Recently purchased a 1564 in black. I'm expanding my camera and lens collection (ordered a 5DIII + 70-200 f/2.8L II yesterday! woo!) and need a larger kit case. Plus, I've been storing my 5DII and lenses in my think tank shoulder bag and would like to store them in a more safe and moisture free environment.
Here's the distribution so far:
(please excuse cell phone quality shot)
So far I'm loving the case.The only thing I'm not crazy about is how few small dividers it comes with. Luckily, though, I have some left over from other cases/bags that I could throw in to add a bit more padding around the lenses and camera bodies.
I also had a bit (read...a huge amount) of pick and pluck left over from another case I have so I put some below the two lenses to bring them almost flush with the top of the dividers.
Which brings us to...HPRC cases.
I know, I know! It's not a Pelican but here's my
HPRC 2800W
:
Aaaaaaaaand here's a size reference to the Peli 1564:
This thing is BIG. But it needed to be. I wanted to feel safe transporting three Flolights (think kino-flo diva 400s) around but the soft case that comes with them is basically just a nylon sack. I do a lot of location shoots so I needed better protection for these fixtres and their fragile bulbs.
Didn't want to spend the $400-$600 it would have taken to get a Pelican in the correct size (probably the 0500...no wheels too!) so I researched the alternatives and found HPRC.
This thing is built wonderfully and has great wheels and two large handles for carrying/rolling.
One downside is it's also HEAVY. Weighing in at around 29lbs empty, it's ~70lbs with the lights + foam but that was to be expected after putting in three 11lb fixtures + mounting brackets and power cables. I don't really have a problem lifting it up to my car, though, and can carry down stairs well enough using just one of the handles. The wheels do make life a lot easier though.
Here's the distribution on the inside:
Both of these cases have recently joined my rag-tag group of hard cases. Here's a family photo:
From top to bottom:
Pelican 1564 - Camera Kit
Calzone Case - Bought it used on craigslist for $40. Came with custom dividers inside Holds my White Lightning x1600 and 3 Einsteins + PW triggers and cables. I have a love/hate relationship with this case. It's super protective but just too heavy. Almost 45lbs and no wheels + non-ergonomic handles.
Storage Locker with Wheels - $40 From the container store. Holds all my softboxes/stripboxes, extension chords, small grip gear, extra brackets for video lighting ect...(basically anything that's not fragile.)
SKB Case - This holds 2 LP Sola ENG LED fresnels along with 6 large 105w cfl bulbs + custom video light I built for the 47" PCB octabank.
HPRC 2800W - 3 Flolight 220aw
All in all I'm satisfied with my collection but for the future I'll probably end up replacing the calzone case with a pelican. I'll also probably buy only Peli or HPRC cases for my expanding kit from now on.
