Here, Kitty, Kitty...

They say you can sell anything with cats and kittens. Well we're about to see if that's true. 'Cause we're going to sell foam rubber bags full of tigers.

The actual products, apart from the Schleich tigers, are Lens Coat BodyGuard camera cases. The one with the closed back is a straight BodyGuard while the one with the clear plastic screen cover at the rear and the Velcro flap on top is the BodyGuard Compact CB.

I said foam rubber but I should have said neoprene wet-suit material - that is what this amounts to. The bags are precision cut, assembled, and properly edged. They are designed to enfold cameras while leaving the front of the lens free for operation. You select which size fits your picture box and go from there. In the case of the Plain BodyGuard it wraps around a camera without a neck strap but the BodyGuard Compact CB is pierced at the right spots to pass the camera strap through.

The basic idea of the BodyGuard is to wrap around a camera in your luggage or your pocket to prevent hard objects from damaging it. You are expected to take the camera out of the pouch to use it, but if you were in a desperate hurry you could probably turn it on and fire it by feeling the controls through the neoprene. It would certainly muffle the sounds of the shutter.

The Bodyguard Compact CB is a different proposition. Once you mount your Canon G 7 to G 16 in it, or your Fujifilm X-T10, or your Panasonic micro 4/3 camera with the straps through the bag slits, you leave it in there as you shoot. LensCoat have put a generous flexible clear plastic back on the case and a smaller version on the top surface that allows you to see the shutter or mode dial on the RHS of a camera.

There is also a velcro'd flap up top that pretty well matches the position of the hot shoe on many mirrorless and compact cameras. Leave it shut for the most part but flap it up when you attach your speed light.

There are also two slits in the sides of the pouch that allow you to reach in and change memory cards or access the in/out panel of USB and video sockets.

This is the sort of case/pouch/whatever that allows you to move through crowds, caves, or bramble thickets with no damage to your camera.  Even if it swings about on your neck or shoulder strap there is enough neoprene around it to cushion the blow. It is precisely the sort of thing that I was trying to make for myself three weeks ago with sheet neoprene from Clarks rubber. My design failed miserably - this one succeeds.

Let's face it, folks...the day of the ever-ready case in leather - with three accessory boxes attached to it - is dead. They don't supply 'em any more because they don't make 'em any more. And you wouldn't be caught dead struggling off a Boeing in Bali wearing one. But the need for protection is still there, and we need imaginative solutions like the LensCoat ones.

PS: The tigers say Hi. They're from Claremont...

The Lenscoat Closing Down 50% off online sale is now on! Visit www.lenscoat.com.au