Can a camera case be laid out by lens count instead of body count?

Answer: It can, but it dates quickly. Bodies keep their footprint while glass comes and goes, so a body-first layout needs one or two bays recut.

What interior size suits one body and two lenses?

Answer: 400 × 300 × 160 mm, about 6.8 kg loaded. Larger interiors force a spacer behind the body, and a spacer moves.

Can a loose bay be rescued?

Answer: Yes. Bond a 3 mm EVA shim to the wall to bring compression back to 8 percent at half a recut's cost. One bay should not be shimmed twice.

Does a camera case need IP67?

Answer: Rain on location and a rough van ride are covered by IP65. Reserve IP67 for gear left on a deck, and expect stiffer latches.

Should an export camera case have a pressure vent?

Answer: Yes. Without one, pressure across a container door can reach 6 kPa, which makes the lid hard to open and draws the gasket out of its groove.

Camera Case Layout: Keeping Bodies and Lenses Apart

Quick answer: Lay out a camera case from the body bay outwards: the 152 × 120 × 82 mm footprint in one corner, a 12 mm gap before the first lens bay, each bay cut to diameter plus 10 mm, 45 kg/m³ EVA at 10 percent compression. Shake the loaded case for ten seconds; if nothing knocks, the layout holds.

Start with the body bay
Sizing the gaps
Foam or rigid dividers
Where movement comes from
Three standard layouts
Checks before the case ships
FAQ

1. Start with the body bay

A camera case with a 460 × 330 × 175 mm interior takes a solid EVA block as its liner, and the first cut decides where every other bay sits.

Cut the body first. A full-frame body with a vertical grip measures 152 × 120 × 82 mm; lay it screen-up 30 mm from the left wall and 278 mm of interior remains for glass. Fix that rectangle and lens bays run along its edge, with every tolerance landing in foam rather than in the shell.

Working from the lenses backwards costs a second sheet. Glass changes, bodies rarely do, and a lens-first layout often leaves a 100 mm slot too narrow to reach into.

The bay sets carry balance: a 1.9 kg body on the handle side tips the case 4 degrees forward, enough to bang the base against a shin; move it 30 mm across and the tilt falls under 1 degree.

2. Sizing the gaps

Camera case in navy blue open on a steel bench, grey foam in the lid, coiled cables and black modules in the cut compartments

Horizontal and vertical clearances are calculated apart.

The horizontal gap must admit two fingers, so 12 mm is the floor. At 8 mm a 70-200 mm zoom scrapes its hood claws; past 18 mm the body slides, and friction will not hold it through a drop, where it shifts 6 mm.

Vertical clearance belongs to the lid liner: 8 mm of compression rests on the rear screen, 15 mm loads it.

Bays are cut to outside diameter, not filter thread. A 70-200 mm f/2.8 with its hood reversed measures 105 mm, so the bay is cut at 115 mm and closes back to 5 mm of grip; an 85 mm prime at 80 mm needs 90 mm. Depth is lens length plus 15 mm.

Item	Value	Acceptance
Body bay footprint	152 × 120 mm	Measured with grip fitted
Body-to-lens gap	12 mm	Under 8 mm the hood scrapes
Lens bay diameter	Diameter + 10 mm	5 mm of grip after compression
Lens bay depth	Lens length + 15 mm	Mount clear of the base
Lid compression	8 mm	Light contact, no pressure

3. Foam or rigid dividers

Three approaches cover most builds; choosing badly shows up after six months, not on delivery.

Die-cut EVA: 45 kg/m³, 8 to 12 percent compression, fixed bays, suits rental sets
Layered EPE: 25 kg/m³, removable sheets, suits weekly glass swaps
8 mm PP hollow sheet with foam edging: board holds shape, foam grips, suits lenses above 2 kg

EVA holds its memory: after 500 cycles compression set stays under 5 percent and the walls still grip. EPE costs a third less, but by the fifth layer the stack shifts and every lens needs a hand.

Rigid board answers another problem: a long lens presses its weight into foam, and within six months the bay floor can dish by 3 mm and load the mount in shear; an 8 mm board holds that under 1 mm.

Method	Material and density	Compression	Best fit
Die-cut block	EVA, 45 kg/m³	8 to 12 percent	Rental sets
Layered sheets	EPE, 25 kg/m³	15 percent	Glass swapped often
Board plus foam	PP sheet, 8 mm	Set by edging	Lenses above 2 kg

4. Where movement comes from

Camera case corner close-up, black rim with two stepped sealing lips, textured foam cut square holding a flat black device

Movement is not the case rocking: it is gear travelling more than 2 mm in its bay until a mount and a hood grind together.

The vehicle comes first. A van crossing a speed hump at 60 km/h sees 3 g at the rear floor; a 1.5 kg lens pulls 44 N, and only 5 mm of compressed foam resists it.

Then the drop: twenty-six drops from 1.2 m push the wall 0.6 mm and the gear 0.3 mm with it, until a 5 mm gap becomes 8 mm.

Then handling: fingers lift a lens, the barrel turns 5 degrees before it clears, and the same wall takes the wear.

The vehicle is missed most: it leaves no scratches, only displacement. A two-year-old case reached the workshop with an unmarked shell, three of five bays polished and one hood claw broken. Load it, hold both ends, rock it: a dull thud means something shifts, a sharp click means a gap past 3 mm.

5. Three standard layouts

Counting bodies rather than lenses gives a stabler layout, because body dimensions vary far less than glass.

Layout	Body bays	Lens bays	Suggested interior	Loaded weight
1 body, 2 lenses	1	2 (100 and 85 mm)	400 × 300 × 160 mm	6.8 kg
2 bodies, 3 lenses	2	3 (115, 90, 80 mm)	460 × 330 × 175 mm	9.4 kg
3 bodies, 5 lenses	3	5 (120 mm largest)	560 × 420 × 200 mm	14.2 kg

Past 12 kg the case should be split in two. At 15 kg the handle roots take the worst of it, and a PC handle flexes about 1.2 mm under 3 g.

6. Checks before the case ships

Three checks leave the bench with every unit: shake, weigh, cycle.

Weighing confirms the loaded case sits near 6.8, 9.4 or 14.2 kg; half a kilo over usually means a bay was cut too deep. Thirty open-and-close cycles test hinge and latches, and the lid gap still has to close under 0.4 mm.

Foam has a service life. Opened twenty times a month at 25 °C, EVA reaches 8 percent compression set after two years, when a new liner costs less than a new case. Judge by touch: if a pressed wall takes longer than a second to return, the liner is done.

Humidity is the quiet item: a closed case sits near 75 percent relative humidity through a wet season, and fungus starts at week three. A 5 g desiccant sachet costs under three yuan.

Conclusion

A camera case is not a box cut into small holes. It is a body bay with everything else arranged around it: the 152 × 120 mm footprint fixed first, a 12 mm gap, bays at diameter plus 10 mm. Do that and the shake test comes back silent.

This article discusses only the container (case body) side of specifications and design intent, and does not cover any handling, loading or use of the contents.