Choosing a camera bag…

Disclaimer: I LOVE camera bags. I understand why some women want a lot of purses. No single purse will fit every occasion and no single camera bag will work in every shoot.

There are two things that might help you in your shopping though: first, expect to pay for quality, and second, get over the beautiful photos of the large bags festooned with camera bodies and lenses.

Point one, paying for quality; if you have a lot of equipment, it won’t take long before that ads up to thousands of dollars of gear quickly. You need to protect that stuff. So don’t wince too much when you need to spend $300 for a good bag. It will last you a long time.

Second point; if you get that big bag with 30 slots for lens, four slots for camera bodies, three more for flashes

A promotional photo of a loaded camera bag. I used to drool over these images. What do you think this weighs?

and side pockets for the little things, it needs to come with something else: a Sherpa to carry it. This might be ok if you take the bag from home/office/studio to the car, and from the car into a shooting site where you just pull from the bag all day. But there aren’t too many jobs like that unless you’re primarily a fashion or product photographer.

I still have, and it is still one of my favorite cases, a Tamrac 814. (I think it is an 814. They don’t make this model any more.) And I loaded it full of gear and was trouncing around Cairo one day when I started to take on an “S” shape. That gear was killing my back with continuous walking and shooting. And if you want to keep your gear, you don’t dare set it down in Cairo.

I wasn’t home 20 minutes when I ordered a Lowell Pro backpack. A little more difficult to swap gear in and out of, but a lot easier on the back.

I have a bunch of bags, but here are some favorites:

* Case Logic Camera Messenger bag; This is my everyday bag that allows me to carry my camera and essential gear with me everywhere. I carry a D-700 body with a 17-35 lens attached, and a 70-200 mm lens in the side. I have to detach the handgrip/battery holder and this goes in the other side, along with a SB900 speedlight. I also have room for my Canon HD video camera if I want to take it along. (I shoot video for the Weather Channel, and it isn’t good to run into a nice wall cloud and not have a camera.)

* Tamrack 814; This is a minimal sized bag for carrying a D-700 and two lenses. The 70-200 mm is just too long. But if I get a bigger bag, I’ll just fill it, so I’ll make this one work. It is supposed to be able to carry two camera bodies in this model, but not unless they both have small lenses. Even with two pro quality medium zooms it would be tight.

* Lowell Pro backpack.; this is a great bag. It holds the above gear easily and can accommodate a second body without a lens attached. Or a video camera. This is an earlier version of their packs and the accessories pocket is one big, giant maw. New bags have many smaller pockets to help organized stuff. I recommend this if you carry the stuff I do. (See my packing list below.)

* I have two excellent bags from National Geographic. They caught my eye because I thought they looked good, and I was curious about their quality since National Geographic put their names on them. Yes, they are excellent. I ended up getting a daypack and

Me shooting at the edge of Lake Fagnano in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Everything fit in my National Geographic bag. This is the "Explorer Backpack - Large."

a large backpack. The daypack acts much like the Case Logic bag above, but dressier. I take it when I don’t want to look like I’m carrying a camera bag. The large backpack holds lots of gear and enough clothes for a day or three, depending on where you’re going and what you need. Everything is padded well and looks great too.

I have to admit that I was drawn to the style of the National Geographic bags in part because of Marlin Perkins. You know, the white haired guy from 70’s Sunday night show Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. “The lioness has my leather briefcase firmly in her claws, but my companion Jim is going to go get it back for me. Well done Jim! See to those cuts before you get blood all over the Land Rover.” I loved that show. But I digress.

* Tamrack Velocity 5 case; I don’t use this much any more. My first DSLR was a D70 with the kit lens. This bag worked great as my day bag to keep a camera with me, as well as a few other things. But it isn’t big enough to accommodate large pro lenses. The truth is few bags are designed to work with a whole set of f2.8 lenses. So try before you buy.

* Hard cases; I have two hard cases for carrying gear. The first is a Pelican 1650. I got it both to protect my gear in wet environments, and so I could safely check a bunch of gear on an airplane. There was a problem with this latter plan. I don’t know the exact weight of this case, but I’d guess about 35 lbs. That only leaves me about 15 lbs of gear before the airlines charge me exurbanite fees for being over the 50 lbs limit. I still haven’t really solved this since tripods and stuff weigh so much. I’d get charged for multiple bags too, depending on the airline… Sigh.

My other case is smaller and holds one set of gear. One body, two lenses and a flash. It is my go anywhere in any weather case. It is a Seahorse brand. Works well so far and cheaper than the top of the line Pelican cases.

* Tripod bag; There are times when I need to carry a big tripod, and the rest of the gear I’m packing won’t accommodate it. I have a PortaBrace Tripod bag. It is made to carry big video tripods so I can carry two smaller tripods or even a set of light stands. Odd story; once in St. Louis, I’m at the baggage carousel waiting for my gear to come around. I see the tripod bag on the belt and wait patently for it to get to me when this older (I’d guess 70) lady picks up my tripod bag, carries it over and lays it with her growing stack of bags. Folks, there is nothing common about a bright blue, 4 foot long triangular bag with a wooden handle. It wasn’t like it was a black roller bag. When I went to retrieve it, she seemed surprised; “Oh, is that yours?” Hmmm.

Ok, anytime you have a bag, you’ve got stuff to go with it. Some of this stuff varies depending on where you go, but a few things are good anywhere.

Accessories I carry in my camera bags:
Small flash light
Small roll of toilet paper in a ziplock bag
Lens cloth(s)
Comb
Small screwdriver
Small package of Band-Aids
Sensor cleaning swabs (NEVER use paper products!)
Pen & notepad
Business cards
Memory cards in crush proof case

And when I’m actually traveling with my camera bag as my carry on,
Cell phone
iPod
Water bottle & snacks
Tickets & passport in quick access compartment

I used to carry one of those cable locks where a cable pulls out, goes around your bag and connects it to something solid, so someone can’t grab your bag while you are sleeping at the airport or from under a chair at a restaurant. That is until I had my bag locked to my chair at an outdoor café in Uruguay. It wouldn’t unlock. At all. I ended up borrowing a pair of nail clippers and working on the small cable over time to get the thing cut. It took a while. I’ll get another some day.

All about camera bags now. I’m sure you guys have suggestions, tips and stories. Let’s hear them!

Keep shooting,
Mark