Camera Bag

jonritter

Senior Member
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but what bags are folks using? I have the body 3 total lenses (18-140, 18-55, 70-200 i think) two flashes, accessory bag, a couple battery chargers and a couple other accessories.


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pforsell

Senior Member
I have more bags than I can remember, but my most used bags are Domke F2 shoulder bag and LowePro Flipside 500 AW backpack. Both have served me well and I'm mostly happy about them, but neither is perfect.

The Domke is okay for two bodies and four prime lenses or flashes (from 16/2.8 to 135/2 all fit nicely). The Fisheye 8/2.8 is too big. My biggest problem is not the prime lenses but zooms and especially their hoods. I can fit AF-S 28-70/2.8 and AF-S 70-200/2.8VR (almost too long but fits) in the bag, but not the hoods. The 14-24/2.8 is wide too because the hood is built-in. Even 85/1.4D has a pretty wide hood that's troublesome. Each hood takes the place of one lens. I have been considering the Domke F-1X which has the nickname "a little bit bigger", but we'll see. As I don't use zooms much, the Domke takes two bodies, one or two flashes and 3-4 prime lenses with ease.

Almost the same things can be said about the Flipside 500 AW. I can fit an AFS 200/2VR II or AF-S 300/2.8VR with a body attached in the pack with ease, but if I put the hood in there too, almost nothing else fits in. Without the hood there's room for another body or 2-3 lenses or flashes. Alternatively I can just about fit one body and the AF-S 400/2.8VR separated, but again the hood eats all the remaining space so that it is hard to find a place for even a teleconverter. Lowepro's site has pictures of a newer Flipside 500 AW version II that shows the 300/2.8VR with the hood reversed and body attached, and in that picture there seems to be room for a few extra lenses. That bag has to be bigger than my version I, since I absolutely cannot do that. I will take some measurements and think it over.

Things get cumbersome when I want to take the 400/2.8 and 200/2 with two bodies and two tripods. I don't think there's a backpack designed for this? The Nikon CL-L1 bags that come along the 200/2 and 300/2.8 are okayish for transporting the lenses with car, but not usable for any kind of trekking.

And finally, the Nikon CT-404 is brain damaged. There's ample room to add a recess that could fit a full size camera body, but Nikon has overlooked that possibility. Or if Nikon thinks there's not enough room, why not make the box half an inch bigger? I mean, who's gonna shoot pictures with just a lens without a body? As it is, the box is only 50% usable, imho.
 
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Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Are you mounting your hoods on the lens reversed for storage? This makes the lens and hood take up very little space over the lens alone.
 

pforsell

Senior Member
Are you mounting your hoods on the lens reversed for storage? This makes the lens and hood take up very little space over the lens alone.

Yes. The problem is not the length but width.

(Omg, I hope this doesn't trigger #metoo police :p )
 
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Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but what bags are folks using? I have the body 3 total lenses (18-140, 18-55, 70-200 i think) two flashes, accessory bag, a couple battery chargers and a couple other accessories.
I typically don't get involved in suggesting camera bags because it's much like trying to order one kind of pizza for a roomful of people: everyone wants something different.

That being said, I have a few bags that serve different purposes. One bag is when I need to carry pretty much everything except my "lighting studio" (which goes into the Lighting Stuff Bag); this would be my Manfrotto Pro Backpack 50.

For overflow accessories and miscellaneous stuff I want to keep, but not lug around all-day every-day, I use a cheap Am-a-zon Basics backpack style bag that set me back $20 or $30 some years ago; this bag pretty much sits on a shelf and acts as a storage locker.

Lastly, I have a medium-sized messenger-style bag made by Crumpler that's just big enough for a flash, an additional lens and has some extra memory cards and batteries stashed in it. This is my "I'm Traveling Light", bare essentials, grab-and-go bag.
 
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