Re: [Leica] Lens Damage

["Jeff S" <segawa@netone.com>]

I sometimes toss lenses around without caps but only into compartments which
have nothing else rattling about, and do like to cap these properly once the
photo op has passed.

For bags, I favor Domke's medium satchel, and have managed to carry all
sorts of gear in it. Unfortunately, it was not really designed for cameras,
and it lacks velcro inside, so while you can stuff padded compartments
inside, you have to pack kind of carefully, since there's nothing holding
them in place. The smaller camera satchel, for some reason, didn't appeal to
me as much. A really cool feature of the larger satchels is that, in a
pinch, an M with short lens can be stuffed into it's FRONT pocket, film in
the other, the Sunday New York Times into the main compartment, and there's
still room for some other junk, though finding a handy spot for another lens
or two is going to take some doing--there's room, but some ingenuity will be
required. Anyone know of a handy way to stitch velcro strips into a bag, by
means of some handheld sewing machine?

It occurs to me that custom lens compartments, made from cut sections of 1
liter soda bottles and padded and velcro'd as needed, might be just the
ticket.

Canvas construction has worked well for me in 4 seasons, but I do sometimes
wonder if Cordura might be better--my bag maybe has gone past street urchin
chic to looking sort of rotted. Can anyone comment on how Billingham and
Fogg look and work when heavily used, and sometimes, abused?

Always looking for non-camera bags which might be customized, and have
looked at a number of backpacks and computer bags. So far, the one that
looks promising is Kensington's Saddlepack.

- -----Original Message-----
From: Richard Clompus <rclompus@voicenet.com>
>There has been a lot of questions and discussion about camera bags,
>changing lenses and lens damage.  I guess I've had the luxury of time to
>change lenses carefully without too many accidents.  I do not use front
>caps or rear caps.  I keep lens shades on lenses whenever possible.  My
>biggest fear is getting distracted and dropping a lens onto a pavement or
>roadway.
>