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Wed Aug 03, 2011 11:23 am

Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:54 pm
Posts: 66

I shoot a wide variety of subjects from Food to People to Architecture to Products.

All on location.

I need to be mobile and I hate making too many trips back and forth to the car.

So I got one of these:

http://www.tamrac.com/662.htm

It holds 4) Einsteins, 3)12ft stands, 3) 9ft stands, 2ft stand, "C" stand arm, Baby Boomer, 2) 8in reflectors, 2) speedrings, 2) PCB PLM speedrings, 64 & 51 PCB PLMs with fabrics, 64" & 36"Octabox, 3ft & 5ft strip boxes, 2) 16X20 softboxes, 2) 40in Umbrellas, 4ft reflector disk, 15ft extension cord, PCB VML w/ 2) batteries and the bag of PCB Remote stuff.

Plus it can be lifted into the back of a car.

Not cheap but built very well. Haven't even dreamed of trying to take this on a plane.

It's worked out so well that I just got the Tamrac 660 to carry 3) Einsteins plus stuff for the big jobs where I need everything and smaller jobs where three heads are enough.

Bill F

https://picasaweb.google.com/faulknerstudios




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Wed Aug 03, 2011 1:28 pm

Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:46 pm
Posts: 19

Many years ago a camera repairman told me his best friend was foam. Please take care when buying cheap cases as the out gasing and the breakdown of the foam may cause problems that out weigh the cost savings.




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Thu Aug 04, 2011 5:02 am

Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:25 pm
Posts: 43

BDP wrote:
Thanks, ImageX! That looks pretty cool, and a search for that item on Amazon came up with some similar options, too.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=storehouse++Aluminum+Case&x=0&y=0

The Zeikos 36 medium hard case looks similar, too. Plus it seems like there are only 36,000 options to look thru at amazon!! :lol:


I checked them and many of those brands look like the same exact case. Even the Ape Case looks the same except it has yellow foam. Either way, they are a good CHEAP option to get you by until you purchase a more "serious" case. I'll be using mine to out of town(driving) this weekend and I expect it will work perfectly. 8-)








While I'm thinking about it..... after you remove the foam for your lights to fit, don't throw it away. What I did was take it and made a layer of foam UNDERNEATH the lights in the case. Otherwise, you only have a really thin layer. It works great and adds a bit more protection.

It looks like this.....
Image





... and then you can top it off with a thin sheet of foam if you want like on the left side.
Image




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Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:46 pm

Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:41 pm
Posts: 1

I just bought 3 of these cases at a local Harbor Freight. I have 2 Einsteins in the first, an Einstein and a Quantum t5d-r in the second. In the third I was planning to put my VML and Quantum turbo battery as well as the CC and receivers and cables in the third. Does anyone see any reason I should not store the batteries in these cases?

Once I finish the third case, I'll post some images.

Tim




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Tue Aug 09, 2011 3:25 pm

Site Admin
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:43 am
Posts: 5266

This would really be determined by teh quality of the foam. Since we do not know the quality of the foam, we cannot make an absolute statement of suitability to keep the Vagabonds in. That said, I do not foresee any problems.




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Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:50 am

Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:30 pm
Posts: 7
Location: Nashua, NH

I use a IM2950 Stormcase. Pelican owns Stormcase now.

This is how I keep my Alien Bees:

2 AB1600 monolights $360 ea
2 AB800 monolights $280 ea
4 25' power cords $ 12 ea
4 7' standard reflectors
1 11" large reflector $ 35
1 12" diffusion sock
2 7" 20º grids $ 30 ea
4 Brollie umbrella softboxes (2 styles) $ 9 ea
4 Lowel UN-55 light stands $ 50 ea
1 small background stand
PCB Cybersyncs, 2 TX, 6 AC REC $380
4 travelbags for Brollies/stands $ 1 all
1 Stormcase IM2950 w/foam $ 220
2 Extra Modeling Lights and one Flash tube
4 Tarp bungie cords with ball and Croc Clips

Total of about $2500 for the kit. Here is a quick pic of it:

MaloDave

Image




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Sat Aug 13, 2011 9:33 pm

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:54 pm
Posts: 27
Location: Saint Louis, MO

I don't remember where I say the post or who was the poster but it was essentially "you should have everything in a case you will need. Based on that I've settled on this case as a two light kit. http://www.petrolbags.com/Lighting-Bags-and-Cases?q=node/1186

Here's mine.

