Nikon Compartment Cases - a short history

<p><strong>Nikon Compartment Cases</strong><br /><br /><em>with special attention to the Nikon FB8 - the perfect camera compartment case....</em><br /><br />This could fit in various places on Photo.net, but this is the site most interested in history of camera gear (along with its new sister forum), so I put it here on Classic Manual. If anybody at all is interested in the topic, it would probably be here since these artifacts are now collector items and no longer in production.<br /><br />There is an excellent on-line catalog of the Nikon compartment and other cases with color photos and all at http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf4/accessories/casecompartment.htm (scroll down past the "camera cases" to "compartment cases".<br /><br />In a story to eventually be told elsewhere, and referred to frequently by me, back in 1971 I switched from Pentax (Heiland H2) and Praktica FX to Nikon so that I could use the PC-Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 perspective control (shift only) lens. As I fitted myself out with lenses and the like, I needed a case, and discovered the Nikon FB8. Even up to today, I have carried my Nikon shooting gear in my Nikon FB8 case. It held three lenses in Nikon mounts in a steel plate in its base, and held one body with or without lens (depending on the size of the lenses carried) and another with a lens on it. It was a so-called "journalist" bag on which the front opened up away from the person carrying it, providing support and so on for one-handed lens changes if necessary -- much faster than messing about with rear lens caps and the like. <br /><br />Both Spiratone (the Customizer®, ad posted below at the end of the post) and Asanuma briefly offered vaguely similar cases during the 1970s with custom lens mounts (such as Canon and M42x1, but I have never been able to find either. I have seen a lens mount for the Spiratone version occasionally on eBay. <br /><br />It is still the closest I've ever found to a perfect camera case. The FB8 modelm however, had a serious flaw. Nearly alone among the compartment cases offered by Nikon at the time, it was covered in "leatherette" instead of real leather. After a few years of use, the leatherette started to decay and crack. It would also rub against your clothing leaving black marks.<br /><br />I complained to the American importer, but got no satisfaction, so I wrote personally to the then-director of Nippon Kogaku suggesting that so flawed a product was not up to usual Nikon standards. In return, I got a replacement copy of the FB8 in exchange for my old one. Alas, after a few years, the leatherette on the other went the same way. Since the product had been discontinued, I lived with it and still have the case, now wrapped in black tape. <br /><br />However, I did find a variant of the FB8, which I had once seen called an FB11, but was officially called the FB5, Mine was covered in black leather, rather than the brown usually imported into the USA. This one had three lens mounts, but would hold only one body. More importantly, it was covered in real leather. I found one from a former USAF person who had bought it along with a Nikon F at the PX at his base in Japan. I paid an outrageous price for the case, but it is in beautiful shape and smells almost as good as the leather in an new 1960s Jaguar or Rolls. There are a number of FB5 cases (which have survived because of the leather holding up) on eBay and they have actually sold at ca US$40 and $70, but the asking prices of others range from $50 to over $300. I can find no FB8s offered at all, although I have seen some offered in the past in old new stock condition, still in boxes.<br /><br />The interior was finished in a kind of velvet-like fabric, ranging from gray to blue to bright red in color.<br /><br />Here is a picture of my FB8 and my FB5 variant, together with my old dog, Holly who died a few months ago, alas. Best cases and best dog.</p>

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<p>Nikon offered a number of cases, as documented at the mir link at the start, but I thought some of you might like to see the contemporary Nikon materials on these. <br /><br />Here is the English side (the other in Japanese) of the FB8 case leaflet:</p><div></div>

<p>And here is the contemporary catalog (fold-out, four sections on each side) in pdf format (388K)</p>

<p>Finally, here is the concept as interpreted by Spiratone in their Customizer® case with interchangeable lens mounts.</p>

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<p>That's it. :)</p>

<p>They are handy cases, JDM. I sold <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebanator/sets/72157625830861873/">my FB5</a> a few months ago for $130, BIN price.<br>

But I'm partial to an old, bedraggled Billingham bag, though. It's like a pair of cruddy, comfortable Chucks or PF Flyers as opposed to stiff leather O'Sullivans. </p>

