Jennifer takes a look at bags & cases designed to help protect your video gear.
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Hi. I’m Jennifer O’Rourke for Video Maker and I have a confession to make. I am really bad with my equipment. So bad, in fact, this is my VX2100. It’s been through a lot with me and it has the scars to prove it. In fact, recently I damaged this camera in a way that I had to send it to certified Sony service provider and it cost me $500.00 to get it fixed. Now, that’s the price of a small camera. But, for this camera, it was worth it for me and I learned some things along the way. In today’s tips and tricks, we’re gonna show you different ways you can protect your gear with cases and bags and some of the accessories that you can get for them. And also, some gorilla tips for better protecting your gear when you’re out in the field.
One of the most important part of your camera that you need to think about protecting is the lens. In this case, I have a really nice hood that came with this camera. It opens and closes, so I don’t have to worry about trying to remember to put a lens cap on. One of the most important things you want to protect on you camera is your lens. In this case, I have a 1UA filter on it. It’s not much, pretty much clear, but the reason you keep it on all the time is so little rocks won’t hit it. It also helps protect from little water spots that you might get on the camera.
Now, if you’re storing your gear in the simple casing that it came in, good for you. But, there are a lot better ways to store your gear than just in a simple cardboard box. This looks like it might be the right sized bag for a camera this size, but think about all the gear that you’re going to be putting inside it. You may want to have just the bag by itself and the camera in its own bag, and then your gear in another bag. If you get a larger bag to carry all your gear in it, think about putting your accessories in a smaller bag like this – your cables, you batteries – so you can just pull ‘em out and they’re gonna be a lot more secure and safer than if everything’s a jumble inside the bag.
A larger bag can carry your camera very well, make it nice and snug, and you have space to put your accessories in and keep them well protected too. Now, this bag is a very special bag, made for audio mixers. What’s nice about it is your mixer might have come with a handle like that, but it’s not as well protected as if it’s in something like this and you still have a window so you can see all your buttons and dials. It opens up along the side to pull out your cables, to link it up, and it is very compact and also very lightweight, but it really protects it well.
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Now, these two are both custom cases made specifically for the type of camera that you are buying or, in this case, a microphone. It’s cut out nice and tight with the foam, cushions it very well. In this case, it even has a space for any other accessories that you have on it. Now, these two cases are also hard cases. They have very nice locking mechanisms on ‘em, and different types, different styles, but they both do the same thing. They have what’s called pluck foam and you cut the pieces out the size you want. The difference between the pluck foam and the regular foam is the regular foam, you have to custom cut it yourself, whereas the pluck foam, you just pull out the pieces in whichever way you think it fits. That way, you have it fitting perfectly around your equipment.
Now, think about this. This case has been through a lot. It’s got some burn holes here. It’s definitely got some damage here, but that’s damage you’d rather have on your case than on your camcorder.
Now, this is kind of what you would call the granddaddy of ‘em all. This is an anvil case and it is for very good, heavy packing. It’s heavy. Some of ‘em come on wheels. It has very tight locking devices and you can also put locks on ‘em. In this case, it has the custom made foam, but you can use pluck foam inside it too. You can pack a lot inside this baby.
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Obviously, these are very lightweight. They’re more just carriers than anything else. They’re not gonna protect your gear very well, but they’re gonna be enough with a handle for you to be able to carry it or sling it over your shoulder.
If you need something stronger, this is a little bit more robust. Even though it’s a soft case, it has hard siding and hard packing for your gear. It also has those nice Velcro separators we told you about and it’s on wheels or a shoulder case.
These two are heavy duty for when you’re having to pack it on a train or on a plane or0 in your car. This one is the strongest. It’s very tough inside and it has a locking case and it has wheels.
So, if you’re looking for a hard case for some of the hard packing like airplanes and trains, or a backpack for those mountain hikes, or even just a soft case to keep your gear in, don’t do it like I do it. This is my bag. This is how I keep my gear. Oh, look, a toothbrush.
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For more details, take a look at these articles using this DVD on your computer.
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