Sometimes it’s the little things that drive us nuts. One of those little things has been lens cases, especially for lenses with wide hoods like 16-35s taller lenses like 70-300s. There were soft cloth pouches from the manufacturer but they provided zero padding and protection. There were dozens of third-party cases, but they generally had trouble fitting wide angle lenses. Ditto for small, heavy lenses like Zeiss primes.
So we got together with our friends from f-Stop Gear who specialize in serious camera cases and backpacks. They designed cases for us to solve those problems: heavy duty vinyl outside, smooth vinyl inside, nice thick padding, and made in several sizes to exactly fit those problem lenses. And then we put a little pouch on the inside cover to hold a microfiber lens cloth. And put a cloth in it, of course.
We received the first few hundred today and we’ll start shipping our lenses in them next week, but it will be a month long boat ride before the rest get here and we’ve moved over to them entirely.
By the way: f-Stop will be selling these cases (without our logo, of course) as part of their line of outdoor photography gear, along with their backpacks and camera cases.
Roger, as soon as you get enough cases your inventory, you should be selling these too WITH the lensrentals.com logo. If these cases meet your standards, people will want them and be pleased to show off the lensrentals.com logo. Way better than a coffee mug.
these are awesome… so exciting for you guys!
Martha, we are giving a few away on Twitter and Facebook right now. Before we decide to sell them, though, we want to see how they stand up to use in the field. After 10 ro 20 rentals if they still look good and are holding up well we probably will!
I’d be interested in one of those cases, I don’t like the pouch that came with my Canon 24-70, but, if you don’t sell the cases, I sure would like to have one of the microfiber cloths.
Yes, I too would love to purchase a couple of those microfiber cloths! I hope those go for sale!
Another bump for selling logo’d lens cases and microfiber cloths!
I’d buy a hoodie, too.
DITTO on what everybody is saying,,
Roger, if you like them after 10- 20 rentals,, put them on the market…. I would buy some…
I would perfer you sell the ones WITH your logo,, I like to tell people about you and your website….Martha is right, way better than a coffee mug,,, Your hoodie is a great attention getter also,,,,
Chiming in as well, I’d love to have a couple with the logo…I tell everyone I meet with a camera about you guys!!!
Will your cases hold a 24LII TSE with hood?
Yes, they will. We have one set that are specifically for wide, moderately short lenses like 24 TS-E, 16-35s, etc.
Roger, you are my hero! I looked high and low and couldn’t find ANY pouches that would take the 24L II TSE with its hood on. The best fit I could find was a Domke F505, which is too tall and too narrow to accommodate the hood unless it’s taken off and stowed at an angle.
Guys, when are you going to expand to Europe? We need a worldwide photo rental business like yours. What we get here (in the small countries anyway) is ridiculous compared to what you offer. Ah well. Guess it’s me who’ll have to move, right?
We would in a heartbeat, but we’d have to have EU partners: we don’t know anything about shipping, taxes, and other rules that would apply over there. But maybe someday!!!
I’d also love to rent several of your lenses and don’t understand why that’s so difficult here in Europe. I was going to ask if I could rent it from Switzerland but with all that custom’s stuff I guess it’s close to “impossible”?
JoJu,
Shipping across borders is basically impossible (wouldn’t be from within the EU, but from outside it is) because of customs duties, inspections, etc. Most countries don’t believe “rental” and charge duties as if it were a purchase.
Yeah, after thinking once or twice I had the same conclusion. Especially because Switzerland is one of the very few Non-EU-countries: If I order sonething from outside the country, the VAT saving has to be more than 20$ (app.) because this is what transport services charge only for a tax-fee. Even if the items are below the tax-free limit. It’s not such a problem to rent original Canon-/Nikon-lenses here, but the specialities like the Zeiss’ or the Schneiders are practically unavailable to rent.
Well, fortunately nobody does charge tax for your articles, Roger. These are always a very good orientation for (and before) buying. So far I didn’t read anything about my lenses I wouldn’t agree with. Thank you for all your efforts!
I’m just posting this to say that I bought the F-Stop wide lens case for use with the 24L II TSE, and I love it. It’s a tight fit for the lens w/hood, but it does fit and I can even cram in a wireless cable release and shoe-mount level (barely). I miss the extra height of the Domke f505 (I could fit two headlamps, a cable release, a bubble level, and an energy bar in it!), but I don’t miss having to cram the lens into the bottom of the case and then play around with the hood to get it to fit too.
This is far superior to any of the other cases I tried for the TSE. Roger, thank you for helping make this happen!