Easy DIY camera cases
My Ricoh GR III in its DIY camera case
Looking for a way to safely store my cameras, away from dust, direct sunlight and whatnot, I was never able to find a solution I really liked. I’ve tried cabinets, but they felt to ‘stored away’. I’ve looked into store bought solutions to keep cameras in, but like camerabags, most of them feel too ‘techy’ for my liking. I wanted something that suited my cameras but also fits with in my interior.
And that’s when my eye felt on the vintage woorden drawing boxes I keep in my home office. I have them in bunch of different sizes, and by the looks of them, they seemed to be able to fit a camera. All I had to do was empty the box, remove the compartment insert, and add some grid foam I ordered from Amazon, the stuff you would use for toolbox inlays etc.
The first case I did to try out my idea was a case for my Ricoh GR III. I first the foam to the size of the box so I knew that would fit, and then layed out the camera and a few accessoires on top of the foam to decide on a good layout. Once satisfied, I cut out the spaces for everything in the grid foam, added a thin addition layer of foam at the bottom of the case as a base layer so to camera had something to land on, as well as a tin layer in the lid of the box so everything would be protected at the top as well. And there you go, an easy DIY camera case that fits my aesthetic!
Since making that first case, I’ve continued to make a bunch more, and I’ve not got custom cases for my Ricoh, Olympus E-P1 and as you can see below a bigger one for my Sony A7CII + 35mm f/1.8 (sitting there next to that small black case that houses an analog Olympus XA, which came with it’s own original case). I really love this way of storing my precious cameras in a way that both keeps them safe and looks nice in my interior, without looking like a typical ‘tech storage’.
I have a few more cameras that I want to make a case for, and then I’ll look for a good solution for my lenses as well. I’m not sure yet what kind of storage would fit them best; a single case per lens seems excessive, but perhaps a drawer of some kind? If you’ve got any fun ideas that would the vintage aesthetic, do let me know :).
