Inconsequential ramblings of an Old Git

[mangocrazy]

A month or so ago I acquired a cordless impact driver mainly for woodworking and DIY stuff (i.e. not an impact wrench for automotive use) and also decided to purchase a couple of extra batteries as I now had 3 cordless tools using the same Hitachi platform/battery set (a drill/driver, impact driver and 115mm angle grinder). The drill/driver came with its own carry case that held the driver, 2 x 2.5ah batteries and charger, but no room for anything else. The impact driver and angle grinder arrived bare, with no carry case, so I needed to start thinking about storage options.

Around about the same time Weeksy posted up a 'give me some storage solutions' thread that had some useful suggestions, one of which was a product called Shadowfoam. It did sound a bit Lord of the Rings-ish, but I didn't let that put me off. As it happened I had a good size Metabo carry case that had recently become surplus to requirements (I'd sold the scary-powerful Metabo die grinder that it housed) and I was pretty sure that this case could house 4 batteries, a charger and a drill/driver and impact driver if I was smart about the layout. So I bought a chunk of Shadowfoam in a fetching black and green colour combo to (sort of) match the Hitachi green and black and when it arrived (impressively quickly even during the pre-Christmas rush) I set about fitting it to the Metabo case.

The slab I bought measured 1 metre x 510mm x 70mm and there was enough material to comfortably make 3 inserts for the carry case, so event if I cocked up with my first (or even second) attempt it wasn't the end of the world. There's a thin (5mm) black top layer and then a succession of approx 10mm layers of your chosen colour which (in theory) should peel away once you've made in incision with the supplied scalpel and 5 blades (top marks for that, by the way). In practice the layers are more than a bit reluctant to peel, as my battered fingernails will testify.

But before I started hacking away at the foam I needed a design to follow. So having fitted the SF into the case I got some wide masking tape and covered the surface of the SF with it and tried out various layouts. This is a composite image of four of the layouts I tried.

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I took photos of each layout, loaded them up onto my PC and then flipped between them until I decided on a winner. Once I'd done that I recreated my favourite layout and carefully drew round the outline of all components with a Sharpie onto the masking tape. Then came the (frankly tedious) process of carefully cutting around the outlines marked on the masking tape. For each shape I initially just cut in to the depth of the scalpel blade (about 20mm) all around the outline of the component then dug in with my fingers and ripped the top layer or two out, revealing the green lower layer(s) of foam. This then gave me an outline to follow when excavating further. The blurb that comes with the SF makes this out to be simple and that the layers will detach fairly easily. In my experience they put up a fair old fight. Any way, after much cutting, hacking and peeling (and a number of chipped fingernails) this is what I was left with.

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There are still some loose bits of foam I could tidy up if I could be arsed, but I can't. It'll do. The foam grips the various bits and pieces quite snugly and should protect the contents when being bounced around in the back of the van on the way to the south of France, so that's the main thing. I've also got some egg-box foam on order to stick in the case lid, so that the contents are completely encased in foam of one type or another. And this is what the plot looks like with all the bits in their respective nesting places.

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So all in all |I'm very happy with the end result and equally happy that it's all done. I can't pretend that it's fun to do, but the end result is worth it.

And I have a 1 metre x 700mm piece of the stuff spare that I now need to find a use for...

[Mr. Dazzle]

Next stop, Peli cases!

[mangocrazy]

Next stop, Peli cases!

Not heard of them before, but they do look like the Gold standard. Bit rich price-wise for my tastes though.

[Mr. Dazzle]

As I'm sure you can imagine, pretty much every bit of equipment in an F1 team is stored in a shadow foam lined peli case

They are pricey but of course professional kit is even more expensive. That includes spare parts too.

[mangocrazy]

Yes, not doubting their efficacy. When you're shipping mega expensive parts around the globe, the cases are comparatively dirt cheap. But having a spare chunk of Shadow Foam has got me looking around for things to use it on. Next stop are probably my camera bags containing 5 or 6 Nikon bodies going back to the late 1970s plus about 15-20 Nikkor lenses. After that, the sky's the limit...

[asmethurst99]

Next stop, Peli cases!

Not heard of them before, but they do look like the Gold standard. Bit rich price-wise for my tastes though.

We bought one for work to put med stuff in - safe storage for needles blood bottles etc useful when doing off site visits - good quality stuff but pricy

[westers151]

Yes, not doubting their efficacy. When you're shipping mega expensive parts around the globe, the cases are comparatively dirt cheap. But having a spare chunk of Shadow Foam has got me looking around for things to use it on. Next stop are probably my camera bags containing 5 or 6 Nikon bodies going back to the late 1970s plus about 15-20 Nikkor lenses. After that, the sky's the limit...

Ooooh, whatcha got Mister?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

All the master cylinder rebuild kits I've bought have been how you describe.

[mangocrazy]

Yes, not doubting their efficacy. When you're shipping mega expensive parts around the globe, the cases are comparatively dirt cheap. But having a spare chunk of Shadow Foam has got me looking around for things to use it on. Next stop are probably my camera bags containing 5 or 6 Nikon bodies going back to the late 1970s plus about 15-20 Nikkor lenses. After that, the sky's the limit...

Ooooh, whatcha got Mister?