Image

Couple of Einsteins, Mini-Lithiums, Cyber Commander, shot thru umbrellas , 10' stands and a couple of super clamps. You might ask what I would do if I need a couple of more lights. Well take two bags of course. Seriously though the Petrol bag has a accessory cart for easy transport or the kit is light enough to carry with the shoulder strap if needed.

Jason




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Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:45 pm

Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:24 pm
Posts: 1

Wanting a good carry solution, I wanted a sturdy carry case that didn't waste too much space. Also, rather than go out and spend $200 on a new Pelican case, I was looking to use something that I already had at home.

The solution I came up with was this SKB Sports case that was originally intended as a pistol case, I had used it for some paintball gear years ago, and now it was being re-assigned protective duty for a pair of Einsteins.

IIRC the case was ~$30-35 when I got it, and it measures 16"x10"x6" but is as sturdy as a pelican case, features two locking latches, and has facilities for a lock. I looked online, and SKB is still making cases of various sizes.

The problem with the one I had/used is that there is not a lot of extra room, so there is not much padding between the top and bottom, which was not a big deal. Also, there was no room for power cords or other accessories, but it does accommodate 2 lights, 2 wireless units, and a cyber commander.

I was not comfortable with the radios being attached to the lights during storage (which is probably not a realistic fear), so I removed them and stored them separately as can be seen in the pics below. If someone chose to keep them attached, I'm sure it would not be a big deal, but for me the limited space was the deciding factor.

I wanted this case to hold the lights very securely, so I opted to use some closed cell foam. I initially tried just putting the lights in their original packing foam in the case, and though they fit perfectly in two dimensions, the solution was too thick by about 1/2". I could have shaved some off the height, but I was also not fond of the orientation of the foam, so I decided to start from scratch.

I took some foam from a Dell server box that was lying around and cut a couple of pieces to size using some of the original foam as a guide. Once the two pieces were cut (each just over an inch thick), I laid the lights out the way I wanted them to fit on the foam and traced out an outline.

Cutting each piece of the two-layers independently, fitting the lights, and trimming some more unit they fit, I eventually arrived at a working solution. Under the cut foam, I put one of those no-slip drawer liners (also laying around) to prevent the lights from contacting the bottom of the case.

On the top lid, one of the original pieces of open cell foam from the original padding worked perfectly. Closing the case takes just a bit of pressure against this foam which keeps everything securely held in place.

I put the radios next to each light, and the cyber commander has it's own slot. Between the top of the case and the top foam I put the manual for the lights and the cyber commander, as well as the spare fuses so everything is out of the way.

While the case does not hold the power cords, those can easily be tossed in with other items. My goal is to make another similar case for a pair of the Vagabond Minis, and perhaps put the short power cords in that.

Anyway, took a few hours, cost me nothing, and I'm happy with the end-result, and I'm pretty picky about these things. Here are a couple of pics for reference- if there are any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Image
Image




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Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:25 pm

Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:07 pm
Posts: 4

ImageX wrote:
I bought mine locally at Harbor Freight.... with a $5 coupon. They are 20% right now if you order online... but then you have shipping. If you get one, refer to my pic for layout as it's the only way they will fit.... and the lid still be able to close. It works nicely as they are secured tightly with foam all around. Can't beat the price.

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-inch-x-12-3-4-quarter-inch-x-6-inch-aluminum-case-39196.html


ImageX - thank you for posting this idea!
I just bought two of these cases at Harbor Freight. As you indicate, they fit two Einsteins perfectly. They come with the pick & pluck foam, shoulder strap and extra dividers. For others who buy these, the padded dividers and shoulder strap were underneath the thick foam. I removed the tool holder shown in the photo on the web site. I arranged mine differently than in your photo. I put the back of one Einstein against one side with the light stand connection pointing toward the hinge end of the case and Cybersync toward the handle side of the case. I put the long padded divider in the middle then the back of the second unit against the divider. This also seems to work fine. This arrangement also left room for the electric cords below the stand connection. Thanks again for this helpful suggestion!




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