How do you pack your Arca Swiss

[jesse_kramer]

I have a Arca Swiss compact metric 4 x 5. I currently pack it in a

Lowe photo trekker backpack by the following method.

 

fold the rail on itself -

remove the standards with the bellows attached -

pack the rail and function carriers separate from the standards with

bellows

 

Does any other user of this camera model have a diffrent, perhaps

more efficient method ??

[jean-louis llech]

Just use the search engine with "Carrying equipment" as key.

Lots of infos about monorail gear carrying methods.

 

Hope this helps.

[golliegwillie]

I don't think you can do this with current Arcas, but I dismount my standards of my Series IIIab (axis+base tilt) Arca from the monorail and tilt blocks, and mount a separate bag on the side of my Art Wolfe Sundog Backpack to carry the rail. The standards and bellows are carried inside the main compartment of the backpack, and since the rail is carried separately outside the backpack, I often have room enough to carry my ilex 65mm (which is usually mounted in the camera), a fuji 125mm, a fuji 250mm, and 360mm tele-xenar - AND still have room enough to pack a 35mm slr, a 28-105mm zoom and 70-300mm zoom. I don't alway carry 35mm equipment with me, but when I do it doesn't really affect my weight load. Four extra pounds- more shrimp on the barbie.

 

I don't have a picture of my set up, but this picture from this website( http://www.quadesl.com/photo_lfadvise.shtml ) pretty much shows how I break my camera down.<div></div>

[bob_moulton7]

Jesse-

I have an Arca F Line Field. I fold the rail on itself, compress the bellows--the leather WA, and place the unit into the botom of an f64 BPX pack.The camera holds one lens in this position--usually the one I use the most The bottom of the pack is subdivided into two large compartments-one narrow rectangle that holds an extra bellows, an Arca compendium lens hood, darkcloth, and small case holding the tripod block (I use the Arca B-1 on a Gitzo tripod); the larger compartment holds the camera.

The separate top compartment is large enough to hold 4-6 lenses, spotmeter, filters in a Domke folding case. I carry the longer rail in one of the long side pockets built into the case. Film I carry either in a Gnass gear bag--Readyload type + holder. 8-10Traditional holders go into a cloth case. I can pack some film into the other side pocket if necessary.

I find that I can open the case , install tripod block onto the the head and mount the camera easily. Were i taking the camera on a commercial airliner i would diassemble as you have. In fact, when i have to fly, I place the camera back into the styrofoam shipping materials it came in. That enables me to use a very compact case for camera, lenses and meter. Smaller and less fragile accessories go in the pack which I send through. Never seems to make sense to have a rail camera ready for off hand shots on a flying sardine can anyway!

The F64 website pictures the pack; mine is older and has the side pockets built in. On the newer cases these are detachable, a feature that helps if one travels by air with the case.

Hope this helps.

Bob

[dan_wendeln]

I have an Arca Swiss Discovery that I pack in a modified panel loading hiking pack made by Osprey. I leave the entire camera assembled including a lens. The camera is set in a large U shaped foam insert upside down. I also carry two more lenses, spot meter, and filters in a Gnass Gear bag as well as Polaroid and Kodak Readyload backs. The dark cloth serves to fill any voids. A couple of boxes of film fit in the top compartment, and the tripod is lashed to the back via a compresion panel. I will admit that the system is not the lightest, but the true backpacking harness on the pack makes it very comfortable for many miles of hiking.

[brian_kennedy]

<I>I have an Arca Swiss Discovery that I pack in a modified panel loading hiking pack made by Osprey. I leave the entire camera assembled including a lens. The camera is set in a large U shaped foam insert upside down.</I>

 

<P>I do the exact same thing with a Photo Trekker. The Discovery rail is only 12" long, about as wide as the inside of the backpack. So you can just move the standards together to the middle of the rail and put the whole thing upside down at the top of the pack, lens still on (other Discovery users will recognize this as the same way it fits in the shoulder bag that comes with the Discovery).

 

<P>I keep my darkcloth rolled up underneath the rail. It all fits great, along with the other lenses, film back, loupe, and everything else. This way, it only takes a minute to pull the camera out of the bag and put it on the tripod, pretty much ready to shoot.

[johnelstad]

I have a similar setup to Brian's (Discovery hanging upside-down in AS bag). This works well for storage and short hauls, but is a drag if you're going to be walking for more than a few minutes. With this in mind I modified the bag (adding two straps and loops to the top) so that I could attach the shoulder harness from my LowePro Trim Trekker. The result is that I can comfortably lug it farther, but not much as the center of gravity is so far behind me. However, short of splurging for a folding monorail and some custom-made lensboard adapters, I think this is the best solution.

[cxc]

Jesse, why do you take the camera off the rail? I thought the whole point of a folding rail was so you could put the thing in a pack without having to disassemble it. Maybe you just need a bigger or different backpack.

 

???

[doug_dolde]

I have an Arca Swiss 4x5 Metric with the standard non-folding rail. I slide both standards onto the front rail and remove it from the bench which I pack separately or sometimes just leave on the tripod. I use a Lightware backpack which holds the camera, rail, 3 lenses, filters, and misc accessories fine. The Lightware backpack is quite good and easy to adjust and carry. It's fairly heavy with all this equipment but balances well on my back.

[neil_poulsen1]

It's probably burried somewhere in the archives, but you need to loosen both swing and tilt prior to putting the camera and rail in your backpack. This avoids putting strain on those movements. Straining tilt and swing when they're locked can cause them to slip during use.

 

This was arca's recommendation at a time that they occassionally participated on this forum.

 

If you stow the camera with the wide able bellows as I do, then I can recommend a further precaution. If you let me know, then I can go into more detail on this.

[chris maines]

Neil,

 

Thanks for the info. I have been storing/transporting my Arca-Swiss Discovery in a Kelty Redwing backpack with the standards all zeroed and tightened down. I just got the wide-angle bellows, which lives permanently on the camera, and now everytime I take the camera out, the rear standard swing is off. Arca's recommendation to loosen swings/tilts makes perfect sense in light of this. Could you go into more detail about the precautions you take when storing the camera with the wide-angle bellows attached?