![\"lens](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/lens-caddy-2122-ron-dudley1.jpg\" "\\"lens")
<\/p>\nThe perennial problem for those of us with long, heavy and very expensive\u00a0lenses who shoot from our vehicles is how to\u00a0stow our gear where it is readily and instantly available for use but also protected from crashing to the floor when you hit the brakes for an unexpected\u00a0photographic opportunity or run into rough, washboardy roads that bounce your\u00a0camera and lens all around.\u00a0 Many of us have 5 – 10 thousand dollars (or more)\u00a0tied up\u00a0in just one camera and lens combination and that investment must be protected.\u00a0 But if your gear is safely tucked inside a padded case you’re guaranteed to miss many wonderful shots as your subject (birds or wildlife) scoots away\u00a0while you’re retrieving your camera and lens.<\/p>\n
For me\u00a0the perfect solution to\u00a0that dilemma is my\u00a0homemade “lens caddy”.\u00a0 I’ve been using it for years now so it’s a little beat up (though I did give it a new paint job and replaced the felt recently) but for my purposes it’s invaluable.<\/p>\n
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I made it in my wood shop.\u00a0 It’s secured to the seat console\u00a0by extensions on the bottom that fit very tightly\u00a0into the cup holders.\u00a0 Felt pads protect both camera and lens where they meet the wood, though the pads up front\u00a0 for the lens are probably unnecessary because I have a protective lens coat on my lens.\u00a0 The lens plate fits tightly and securely into the slot on top of the caddy.<\/p>\n
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![\"lens](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/lens-caddy-2132-ron-dudley4.jpg\" "\\"lens")
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Here you see the camera and lens in place.\u00a0 When I need it everything simply lifts out in one swift movement without having to detach or loosen anything.\u00a0 I’m often on extremely<\/em> rough roads and I’ve never had my lens come off the caddy but\u00a0if I’m ever feeling insecure about it I can always put my hand\u00a0on the lens and hold it down.\u00a0 Quick stops are the biggest danger to a lens\u00a0just laying on the seat\u00a0but\u00a0on those occasions my gear isn’t going anywhere.\u00a0 It simply can’t.<\/p>\n As\u00a0some of you know, my good friend Mia McPherson always\u00a0photographs with me while shooting from\u00a0the back seat.\u00a0 To protect her gear Mia holds it on her lap, which is quite necessary on all those rough roads.\u00a0 Often her upper legs are actually bruised from having that heavy lens and lens plate bouncing on her lap.\u00a0 And when we’re not actually photographing, say on\u00a0better roads between shooting destinations, she’s in the front seat so\u00a0she had to rig up a way to secure her lens\u00a0to the seat belt in the back.\u00a0 Not the best of solutions…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, I recently built her a lens caddy for the back seat.\u00a0 It works almost the same as mine, with several minor differences.\u00a0 Hers is wider, to prevent any side to side wobbling (unnecessary with mine on the relatively hard console).\u00a0\u00a0 In front of the camera rest you’ll see a piece of wood with a slot in it just wide enough for the seat belt, which cinches up and holds the caddy in place.\u00a0 There’s also a bungey cord that comes from under the seat (you can’t see it in this view)\u00a0and hooks into a small hole in front of the curved lens rest.\u00a0 This bungey cord holds the front of the caddy down securely.<\/p>\n For times when we’re both in the front seat I attached another small bungey cord that she can use to strap the\u00a0lens down because she’s too far away from it to hold it down with her hand if we hit a particularly\u00a0nasty bump.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here you see the camera and lens\u00a0strapped in place, though we only strap it in place when she’s up front.\u00a0 Mia absolutely loves her new caddy!\u00a0 No more bruises and now her hands are free\u00a0so she can drink her coffee, harrass me from behind (as she often does) and eat her morning chocolate donut, which we’re both addicted to (Mia’s kind of a sloppy eater – you can see some of her\u00a0donut\u00a0ground into the seat in front of the caddy…).<\/p>\n If you shoot\u00a0a long lens from a vehicle you might want to try something like this.\u00a0 I’ve modified my caddy\u00a0to fit three different vehicles now and\u00a0they’re really not all that difficult to make, though they do take some time and some figuring.\u00a0 I would never be without mine while\u00a0I’m in the field and now Mia feels the same.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The perennial problem for those of us with long, heavy and very expensive\u00a0lenses who shoot from our vehicles is how to\u00a0stow our gear where it is readily and instantly available for use but also protected from crashing to the floor when you hit the brakes for an unexpected\u00a0photographic opportunity or run into rough, washboardy roads that bounce your\u00a0camera and lens all around.\u00a0 Many of us have 5 – 10 thousand dollars (or more)\u00a0tied up\u00a0in just one camera and lens combination and that investment must be protected.\u00a0 But if your gear is safely tucked inside a padded case you’re guaranteed to miss many wonderful shots as your subject (birds or wildlife) scoots away\u00a0while you’re retrieving your camera and lens. For me\u00a0the perfect solution to\u00a0that dilemma is my\u00a0homemade “lens caddy”.\u00a0 I’ve been using it for years now so it’s a little beat up (though I did give it a new paint job and replaced the felt recently) but for my purposes it’s invaluable. I made it in my wood shop.\u00a0 It’s secured to the seat console\u00a0by extensions on the bottom that fit very tightly\u00a0into the cup holders.\u00a0 Felt pads protect both camera and lens where they meet the wood, though the pads up front\u00a0 for the lens are probably unnecessary because I have a protective lens coat on my lens.\u00a0 The lens plate fits tightly and securely into the slot on top of the caddy. Here you see the camera and lens in place.\u00a0 When I need it everything simply lifts out in one…<\/p>\n![\"lens](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/lens-caddy-2144-ron-dudley2.jpg\" "\\"lens")
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