Alright fellas. Lets share how you all travel with your cameras & your bag collections. (Bonus points if you got a story to go along with it.)
I personally use my ol wotoncraft scout bag i purchased way back in the day when i first got into photography. It was the most money i spent on a bag. Saved everything i could so i could walk the streets in style 😄
I try to stay away from style as that just puts thieves eyes on you. My pack is an old beat up Osprey backpack and I have my gear in neoprene wraps. The pack carries my gear along with other things I need for the day out. This setup has worked for many years and many travel locations.
I have so many bags I can hardly keep track. It's mainly a question of which destination and what particular cameras and lenses need to fit. Obviously I need a different bag for the 600/4 on birds in South America than hiking in Colorados for landscapes with smaller gear.
I only use backpacks, mostly photo backpacks or a regular backpack with inserts. Mostly important is that they are reasonably water resistant even without a cover and of course I have covers. Muted colors are a must to avoid attention from various species and the more beaten up looking the bag the better to avoid human attention.
For work, I use big shoulder bags. Basically transport bags. I just prep and then hide them somewhere on location.
My favorite transport bag is a rare-ish Domke F-3 Backpack. The bottom half is like a Domke F-3 and the top half is just a big pocket. Also a little $20 shoulder bag from amazon for the second body + lens.
For fun and going out I have a few little point and shoots that I choose one to bring. No extra bag. 🙃
Packing for a wedding shoot in Mexico. Two mirrorless bodies, two flashes, two lenses, batteries, chargers, a P&S digicam, clothes, etc. No transport or working bag this time since the wedding is at the same hotel.
I am all over the map when it comes to bags and stuff.
Recently, for smaller gigs, I've been rocking a Crumpler Complete Seed with a bucket insert:
When it is a bigger production I'm using my ThinkTank stuff:
On weekends when I'm just out with the wife, I tend to bring a 6L Wandrd sling
I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to camera bags. On road trips I tend to bring a Wandrd 31L Prvke. I've got a small army of Crumpler bags in various sizes and colors because I can't make my mind up.
I am all over the map when it comes to bags and stuff.
Recently, for smaller gigs, I've been rocking a Crumpler Complete Seed with a bucket insert:
https://i.imgur.com/dhVSre8.jpg
When it is a bigger production I'm using my ThinkTank stuff:
https://i.imgur.com/coZLl2j.jpg
On weekends when I'm just out with the wife, I tend to bring a 6L Wandrd sling
https://i.imgur.com/cf4RgNz.jpg
I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to camera bags. On road trips I tend to bring a Wandrd 31L Prvke. I've got a small army of Crumpler bags in various sizes and colors because I can't make my mind up.
I had some Domke, I think the F2, back in the 1980s. It was gray and tan natural cloth with a thin plywood bottom insert that cracked. After a few years the smell was terrible and it was impossible to clean and remove the stench. I don't think Domek had poly fabrics back then.
EB-1 wrote:
I had some Domke, I think the F2, back in the 1980s. It was gray and tan natural cloth with a thin plywood bottom insert that cracked. After a few years the smell was terrible and it was impossible to clean and remove the stench. I don't think Domek had poly fabrics back then.
EBH
Yea that crunchy base board is terrible. I took it out and replaced it with a thick domke wrap so the bag is lighter and more flexible.
Most canvas bags turn smelly eventually especially waxed canvas ones. Filson peeps use vodka to get rid of stench from jackets and bags.
I moved on to the Tamrac bags/backpacks in the early 90s and added Lowepro+Tenba bags/backpacks later. I still use the Tamracs for some trips (have about 10), although the backpacks are bulky and don't carry a large lens right. I retired the 2nd copy of the large LowePro due to the high empty weight and moved to Gumba Gears (4 different models). I also have a few ThinkTanks, one of which I had modified to hold and distribute weight better. I have some long lens cases with body straps, but don't hike with them. I'm not sure about counting real backpacks. But I have not done well with them and not so good for the big lenses. There are probably several more I'm not thinking of now.
If I showed a picture today it would be either the GG32L Elite with Canon 500/4 IS II, 100-500, 24-105 and some TCs, two Canon bodies [OR] Canon 100-500, 24-105, 70-200/4, Sony 200-600, two Canon and one Sony bodies. In March who knows what the setup will be, perhaps 24Tilt shift, 15-35, 24-70, 70-200, 100-500, 2 bodies, etc. in a different backpack.
I moved on to the Tamrac bags/backpacks in the early 90s and added Lowepro+Tenba bags/backpacks later. I still use the Tamracs for some trips (have about 10), although the backpacks are bulky and don't carry a large lens right. I retired the 2nd copy of the large LowePro due to the high empty weight and moved to Gumba Gears (4 different models). I also have a few ThinkTanks, one of which I had modified to hold and distribute weight better. I have some long lens cases with body straps, but don't hike with them. I'm not sure about counting real backpacks. But I have not done well with them and not so good for the big lenses. There are probably several more I'm not thinking of now.
If I showed a picture today it would be either the GG32L Elite with Canon 500/4 IS II, 100-500, 24-105 and some TCs, two Canon bodies [OR] Canon 100-500, 24-105, 70-200/4, Sony 200-600, two Canon and one Sony bodies. In March who knows what the setup will be, perhaps 24Tilt shift, 15-35, 24-70, 70-200, 100-500, 2 bodies, etc. in a different backpack.
I moved on to the Tamrac bags/backpacks in the early 90s and added Lowepro+Tenba bags/backpacks later. I still use the Tamracs for some trips (have about 10), although the backpacks are bulky and don't carry a large lens right.
Ohh love vintage Tamrac bags but only the Made in Van Nuys / LA ones with that thin retro fabric. Needed them to carry gear when I shot film-digital hybrid more.
Those old Tamracs were cheap on ebay bc no one wanted them. 👍 Definitely function not fashion 😂
Big Tamrac 610
Old mushy phone pic of small Tamrac, Domke F-3 backpack, and bigger Tamrac next to it
@Sid Caesar, where do you get your Crumplers? I’ve had a 7 Million Dollar home for close to 20 years, but it seems distribution is more limited now and the store I got them from no longer stocks them.
Excited to shoot a special event for a fav client this saturday. Need a smaller transport bag, so the Domke F-4. It's like the Domke F-3 but about 10% bigger and with a base board. Also comes with two inserts instead of F-3's weird fixed dividers.
Bringing total 2 Sony FFs, 3 lenses, 2 full sized flashes, and misc stuff.
chez wrote:
I try to stay away from style as that just puts thieves eyes on you. My pack is an old beat up Osprey backpack and I have my gear in neoprene wraps. The pack carries my gear along with other things I need for the day out. This setup has worked for many years and many travel locations.
