Transporting LF Lenses

[jmolligo]

I was curious as to other photographers' methods of carrying several and/or heavier (larger) lenses on location or in the field. Do you leave them on boards, or transport them off boards in a wrap or small case, do you leave a lens on the camera, etc?
Thank you for any and all input.

[Uhner]

I rarely bring more than three lenses in the field. I keep mine mounted on their lensboards and wrapped in thick protective cloth that close with Velcro.

[Kent10D]

This is an interesting question. I'd be interesting in reading about and/or seeing how people manage their lenses in the field too.

I suppose if you have a partitioned bag you can just pop the lenses in their own partitions -- with the caps on, of course. But has anyone made a purpose-built case, or come up with any other ingenious solutions?

[Ole]

Do you leave them on boards, or transport them off boards in a wrap or small case, do you leave a lens on the camera, etc?

Yes - all of the above!

Since I have more lenses than boards (I use five different boards on five different cameras), I put the most likely used on boards for the camera I'm bringing. The rest go in pockets/partitions in my camera bag. There's usually one lens on board folded inside the camera too, on those cameras that can fold with a lens on/inside.

Since I have iris lens board for many of my cameras, I might just mount the really big and heavy ones (360mm f:5.6 Symmar and the likes), and bring the smaller ones "loose" without lensboards.

I also have a Speed Graphic with an iris lens board, where I usually just bring a pocket-full of old lenses, individually wrapped in pieces of an old flannel bedsheet.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I leave them on the lensboards. I never want to be mounting and unmounting lenses from lensboards in the field. Variations on that would be barrel lenses that I use with an adapter on the front of a big Ilex 5 shutter or a convertible lens, where I've got several elements that can be interchanged on one shutter, but in both of those cases, the shutter stays mounted to the lensboard at all times.

For 4x5" I usually use a Crumpler case with compartments. For the other formats I usually carry the lenses in lens wraps or small bags. If I'm traveling light, I might just carry my Technika on a strap over my shoulder, tripod on a strap over the other shoulder, and a couple of lenses in a small bag or a fanny pack or in my jacket pockets.

If you have a camera that takes large lensboards, you might consider mounting smaller lenses on smaller lensboards and using an adapter board to reduce bulk in the case.

For lenses on smaller boards, there's an Orvis fly fishing reel case that some people like, if it hasn't been discontinued.

[Dave Miller]

I rarely bring more than three lenses in the field. I keep mine mounted on their lensboards and wrapped in thick protective cloth that close with Velcro.

Me too.

[Dan Fromm]

I carry my lenses in shutter on boards. For lenses in barrel, if the lens has its own adapter for front-mounting it will be in the adapter. If not, not. I have a few barrel lenses that are on boards.

I use a variety of plastic food storage containers to hold the lenses. Depending on the lens and container, anywhere from one to four lenses/container. All padded with foam.

One exception, which stays home most of the time. A very bulky tele lens that is on a board lives in a lens wrap.

I have a Ruxxac (spelling?) dolly, carry the lenses and cameras etc. in a tool bag, bought at Home Depot, on it. The tool bag has built-in wheels and a handle, but rolls well only on pavement.

[MurrayMinchin]

My gear gets subjected to all kinds of wet, windy, or snowy weather conditions and gets jostled about in a packsack so I kept my two Schneider's in the cardboard boxes they came in, fully assembled on boards with shutters. It was annoying trying to wiggle a lens out of the inner box after the top was removed, so I cut one side of the inner box to form a flap that falls away when the outer box top is removed. Sure it may add a few grams to my packs weight, but they offer great protection.

Murray

[Monophoto]

I only own two lenses. I keep them mounted on boards, each with its own cable release, in a velcro-closed lens-wrap in a dedicated area in my backpack.

[climbabout]

I shoot an 8x10 and generally carry only 4 lenses with me. I used to have them in separate lens wraps but after seeing a thread on LF tip on the LF forum I now carry all of them in a padded cell which has a zippered top. They're separated by padded spacers and each lens is on it's own 4x4 lensboard and with it's own shutter cable attached. I use a 6x6 to 4x4 reducer on the camera to save space from having all the lenses on 6x6 boards. I find setting up to be a bit faster this way.
Tim