Review: Nanuk 925 Hard Case Take Two

Hey,

So I originally did a quick review of the Nanuk 925 hard case after I first bought it.  Now I will just go over some of the things since then that I want to say after using it in the "field" so to speak.

So I have been driving all over eastern Canada now and taking photos as I go and this is an amazing case to have with me.  It fits all of my gear which is great since I like having my options of what things I want to use.  I have my Lowpro bag as well just incase I want to go on a hike since a hard case isn't great for that.

It isn't great that my battery grip doesn't fit on my camera in the case.  I went over that the first time reviewing the case however I am used to not having my battery grip on now.  I stopped using the grip normally so I don't have to screw it in every time I take out my camera(which was a pain).

And now the new things.

First, I love not worrying about breaking my stuff when I have it packed into my work vehicle.  So that is a nice thing to have going for yeah.  The peace of mind knowing you wont break your camera gear with it knocking around in a vehicle.

I was on a ferry and it was outrageously foggy and the dew was forming on everything for the most part.  This would usually scare me with my camera bag however with the case I didn't fret.  I walked inside the boat and the water was on the case and I just set it down on a seat and wiped the water off of it.

Those are the two main things which were the two main reasons I got a hard case.  Additionally I have found it is very easy to open and close compared to a Pelican case.  I can open and close it with one hand which is useful.

I am very impressed with the case and I am very happy with the purchase.  My only dilemma now is if I buy any more gear... I wont have room.  So maybe in the end, that is good since it will make me think harder about buying more gear since I wont have room.

Review: Nanuk 925 Hard Case (Initial)

Review: Nanuk 925 Hard Case

Thoughts and Opinions:

I just purchased the Nanuk 925 Hard Case and it is a worth while purchase so far. I decided to write a review of it now with first impressions and then do a review after I have used it awhile.  

So far I am very impressed with the case.  It is sturdy and well built, no complaints there.  The Powerclaw latches are very easy to open and close.  I have opened and close a Pelican Hard Case before and it was a chore.  You needed to push down on the top of the lid on the Pelican case to get the latches on and close the latch.  The Powerclaw system works much better and is a whole lot easier to use in my opinion. 

The cubed foam was easy to use and take out.  I did not have a difficult time setting up my case however I had one too many things to put in it but that is okay.  I bought the 925 because it is small enough to fit as a carry on for airplanes.  I highly doubt I will bring all my gear if I go for a trip.  My 35mm and 105mm will probably stay home for sure.  I would debate between the tokina, 17-55mm and the 50mm.  Probably just take the 50mm and the 17-55mm but I digress. 

I plan to use the case more to transport my gear safely and still use my bag for walks and hikes etc.  My D90 with the MB-D80 is sadly too tall for the case.  I could take off the lens and lay it flat but I lose space so I have to take off the battery grip.  If I use the case for my "bag" then I will be using it at a shoot so I can put on the battery grip and that's fine.  If I am walking around and such I dont want to keep taking the grip on and off so I would use my bag in that case.

Because of taking off the grip I lost some room in my case so I can no longer carry my chargers in the case.  This is okay because I usually don't bring my chargers with me because I have back up batteries I bring along.

The grip of the case is nice on the hands and the case is lighter than I thought it would be with all my gear in it.  That was a pleasant surprise.  The case is everything I wanted so far.

Just looking into the future a little, the case is great however it will get a little complex once I sell or get new lenses.  The foam will be a little hard to use if I  got a new lens.  I would need to swap out lenses and hope the new one fits into a space I have in the case.  I am day dreaming about a 70-200mm in the far future and for sure would need a new case if I got that.  

Due to space, my flash had to be put vertically so it's fit is a little tight but I don't think that will be an issue.  Other than that and taking off the battery grip it has been good.  But as I mentioned earlier, I bought the case for that size rather than buying a case for all my gear since it would be too large for carry on.

Usage:

So far I have just put my gear into the cubed foam but it has been good so far.  Other than packing my gear I haven't done much with it but the latches were great, as well as the construction. 

Pros:

- Easy to use latches

- Solid construction

- Nice handle grip

- Water seal is inset in the lid so you can't break the seal but rubbing against the lid

- And all the features it has (Crushproof, Waterproof, etc)

Cons:

- Couldn't fit my D90 with battery grip vertically however that was fine since I bought the case so it could be a carried onto a plane.  But if having not having all your gear with you is a issue, buy a larger case.  There are 7 sizes I believe that Nanuk makes so I am sure you can find something that could work.  I just wanted to start with one I could fly with as carry on.

Photos:

Gear in Nanuk 925 - iPhone Photo

Thought so far:

I won't make any conclusions at this point but I do like what I have seen.  It is a great hard case in my opinion.  I have only tried opening and closing a Pelican case before and the Nanuk is much easier to open and close.  Nanuk seemed to have better features than the other hard cases on the market.  Nanuk is new and because of this I think that they have rethought some of the design ideas for hard cases.  I plan to take this on a road trip with me so I will definitely put it to use.  

Later I will write another review of the case when I have used it more.