Sony Nice leather half-case for the RX1

Livnius

Top Veteran
Location
Melbourne. Australia
Name
Joe
.





Picked up this grip recently from Japanese photo stuff guys ULYSSES....they make grips, cases, straps etc. They make a decent looking GR and OMD case for anyone interested, but my interest was for the RX1....I wanted something that protected as much body real estate as possible whilst adding some small degree of bulk for added grip. This 'body suit' delivers.


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I've tried a few different leather products for my various cameras...Gariz, Gordy's, Luigi's.....and the ULYYSES is right up there with the very best. The leather is superb, firm but very nice to the touch and like Luigi's they only use organic tanning oils not synthetic. I would rate Luigi's leather as the finest I've ever used for a camera product but this Ulysses isn't too far off from that level of luxurious feel. The case wraps around pretty much most of the camera, which I like very much. Although the leather+lining is only 2 to 3mm thick, it really gives me peace of mind when my gear is bouncing around my kit bag. As you can see from the pic below the case gives good coverage while still allowing easy access to the focus mode dial and strap lug.


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Great coverage at the back too with easy access to everything....you will notice however that the AE lock/magnify button is covered, initialy I was concerned by this but it's all sweet, that section of leather is quite narrow and given the leather is quite supple rather than stiff it's easy to push the button through the leather.....and look a little closer and you will see a faint circular marking where the AE button should be, underneath that there is a little dot of some kind of soft resin that rests directly above the AE button. That narrow section of leather is crucial because without it the whole structure becomes looser....all in all their work around is great and I havn't had any issue geting postive clicks of the hidden button.


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The case is really only adding about 3mm all round, on the botton however it's probably adding about 5mm and thats thanks to the battery and card access, a BIG must for any case I was going to purchase. This door closes over and locks back in with the push button you can see....the actaul button is quite low profile and when shut and the camera is held in the regular shooting grip you don't feel it unless you intentionally squeeze to feel it. Nice brushed wine coloured suede lining inside too to protect the camera from scuffs. You cant' see it clearly here, but the case attaches to the camera via a screw that threads into the existing tripod thread....it also has it's own thread so using this case with a tripod still works fine.

rx1grip-4.jpg
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The top down view here shows the added grip....VERY nice, just the right amount of contour to really get a comfortable and meaty hold on the camera....the grip starts flush with the bottom (see above) but stops a fingers width from the top allowing for your shutter finger to rest when in 'stand-by' mode. Good thinking.

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Here is another view.


rx1grip-6.jpg
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Overall I reckon this is a killer case......the materials, design concept and build quality are all top shelf...and it goes really well with the Luigi's deluxe wrist strap you see in the pics.
Only complaint.....their website is kinda messy and I had a difficult time placing my order, maybe it was a bad evening with their site having server trouble or something but I ordered without being sure afterwards if I had actually managed to do so.
FWIW....I tried the Gariz case and it's a really nice bit of kit with some cool features but I liked the greater coverage of this case. I also considered the Luigi's RX1 case, man that guy makes some sweet sweet gear (should have 2 more Luigi straps in the mail soon I hope)....it was a choice between this and the Luigi's case, opted for this and kept a few extra bucks in my pocket, turned out well so no complaints.



Joe.
 
I wish the "handle" was a slight bit larger...it looks to be a might small and my current grip is the same way...just slightly small...I'm thinking about "padding it up" with some craft foam and gaffer's tape.
 
I have medium to largish hands, helped along by 12 years of carpentry, and I find the grip on this case to be perfect for my hold.....the contour is just right and I am able to curl my fingers around nicely, the supple but grippy leather obviously helps. But we all know, these things are made to a stock standard profile that tries to catch as many people as possible but doesn't get everybody....works perfectly for me which I'm real happy about.
 
that IS a really nice case but for the price...I don't want to order it and find out it won't work for me... :(

You can see how much i built my grip up so that it would be large enough for my hand...it's substantially
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larger than the one you show.
 
I really like this case except for the back...Never used a case with the back cover like that so not sure if I'll get use to it. I brought my RX1 used and it came with a brown gariz case and the sony's original case. I didn't like brown. If it was black I might have used it. With the gariz case, even with the opening at the bottom, I found it very difficult to get the sd card out for this particular rx1 case. It would always scratch my finger nail. The battery was easy to get out. The sony case I like too but is so annoying to take the case off every time I need to switch battery and sd card, and I do that quite often since the battery doesn't last that long. I also offload the photos after every shoot. I have rather small hands so haven't found the need of a grip yet for this camera but wouldn't mind it.
 
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