Camera Bag for EX3 + Letus Ultimate + Matte Box

[MitchLewis]

Hello fellow EX3 users!

We're purchasing a new EX3 rig to replace our aging Canon XL-1S. We're approved to buy the Sony EX3 with a Letus Ultimate 35mm adapter and a Red Rock microMatte Box. But the question is.....what camera bag will fit this rig? i'm already worried that the Letus rods won't be long enough to use a with a 17-35 zoom lens AND the Matte Box. Are we crazy to try and leave this rig assembled? Honestly the whole point of buying the Letus Ultimate over the Extreme or Brevis was that we could pretty much leave it on the camera all the time. Hence, our wanted to find a camera bag to fit the entire rig.

We're not looking for a backpack style bag, just a soft or hard case to protect the rig while moving it from one location to another. We'll never use it for plane travel. It will travel in the truck of a car.

I've tried emailing Philip Bloom as he has the exact same setup, but he must be pretty busy these days as I haven't gotten a reply. (I just sent him another email in case he missed our original one)

[MitchLewis]

I got an email from Philip Bloom. He said he's still trying to find a good one as well! :)

The length of the EX3 is about 16 inches. Now I just need to determine the length of a Letus Ultimate. and the Red Rock microMatte box. (I emailed them and am waiting for a response)

[Joseph Stunzi]

I'd check around to find the appropriate Storm Case or Pelican. I have seen videographers in the past with custom built wooden and metal cases with built in triad plates to mount their cameras in a stationary place. You could somehow rig a cheap traid quick release plate to your case and have padded foam and other security somehow.

I do know they have cases for the EX-1 + Letus + Mattebox if that's of any interest.

[MitchLewis]

Thanks Joseph! (thanks for your help on the phone the other day too!) Yeah, the wooden case sounds a bit too heavy for what we use it for. Good idea though.

I've looked at the Portabrace, Kata and Petrol, but without knowing the total length of the camera rig, I don't know which model case to pick. Hopefully I'll get a response soon from Letus and Red Rock.

I'm guessing that since the camera is about 16 inches, everything else will total up to approximately 12-14 inches (total 28-30 inches) . So that leaves the following:

16x9 Inc. Large Grab & Shoot Bag - $250 27 x 11 x 11" (LxWxH)
Kata CC-197 - $215 27.165 x 13.58 x 12.6" (LxWxH)
Kata CCC-10A - $250 29.9 x 11.8 x 10.6" (LxWxH)
Petrol PCC-2 Camera Cage 2 Hard Shell Camera Case - $324 28 x 9.4 x 12.2" (LxWxH)
Porta Brace CC-HD1 Quick Draw Camera Case - $380 29 x 11.5 x 12" (LxWxH)
Porta Brace CO-AB-M Carry-On - $360 28 x 6.0 x 11" (LxWxH)
Porta Brace CO-OA/M Carry-On - $320 30 x 6.0 x 13" (LxWxH)
Petrol PCC-2 Camera Cage 2 Hard Shell - $325 28 x 9.4 x 12.2" (LxWxH)
Petrol PDB-3N Duffel Bag (Large) - $150 29.13 x 9.84 x 12.6" (LxWxH)


I'm liking the look of the Kata CCC-10A and the Porta Brace CO-OA/M. The Kata might be too wide though. Porta Brace might be too tall. Checking the Kata website, the actual part number might be CCC-1A instead of 10A.

[Joseph Stunzi]

I have a CCC-2A bag. It's great for an adapter rig setup, I'd never fly with it though!

[MitchLewis]

Hmmm............that don't list that model on their website. Maybe it's been discontinued?

We don't ever fly anywhere. (would be fun though!)

[taubkin]

You could find bags made for ENG style cameras. The mattebox will not stand assembled.

The thing is. You can have too much torque on your lens mounts (especially now that you'll have more than one) if youn leave your rig assembled. I'm not sure it's the best of ideas.

Me? I'd go for a couple of pelican cases.

[MitchLewis]

We have left the factory lens on our Canon XL-1S for almost 7 years now and have never had a problem. In fact it has always had a 0.7 wide angle adapter on it (more weight). But maybe that's not comparing apples to apples with what we're doing with a 35mm adapter......dunno.

Thanks for the input! :)

[balster]

http://blog.s106.com/2008/05/07/portabrace-pc-3b-ultimate-case-for-ex1-and-letus-extreme/

[MitchLewis]

Thanks balster! So you haven't had any problems leaving your rig connected together in a porta brace camera case?

[kubalsky]

If its any help I just got this email from my local dealer.

Quote:

Here are the dimentions and weight of EX3:

250(W)X210(H)X400(D)mm
9.9(W)X 8.3(H)X15.8(D)"

4.1 lb (1.9 kg)Without Lens
7.6 lb (3.6 kg) With Lens


The following bags will be suitable for EX3 camcorder:

1.KATA CC-195 or bigger
2.Petrol PDRB-4 or bigger
3.Portabrace CTC-2 or bigger

End Quote.

