What? This Old Thing? I Just Threw It On...

I have been old friends with this bit of equipment since I started work at Camera Electronic. It was made by Tamrac and a half dozen of them sat in the storage shelves upstairs for YEARS. I suspect it was because no-one knew what they actually were. I must admit I puzzled about them myself for a long time.

During this time I built up my own studio:

I added gear from all sorts of manufacturers  - Manfrotto, Superior, Redwing, Promaster, etc. but often had no system for storage of the accessories. The clamps, knives, scissors, spigots, and whatever went from an overcrowded bureau drawer to IKEA cardboard boxes to an untidy pile on the studio product table. It was even worse when I took my studio on the road - nothing was where I needed it and quite a few little bits got lost.

Well that is exactly the sort of disorder that this thing was made to cure. It is a hanging studio organiser.

Made in three panels of tough nylon fabric, there are cross straps sewn at regular intervals into which  you can hook most anything. The whole lot then dangles from a light stand, cross bar, or, with a little finagling, you can take the foot off an Autopole, slip the triangular tube up the pole, and then replace the foot. Your junk is right there beside you as you set up a shot.

There's still four of them left at the back of the shop amongst the light stands. Give 'em honourable employment - they're only $ 20 each & feel welcome to browse our studio lighting range via our online shop by clicking here.

Studio Organiser Tree From Tamrac

Whenever I read the phrase " Organise the studio" I smile. I own a studio. I know the truth.

Nevertheless, for those who wish to clean some of the clutter up off the floor and hang it conveniently on a light stand, please consider this discovery from the trove of old stock.

We have two of them - they cost $ 20 each. They slot over a regular stand and hold 21 accessories or whatever on the side loops. Probably be heavy if you are hanging clamps and things off it, but a clever idea nevertheless.

If you have a studio cat, expect to find it half-way up the thing when your back is turned.

Something happened in the Japanese camera industry between the time I was a kid working in a camera shop and now - when I am a geezer working in a camera shop. The wonderful skill of encasing cameras has been lost. Or at least it has been moved elsewhere.

When we sold Pentax Spotmatics and Minolta SRT 101 cameras they were always accompanied in their boxes with a standard lens and a leather case. The cases were as sharp as the lenses. The leather work was precise, the fit of the case was tight, and the little details like plush lining and snaps or release fittings were top-quality. These ever-ready cases sometimes meant that the cameras were never ready, but at least they could travel slung around a sweaty tourist neck and protect the contents.

Nowadays you get the camera, a handful of cables and an opportunity to go try to find a bag that will fit the damn thing. This is a boon to the bag manufacturers like Think Tank, Lowepro, Tamrac, and Kata and to be fair when you get the right bag for your new camera it can be a beautiful and functional thing. And some of the tougher bags that hold pro bodies and lenses are really way better at protecting the gear than the old black leather ever-ready.

But elegant? No. The little ones can look like hooker's handbags and the big ones can look like upholstered apartment blocks. There are even ones that look like satchel charges. Oog.

All praise to the Leica people. The cases they sell - separately, it must be said - for the D-lux and V-Lux and X series cameras are superb - all that leather work was and should be. Their M series cases are still the epitome of the ever-ready and I would be willing to bet that the same could be said for S-series cases if there is such a thing. They may have been forced to give up their seat to a clown on the tram with the X-2 cameras that come in colours - apparently there are to be camera protectors, which I take to mean half-cases, in the same pop colours that grace the actual bodies. Let us hope that the the aesthetic is rewarding.

And Hooray for Fuji - I've got a leather case for my X-10 that is all I could want for retro style - and they do similar ones for their X-100, X-Pro1 and XE-1. Their straps are well-finished and the whole thing hangs right.

On a reflective note - perhaps the demise of the fitted leather case happened when the leather workers who worked in Japan retired. They would have been of a generation who worked in leather for military cases prior to '45 and would have been a boon to the camera industry after then. Let us hope a new lot of leather artists arises.

Zipshot! Compact and lightweight tripod.

Look what Camera Electronic just got in stock! It's a new super light weight and compact tripod stand. Perfect for compact cameras for anyone wanting to travel light and great to use as quick and easy speedlight stands too.

Click here for more info.