<p>The catch of course, with these cases is that while they really protect the gear well, and are easy to use, they weigh way too much for many people. However, I have found them extremely useful when people try to crowd you -- swing your shoulder to deliver to a groin area and it can be very effective. :)<br /> For my gear these days, other than when I'm using the Nikons, I use a variety of bags from massive Tenbas to smaller canvas bags.<br /> I paid something over $200 for my FB5, but it is absolutely mint. I'd never have got away with it if I were not a widower.</p>

<p>In the 60's in my home town of Poughkeepsie,NY. The local PJ had a shiny leather Nikon case like one of those. And a pair of black FTN's ,that I thought were the coolest looking cameras in the world.</p>

<p>I had one of those. Thought it was awful because dust and junk collect under that lens mount board and, aside from that, the rear elements of the lenses are constantly exposed to open air of a musty bottom of the bag which is almost a certain path to lens hazing or fungus. Thought of getting one again so I could get the lens mounts for an experiment.</p>

<p>Like Les, I've acquired a polyglot collection of camera bags over the years, some of which look like big handbags, others like black leather makeup bags, and a raft of fabric bags of various types, but never anything as stylish as a Nikon FB5. I guess that pays me back for being a Canon person....Interesting stuff, <strong>JDM</strong>; thanks.</p>

<p>The FB5 looks like a Konica compartment case I have. The difference is that the Konica case has one locking compartment on the front instead of two. Similar or even identical cases were made for oither cameras. Over time the softer type case became more popular. When a hard or semi-hard case has lens mounts at the bottom you have to be pretty careful when changing lenses. With a soft case you can just toss a lens into a compartment as long as nothing is in it already. I find these old compartment cases better for collecting and storage than for using. </p>

<p>I also seem to have a pile of camera bags, most of them consigned to the barn or holding parts and junk rather than functional cameras. When I bought my F3, the dealer threw in what would have been a nice little FB 16 case, except that, as so often happens, the leather finish was cracked and flaking off. I haven't figured out why it is that some of these cases fall apart like this, and others, seemingly identical, do not. Anyway, the FB 16 has the typical Nikon quality, with a fancier than usual latch, etc., but I wish they'd lavished less attention on the hardware and more on the leather.</p>

<p>Can anyone help me to identify the movie in which some "civilian" gets mixed up with stolen plates for some US currency? All I remember is that the case the plates were carried around in was actually an FB8 (or maybe FB5) case. I think maybe the film has been remade in the last couple of years..., but without the case.</p>

<p>By the way, I found a copy of an ad from Olympic Camera for the Asanuma case in the 1978-02 <em>Modern Photography</em>.</p>

<p>Here it is. Not much doubt about its inspiration, I guess.</p>

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<p>For my gear these days, other than when I'm using the Nikons, I use a variety of bags from massive Tenbas to smaller canvas bags.<br /> I paid something over $200 for my FB5, but it is absolutely mint. I'd never have got away with it if I were not a widower.<br>

Last Christmas, my kids gave me a huge case that would take a horse to carry. My wife has nearly as many purses as I have cameras, Coach, Dooney and Burke, and a lot of them cost over $200. I only use one wallet at a time and it lasts about 10 years, but my wife tells me that purses have to be color coordinated with clothing.</p>

<p>Well, if I had thought of that argument in the past, I might have even more cases now.</p>

