a bag to carry the whole mess. That was when I abandoned ERCs. I had to use a half case with my Zorki 1C, of course, because it had no strap lugs.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I can work faster than you can!

How do you know that?

Besides, as I said, that isn't the question.

The question is whether YOU can work faster with an ERC than YOU can without.

Whether I can work faster with or without is an entirely separate question.

It is not hard for anyone of ordinary intelligence to work out the answer for any individual, regardless of their speed relative to someone else: it has to be quicker without. Drop the macho posturing, and the ridiculous parallels with pistol shooting, and try thinking instead.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Laforet]

I use these things from Optech for transporting cameras:

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/review optech camera case.html

Nice accessory, I know this concept has been used before as someone actually made this kind of elaborate Leica condom😛

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=156946773

Not a bad idea actually, especially when it takes a camera with a meter/viewfinder fitted on top.

 

[__hh]

I had one brand new when I bought my M6. I guess the reason why it was unused was the original owner had no use for it 🙂

To me, I find the ERC useful as a case (the least bulky solution to pack a camera for travel), but soon found out that I hated using the camera with anything else attached to it. I ended up having to unscrew the M6 from the whole case every time I use it. Like they say, it ended up being a never-ready-case.

 

[merlin]

Then there's the lugless Barnack. You have 4 carry choices in order of risk:
1) Carry it naked and tiny, and eminently droppable no matter how careful you are.
2) Secure it with a wrist strap, guaranteeing undroppability only when Oscar is secured to your wrist.
3) Keep Him in a camera bag, undroppable long as He stays unused in the bag.
4) Use the early factory-style super-thin ERC that utilizes a simple top strap to hold the camera within the opened case.

These ERCs are very small, flip fully open fast, and are easily held that way while working. Looking 'uncool' and 'touristy' bother you?? The little retainer strap on the lower case releases with a thumb-flip, allowing the camera to be slid on out in a heartbeat as there is no tripod screw to deal with. Agreed, most ERCs are a bit cumbersome but the old-style Barnack cases are way-fast-enough to leave in place to eliminate the worry of impact or weather.

Of course these cameras are no-rush at best, so blinding ERC speed is not particularly an issue.

 

[Matthew Allen]

To me, I find the ERC useful as a case (the least bulky solution to pack a camera for travel)

That's a good point. I have a couple of ME Super ERCs and they sometimes come in useful for packing cameras. As well as being useful for the ME, they are a decent enough fit for a Barnack. When I came home from university a couple of weeks ago the IIIa travelled this way. In fact, if you ever want a cheap half case for a Leica screw mount, I'm sure you could adapt half of an old ERC like the Pentax one.

Matthew

 

[ernesto]

It seems that we have a choise between "security" and "comfortability"
Each degree we move in the scale, we will lose one and gain the other.

Which made me think about the name "ever ready case" which seems contradictory.

Ernesto

 

[FallisPhoto]

Why everybody seems to hate them?

I find them very elegant and practical in keeping the camera ready for shooting. Plus, they harder than most of the new synthetic camera bags. Cameras are more prone to fall from a bag that an Eveready case secured by a screw.

I take it you don't go through several rolls of film during a typical shoot?

 

[gmail.com]

I take it you don't go through several rolls of film during a typical shoot?

No, because I don't photograph series of the same subject. I usually take time to prevent mistakes. Under "emergency" circumstances (quick passing events) I use the camera with no case at all.

 

[FallisPhoto]

No, because I don't photograph series of the same subject. I usually take time to prevent mistakes. Under "emergency" circumstances (quick passing events) I use the camera with no case at all.

I take time too, but I shoot people. When hiring a model it makes sense to get more than one pose (because the client may not like that pose). It also makes sense to take more than one shot of each pose (models blink), paying close attention to -- and changing -- small details as you go. I usually want about 30-40 poses and about 9-10 shots of each, and I pose them right down to the fingers and toes. I take ten shots of each pose -- both in order to be safe and to bracket my exposures. I've never had to reshoot because I got back to the lab, enlarged the photo and found that the model had blinked, looked at the camera or cleared her throat.

Anyway, the point is that ever-ready cases make it hard to load 10 rolls of film in succession.

One other thing: they are made from tanned leather (pretty acidic). Any moisture at all and it will eat holes in your chrome. Lots of old cameras bear mute testimony to this.