Hi all, I recently bought a Sigma 35/1.2 very cheaply on ebay.  The lens is incredible, if not a good workout!  But it came without the case.  I can get a new case from Sigma for £35 which isn't that bad, but I started looking at 3rd party cases and thought about getting a few for my other lenses too.Does anyone use 3rd party lens cases and can share experiences, good or bad?

nnewdom wrote:Hi all, I recently bought a Sigma 35/1.2 very cheaply on ebay. The lens is incredible, if not a good workout! But it came without the case. I can get a new case from Sigma for £35 which isn't that bad, but I started looking at 3rd party cases and thought about getting a few for my other lenses too.Does anyone use 3rd party lens cases and can share experiences, good or bad?I use Case Logic Luminosity ones; they have a collapsible wire-framed pouch in the lid, which basically works as a temporary case you can safely put the lens you’ve just taken off the camera in before you take the lens you’re changing to out of the main compartment.  A brilliant idea. And they’re really well padded, well made, some with an external and/or internal pocket or two, and a waterproof cover for really bad weather.They’re by far the best I’ve ever used.Problem though is that (1) they’re now hard to find, and when you do, (2) the sizes available are a bit limited. I believe they were taken over by Manfrotto, who don’t AFAIK make anything like them; I presume because they were expensive to manufacture.I don’t know about the Sigma case for the 35/1.2, but a couple of Sigma cases I have had are very minimalist with the padding, and I don’t use them on trips at all.(I’ve kept quiet about these, but I think I’ve now hoovered up enough for my lens collection. . . .I got mine via the obvious auction site, of course.)

I'm happy enough with the Tenba drawstring lens pouches and some random Altura ones on eBay, OPTech's neoprene ones with the built cap for really tiny lenses, but I've not bought anything for something as beefy as the 35/1.2... Might need to look into it for my 50-400 but right now it just sits in my backpack or neck to all the other smaller lenses in their respective pouches so I've not felt the need.

The LowePro I have that fits my 14 and 35mm lenses is great.  The velcro is super sticky too.

I tried many third party lens cases, but most were bulky, rigid, have plastic things hanging from them and seem to be designed as stand alone bag rather then a case to place in your camera bag.Finally found the so called Lens Jammies Microfiber cases. They are soft and flexible and not bulky and provide enough protection similar to the cases that come with my Sony lenses.

newdom wrote:Hi all, I recently bought a Sigma 35/1.2 very cheaply on ebay. The lens is incredible, if not a good workout! But it came without the case. I can get a new case from Sigma for £35 which isn't that bad, but I started looking at 3rd party cases and thought about getting a few for my other lenses too.Does anyone use 3rd party lens cases and can share experiences, good or bad?Thanks for the suggestions. The Tenba is probably closest to what I was looking for personally - in between the Lens Jammies and Case Logic for protection. I eventually got a K&F lens pouch because I was buying UV filters and it was on sale anyway:https://www.kentfaith.co.uk/KF13.121_camera-lens-bag-protective-lens-pouch-bag-2-in-1-neoprene-lens-carry-case-compatible-with-multiple-sizes-camera-lens-10-18cmI'm not a big fan of the colour, but it's a great case.  Soft and small enough, but thick enough to provide some protection for the lens.  I like that it pulls up for longer lenses - it just fits the Bigma without that so should fit bigger zooms well.  Good quality, and cheap

I mostly use Think Tank Lens Changer pouches for their waist belt system if I want to carry individual lenses rather than several lenses in one bag. These are relatively thin and not bulky. Even thinner are the appropriately named Skins in various sizes.The exception is if there is a LowePro Lens Exchange Case that is a good fit (it is only made in two sizes, unlike the Think Tank Changers and Skins). I uses these when possible because the LowePro Lens Exchangers have a patented accordion-out second pouch for changing lenses so you can change lenses without ever needing to set a lens down or hold two items at once. Just open the Lens Changer to expand it to two pouches, put the lens on the camera into one pouch, take the other lens out of the other pouch and mount it on the camera, and zipper the accordion closed. Now the lenses are exchanged. Very slick. The LowePros will attach to Think Tank waist belts.

georgehakim wrote:I tried many third party lens cases, but most were bulky, rigid, have plastic things hanging from them and seem to be designed as stand alone bag rather then a case to place in your camera bag.Finally found the so called Lens Jammies Microfiber cases. They are soft and flexible and not bulky and provide enough protection similar to the cases that come with my Sony lenses.Those seem useful, ordered a set thinking mostly of my largest lenses (50-400 & 135/1.8) for which I don't have a pouch right now when I store them in a plastic bin with other lenses, and which I might pack alongside other stuff sometimes just to take full advantage of a bag's space around said lens when traveling.Gonna miss useful random tips like this when it's finally curtains for DPR, nowhere else has the same amount of traffic, sigh...

newdom wrote:newdom wrote:Hi all, I recently bought a Sigma 35/1.2 very cheaply on ebay. The lens is incredible, if not a good workout! But it came without the case. I can get a new case from Sigma for £35 which isn't that bad, but I started looking at 3rd party cases and thought about getting a few for my other lenses too.Does anyone use 3rd party lens cases and can share experiences, good or bad?Thanks for the suggestions. The Tenba is probably closest to what I was looking for personally - in between the Lens Jammies and Case Logic for protection. I eventually got a K&F lens pouch because I was buying UV filters and it was on sale anyway:https://www.kentfaith.co.uk/KF13.121_camera-lens-bag-protective-lens-pouch-bag-2-in-1-neoprene-lens-carry-case-compatible-with-multiple-sizes-camera-lens-10-18cmI'm not a big fan of the colour, but it's a great case. Soft and small enough, but thick enough to provide some protection for the lens. I like that it pulls up for longer lenses - it just fits the Bigma without that so should fit bigger zooms well. Good quality, and cheapHuh, I'm using one of those for my macro, heh, didn't equate it's size with the 35/1.2 when I replied earlier...