<p>Nice article Mr. von Weinberg! I am one of those people who have been lucky enough to buy "a few" of the Nikon FB-5 cases on evilBay for under $40 or $50, sometimes less than $20. And I hate seeing the same cases being re-listed time and again on eBay in the $175 to $375 range. I have a very large collection of photographic and cinema equipment. Mostly won for decent prices on ebay and the Salvation Army auction site. At one time I also bought the base plate out of an FB-8 for $10 because it had three Nikon mounts in a row. I didn't know that it was from an FB-8 case until tonight when I saw the first FB-8 I've ever seen. I knew right away that I had the FB-8 base plate (which I have fitted to a different case) when I saw this case on eBay. My oh my! I could certainly see the advantage of the FB-8 over the FB-5 as far as practical use, not the covering, and am on a new mission - to get myself an FB-8! The one on eBay right now is in Sweden and has a $60 shipping price.. WAY to rich for my blood. I do appreciate the FB-5, but limiting to one body can be, well, limiting. I have been very lucky and fortunate over the past 5 years or so as I now own over 20 of the real Nikon FB-5 cases - pretty much one for every F and F2 body I use. My collection is "too big" I've been told, but I love it. I have an FB-11 and FB-15, but my true loves are the cases with lens mounts in the bottom. SO convenient. Anyway, thank you for the article and if anyone might know of an FB-8 or another FB-5, outside of eBay, let me know! Maybe we can negotiate a sale or something! Best wishes to all - Mike</p>

Update - a couple of years later plus a few months. Well, my "collection" of FB-5 cases has reached over 100 (each with either an F, F2, or Nikkormat/Nikomat variant and extra lenses inside), almost even between brown and black leather.

 

I still search for the ever elusive FB-8 case - with substandard leatherette and all.. to no avail. The case into which I've mounted the linear 3 Nikkor lens mount plate is still great but does not hold two bodies. So I'm thinking of building a leather case from scratch specifically for at least two bodies and the three Nikkor lens plate as the base. That's an extreme project, but for the life of me I cannot find an FB-8 ANYWHERE! Still a great post and thread. Sort of sad that it has been over 2 years since anyone (me) has added anything to it, but hopefully we are all busy taking photographs! Aloha folks! - Mike

I have the FB 8 - best working case I've ever used. It is the Black leatherette model, the covering failed and I re covered it in black goatskin. I replaced the composition strap with nylon used for mountain climbing. It came out quite well. (The goatskin was a bit flexible for the front pocket, though it doesn't look great, it works well enough.) The case is quick for lens and camera changes and very strong, and I don't find it too heavy. I was in the wrong place at the right time, and was able to actually stand on it to take a picture of the Queen over the heads of the crowd while in the UK - I weighed 185 lbs. at the time. I also have the FB 11 which is a fine case as well though not as good a working case, better for car or travel. If you watch Ebay, FB 8 comes up quite frequently, and FB 5 is nearly always available in the course of a week. Have often thought of buying one, and may yet do so, though even the F 2 is a tight fit in the FB 8, nevermind the F3. While in the rebuild, I considered making a new camera fitting, but it presented a bit of a challenge, strength & security wise. This morning, no FB 8, but several FB 5 on the Bay, and an FB 6 on Etsey - don't see those often.

You've found another fan of Nikon cases. BTW the camera mounts in the FB 11 are more flexible and will accept even an F 3, and would be quite easy to replace with larger ones.

 

 

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My favorite Nikon compartment case has always been the FB-14. It is made from a beautiful soft leather. Compared to modern bags it is not really the most practical bag to use as its relatively small, quite heavy and inflexible but it such a nice quality feel to it that it is a joy to carry around. I have been lucky enough to find two as they seem to be quite rare. I know they were still available new in the late 80s but seem to have been discontinued shortly thereafter.

 

A handsome case indeed.

Nice job on the re-cover, Sandy. Thought of doing so myself is one reason I have kept the old, crappy case.

Thank you, JDM. It really isn't a bad task - finding the replacement fasteners was a bit of a challenge (Luggage repair Store). I settled on the goatskin because it is tough but also has a bit of stretch. If I were to do it again, I'd back the pouch with calfskin to give it more body. Goat was fine for the filter case. When I began, the case was unusable, so nothing to loose. Just go slowly and logically - with a little time and patience. I don't use the case as much as I should, but it is loaded and ready to go. An old companion of my youthful travels, honorably semi-retired.

 

p.s. Still looking at the FB 5 - tempting. Does anyone know if it will fit an F 3?

My F-series collection stops with the F2, and the F2 does fit tightly into the FB5. There is a lever-like tongue that holds the top of the F2 Photomic body very exactly.