I started collecting (and using) Nikon camera bodies and lenses in the 1970s and from memory I still have:

Camera bodies

Nikkormat FT3
Nikon FM (x2) plus motor drive
Nikon FM2
Nikon F2A Photomic plus motor drive
Nikon FE
Nikon F3 plus motor drive
Nikon D600 (my sole concession to digital)

Lenses

Nikkor 16mm AIs f2.8 full frame fisheye
Nikkor 20mm AIs f3.5 ultrawide
Nikkor 28mm AIs f2 wide angle
Nikkor 28mm AIs f2.8 wide angle
Nikkor 35mm AIs f2.8 wide angle
Nikkor 50mm AIs f1.4
Nikkor 50mm AIs f1.8
Micro-Nikkor 55mm AIs f3.5
Nikkor 85mm AIs f1.8 short tele
Nikkor 105mm AIs f2.5 short tele
Nikkor 135mm AIs f2.8 telephoto
Nikkor 200mm AIs f4 telephoto
Nikkor 80-200mm AIs f4 zoom
Nikkor 300mm AIs f4.5 telephoto
Nikkor 400mm AIs f5.6 telephoto

I do have a few others knocking about the place, plus some EL-Nikkor enlarging lenses...

[Buckaroo]

Blimey, reads like an old Dixons catalogue. Dead envious, I have a few cameras, but nothing like this.

[mangocrazy]

Yeah, it has got a bit out of hand... I've also got a 28mm PC-Nikkor (Perspective Control) which has movements on it a bit like a plate camera. A fair few of these were snapped up in the early 2000s when prices of film kit dropped through the floor and I simply couldn't resist a bargain. I remember picking the 135mm f2.8 lens for £20 off eBay and it was like brand new. I also inherited a Nikon body and a couple of lenses off my Mum when she gave up photography.

[Skub]

I've a slightly smaller load of Canon stuff. Several A1 bodies and a host of Tamron lens,filters and stuff.

I gave the lot to one of my sons a few years ago,but he has never used them. Can you even still buy film?

It's funny,I was well into my photograph,competitions,clubs etc,now although I have a Canon digital,I almost always use my phone because it's convenient.

[mangocrazy]

You can still get film, but it's pretty niche. Ilford are still going and producing their full range of B/W films and Fuji still produce 35mm slide film in 50 and 100 ASA rating, and that accounted for 95% of the film I ever used, so yes. I'm seriously thinking about getting hold of a cheap(ish) Nikon DSLR and getting it converted to purely infra-red B/W as I'm a big fan of B/W infra-red images. If I get a Nikon FX DSLR I can use all my film lenses on it, in the same way I do with my D600.

I was sorely tempted by the Canon A1 back in the day and did think about switching from Nikon, but I had too much invested in lenses and bodies.

[Skub]

You can still get film, but it's pretty niche. Ilford are still going and producing their full range of B/W films and Fuji still produce 35mm slide film in 50 and 100 ASA rating, and that accounted for 95% of the film I ever used, so yes. I'm seriously thinking about getting hold of a cheap(ish) Nikon DSLR and getting it converted to purely infra-red B/W as I'm a big fan of B/W infra-red images. If I get a Nikon FX DSLR I can use all my film lenses on it, in the same way I do with my D600.

I was sorely tempted by the Canon A1 back in the day and did think about switching from Nikon, but I had too much invested in lenses and bodies.

I think in general Nikon were better built/sturdier cameras than Canon,but man I loved my A1,I still remember the excitement of getting my first one.

[mangocrazy]

Canon certainly raised the bar hugely with the A1. I was envious of the shutter-priority auto mode as I was doing a lot of TT photography and that would have been really handy. But Nikons were built well; my F2A was built like a tank (and weighed almost as much). One of Don McCullin's Nikons probably saved his life when it stopped a bullet. He only realised later when he came to use it...

[Buckaroo]

My first SLR was a Zenit E. That's where I learnt about f stops, dof and shutter speed. Kept a detailed log of everything for each picture. Then Olympus OM 10.... I enjoyed those days when it mattered what you shot, as opposed to today, when you just set to auto and shoot away.

[mangocrazy]

My first SLR was a Zenit E. That's where I learnt about f stops, dof and shutter speed.

Me too! It was all I could afford at the time. It also made me very grateful for auto stop-down on later cameras I owned, as the number of photos I over-exposed due to focussing at full aperture then forgetting to stop down to the taking aperture just wasn't funny.

But my overriding memory of that camera was when I persuaded my then girl friend to gradually strip off for some photos, and just when she properly got her kit off the fucking shutter jammed!

I was livid.

She thought it was hilarious.

Next day I went to see the bank manager for a loan to buy a Nikon (Nikkormat, actually...)

[Mr. Dazzle]

Tell you one nice thing about 35mm SLRs they just don't seem to do on DSLRs...high quality straps! I've got a couple of old Olympus ones and they have lovely blue/white striped webbed cotton straps, really thick with leather end tabs and "OLYMPUS" embroidered along them. Mrs. D's new Nikon on the other hand has a monochrome polyester strap with shiny printed on letters.

As for buying film: What do you think Hipsters use to photograph their vinyl collections?

[Count Steer]

Tell you one nice thing about 35mm SLRs they just don't seem to do on DSLRs...high quality straps! I've got a couple of old Olympus ones and they have lovely blue/white striped webbed cotton straps, really thick with leather end tabs and "OLYMPUS" embroidered along them. Mrs. D's new Nikon on the other hand has a monochrome polyester strap with shiny printed on letters.

As for buying film: What do you think Hipsters use to photograph their vinyl collections?

My OM1 didn't have a fancy strap - weren't they an aftermarket add-on? (Another one here who started with a Zenit E and one of their little 'suitcase' enlargers).

Oh...and why did hipsters photograph their vinyl collections?

[Mr. Dazzle]

Dunno, but both my OM1's have 'em