Cases, Bags and Straps: What to Look For
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Three things get filed under the same heading and they solve completely different problems. One is fitted to a single camera model, one carries whatever you put in it, and one is the part most likely to drop your camera on the pavement.
Short answer
- Ever-ready case — moulded to fit one specific camera model. It has to match; a case for another body simply won't close properly.
- Bag — carries anything. Choose by what you actually carry and how much padding it has.
- Strap — check how it attaches to your camera, and check the stitching before you trust it.
Ever-ready cases
These are the hinged leather cases that wrap around a camera, with a front section that unclips or folds down so you can shoot without taking the camera out. They screw to the tripod socket underneath.
The important point when shopping: they're made for one model. The cut-outs for the lens, the winder, the rewind knob and the controls are all in fixed places. A case from a similar-looking body will not close properly, and forcing it does no good to either.
How to check what a case is for:
- The embossing. Most carry the maker's name, and many carry a model name too — usually on the front flap or the base.
- Match it to your camera's exact model name rather than to a family. Makers often produced several bodies that look alike from a metre away.
You'll often see the bottom half sold on its own — the "half case." That's not always damage: the front half gets removed on purpose, because it dangles when you're shooting. Half cases protect the base and the corners, which is where most wear happens anyway, and they leave the controls free.
What to check on used leather
- Flexibility. Press it. Leather that has dried hard will crack rather than flex, and that doesn't come back.
- Stitching. Look along every seam, especially where the strap lugs attach. Rotted thread is the usual failure.
- Smell. A musty smell means it has been stored damp. That's worth knowing before it goes anywhere near a camera you care about.
- Mould marks. White or greenish bloom on the surface or in the lining.
- The tripod screw. It should turn freely and not be seized or stripped.
- The lining. Old felt or velvet sheds, and the fibres end up on your glass.
One thing worth repeating from our piece on storing cameras and lenses: a leather case is for carrying and for display, not for long-term storage. Leather holds moisture and it sits directly against the camera.
Bags
A bag is a simpler decision, because nothing has to match.
- Padding and dividers. These vary from bag to bag, so check what a given bag has. Padded dividers let you keep a body and a lens from touching, and inserts are available if you want to configure a bag around a particular kit.
- Closure. Flaps with buckles look right and are slow; zips are quick and eventually fail. Pick whichever annoys you less.
- Weather. Waxed canvas and leather shrug off drizzle. Nothing vintage is properly waterproof.
- Size. Buy for what you carry on an ordinary day, not for your entire collection. Oversized bags let gear slide around.
- Base. The bottom is what wears through first; check it before anything else.
Straps — the part that actually drops cameras
First work out how your camera takes one:
- Narrow lugs. Small metal loops on the sides. These take split rings or triangular rings, usually with a small leather or plastic pad that stops the ring scratching the body. Don't lose those pads.
- Wide slots. Rectangular slots that a strap end threads straight through.
- Tripod-socket mounts. Some hand straps and quick-release systems screw into the base instead.
Then check the strap itself, and be thorough about it, because this is the single accessory whose failure destroys a camera:
- Stitching at both ends. This is where straps break. Old thread goes brittle even when the strap looks fine.
- Elongated or torn holes where the strap passes through hardware.
- Cracked leather at the fold points.
- Brittle plastic clips. Fifty-year-old plastic doesn't bend, it snaps.
- Rust at the rings and rivets.
None of that takes long to check, and it's worth doing on any strap before you hang a camera from it — new, old, or the one that came with the camera.
Neck, shoulder or wrist?
- Neck — traditional, keeps the camera in front of you, gets uncomfortable with heavier bodies.
- Shoulder / sling — spreads the weight, lets the camera hang at your side.
- Wrist — minimal and unobtrusive, best with small bodies, and it demands that you keep hold of the camera.
For a heavy body with a long lens, width matters more than material — a wider strap spreads the load whatever it's made of.