The bag recommendations dont consider an attached adapter. Because of the unique length of an EX3 with adapetr and rails compared to other cameras I'd look at possibly using some kind of musical instrument case and try getting some custom foam cut if the pelican type cases dont work out.

kubalsky

[Steve Benjamin]

The following dimensions are with my ex3 plus letus ultimate and redrock mattebox all assembled on letus rails;

complete outfit length 73cm
without matte box 58cm

width of ex3 27cm
overall height on letus rails inlcuding tripod plate 30cm

width of redrock mattebox 30cm (not including top flag which is 40cm wide but quickly removed)

with the mattebox pushed in until its touching the rails overall length is 69cm

I dont think I would trust leaving the redrock mattebox assembled on the rails and putting into a bag, I feel because it so large it would get a lot of stress and maybe suffer damage. It can however be removed in seconds with just the one knob at the bottom of it that clamps it to the front rails.

[MitchLewis]

Wow! Thanks Steve! Exactly the information I needed!

The current plan is to buy a bag long enough to hold the entire rig, but also to buy 2 pelican style cases. One to hold the matte box and one to hold the letus and 35mm lenses. I think Letus sells two cases as part of their Ultimate bundle. I need to check and see if Red Rock sells on for their matte box....can't remember.

Thanks again!

[MitchLewis]

Kubalsky was nice enough to post the weight of the EX3 (thanks!)

Steve, any chance you could weigh your rig with everything installed?

I'm thinking that if I got a big enough camera case, it could hold the camera and the two pelican cases (Ultimate and matte box)

[Steve Benjamin]

Just weighed on set of bathroom scales and it is 9.5kgs all complete (had a little nikon 135mm lens on ultimate)

[Granville]

This is what I have . . . all one case, an SKB roto 22X22X12 (inside dimensions). I had a storm 2975 but found is much harder to carry, though it had more space. I can fit the EX-1 in the case with or without the letus extreme attached so depending on how I am shooting I can pack the camera accordingly. The foam that holds the lenses and batts lifts out to reveal more storage. I would like tofind a soft bag to wrap around the full rig as well just to move from set up to set up, but the breakdown is minimal with this configuration.

[Granville]

Trying to get picture to upload . . . be right back.

[Granville]

Here . . .

[Joseph Stunzi]

The problem Mitch is facing however is finding a case to leave his entire rig assembled with EX-3, Letus, and Mattebox. Much more difficult challenge I'm afraid!

[MitchLewis]

Joseph's correct. While I really like the look of Granville's storage solution (VERY NICE!) we shoot a lot of different locations in one day. For example:

HOSPITAL SHOOT
Scene #1: Hospital - Outside shots of hospital (8:00am-9:00am)
Scene #2: Hospital - Inside birthing suite (9:00am - 10:00am)
Scene #3: Hospital - Inside surgery room (10:00 - 11:00am)
Scene #4: Patients Home - Patient in bed (1:00 - 2:00pm)

You get the idea. I don't mind tearing the rig down at the end of the shoot and putting everything away, but between scenes during the day, I would like to be able to transport it easily from location to location.

[Joseph Stunzi]

Mitch,

Steve Weiss at Zacuto just informed me that they will be releasing a foam insert for Storm Cases that works with the EX-3 with adapter and mattebox. So maybe that's your best option!

[MitchLewis]

SWEET!!!! I'm going to their website now. (I'm not familiar with Storm Cases)

But when they say "with" adapter and matte box, do they mean "connected together"? Or do they just mean that they would all fit in the same case......broken down into individual pieces. Either way, I'd still be interested.

[Joseph Stunzi]

They mean assembled. It'll be some time, but perhaps you could email Steve Weiss at Zacuto and ask which case it will fit into. Expect something similar to the case image below that can fit batteries, filters, a monitor, along with others things as well!

http://img.skitch.com/20081025-najdihex4id92pqsai4d3rqx91.jpg

[MitchLewis]

OMG! That would be awesome! Perfect!

There used to be a foam shop in town that would custom cut foam like that, but they went out of business. It might be fun to try and cut it out myself. I just need to find a place to buy that firm black foam.

[MitchLewis]

The longest interior dimensions of the Storm cases on their site is only 29-inches. Hope that's enough! :)

[Joseph Stunzi]

Storm sells cases longer than 29 inches. The problem is depth!
Zacuto sells the IM2975 from Storm which does have a length of 29... but that's meant for fully assembled HVX/HPX/EX-1 adapter rigs.

They'll have to look into other options.

[philip bloom]

ex1 with letus attached no problems with large porta brace bag. It's the viewfinder of the EX3 that kills all the bags, Just in wrong place, makes camera very wide and all the places in the large for the viewfinders are in the wrong position, they are for full size cameras.

[rodwell66]

I just put together an EX-3 package, and I think the case was a Cato. I'll try to remember to look up the model on a receipt. We have the Letus Ultimate as well. I understand your desire to leave everything on from shot to shot. It takes a bit of time to take the Letus off and put it back on. I think the case we have would allow for that, minus the matte box. However, having used the Ultimate, I would say it would definitely have to stay on the rail system. It just seems too precarious mounted on the camera without the front support. So, maybe the plan would be to take the 35mm lens off, and the matte box off. Then put the EX-3/Ultimate and rails into the case. Then I would be careful transporting the camera to the next location: no rough rides in the back of vans or harsh handling of any sort. I would tear everything down and take the Ultimate off for any serious travel. I agree that the EX-3 viewfinder makes it hard to find an appropriate case. You might end up with a "full size" case just because of the viewfinder, although the Cato one I found seems to work OK.

[MitchLewis]

That would be much appreciated rodwell66. It's probably a Kata bag (I've never heard of Cato). Maybe the Kata CCC-10A or CCC-1A?