I have the Tallee and like it a lot for cities and such. Usually I take the camera, the 17-40, the Tamron 90/2.8 and sometimes the 50/1.8. The 420EX fits in there too, but then one lens has to stay. Cam + 17-40, 90/2.8 and 420EX fits nicely. There's plenty of space for filters, batteries and CF cards too.
It's a sturdy bag and I find it easy to handle. The big flap is comforting and it's secured very well. I really like the strap. But I'm tall for a woman (1.80m) and I've heard some folks find the rather stiff strap uncomfortable. You should try that for yourself, definitely. For me, the bag fits perfectly and the strap is just right to divide the weight comfortably.
The best thing about it to me is that it doesn't really look like a camera bag. I have it in black/grey and it really fits my style of clothing. That's something I don't worry about when I go for birds or macro, but in NYC, I felt more at home with that bag than with my TrimTrekker.
I have never been able to find a picture of any Crumpler bag loaded with equipment.If anyone has one, it would be great if you could post a picture so I could get a feel of how it is to put gear in and take it out. Thanks.
Cindy Flood wrote:
I have never been able to find a picture of any Crumpler bag loaded with equipment.If anyone has one, it would be great if you could post a picture so I could get a feel of how it is to put gear in and take it out. Thanks.
I'd love to, but my husband has taken the 10D with him on a trip, and if I put the camera in there, I can't shoot the bag. But if you follow the link in the original post, you can click on "See inside this bag" and get a glimpse of what it looks like with gear inside.
You really should get a feel of it in a store, if possible, the material is amazingly stiff and you should definitely see if the bag fits you before buying one. I know it's hard - the next decent Crumpler store is a 2 hours drive away from us, too.
Yes, I would definitely recomend trying one first. When I was in D.C. I bought one, then immedeately returned it because:
A) It was way too stiff
B) It had way too much padding
C) It was much too heavy even without gear in it.
I returned it and bought a domke which I am much happier with. I've never used the bag but the compact Domke F-5xb looks like it would fit all your gear. Here is a site with some pictures.
I was on a boring conference call this morning… took the opportunity to multitask.
The bag.
I am not a big fan of the inserts save for maybe one in the top compartment. It does come with many:
Main compartment with 20D+grip and 24-70mm:
Main compartment with 10D and 50mm:
Main compartment with 10D with 50mm, 2 dividers, 15mm Fisheye and 70-200mm:
Small top pocket, good for thin items only:
Bottom compartment with no inserts:
I lay the 550EX flash flat in the bottom compartment sans inserts. There is room for the OmniBounce, too (not shown):
The front pocket can take batteries and a few small items:
Note that the strap is sewn in at an angle, i.e. the bag is meant to be worn across your chest, and it doesn’t hang as nicely if you carry the bag over one shoulder:
Well built with a bombproof Cordura-like material, heavy stitching, very strong (and loud!) Velcro.
I just bought the 15 love off of the Buy and Sell forum, and while I like it, I was surprised at how strange the internal design is, and how heavy the bag is. I strongly recommend trying one out first. For what it's worth, I'm still mostly using my Tamrac Velocity 7, it holds nearly the same amount of gear (for me, mostly primes), but is more compact and lightweight. I think I've heard people mention that if you have a longer lens you might need the Tallee, which I would tend to agree with based on depth of the bag.
Being a Previous Owner of the Tall-E here is my opinion.
Build quality is very well done, all hand stitched.
But saying that The Bag is Very Stiff and will take some breaking in.
Fit a 10D Body, 28-135IS, 17-40, and a 50mm, and Flash well.
After that it got tight. Cords and accesories were a bit to hard to access.
I tried putting the 70-200 IS in the bag and it Fit just barely after struggling to close the stiff top of this bag.
All in all, for the right lens and body choice is a decent bag.
I have since moved to A Tamrac Backpack and am delighted to say it fits all my gear and is still somewhat compact.
dennisgibson wrote:
can you fit the 70-200 in there when it's mounted?
Here is the 70-200 f/2.8 mounted to a 10D. I'd say when it's set vertically it's not a good fit. The bag closes but just barely (although you could extend the Fastex buckles easily with a tiny bit of webbing).
Set at an angle it works better, and could work in a pinch or on occasion, but it would not be ideal for long-term use, IMO. Top flap closes easily.
Note that there is not a lot of padding on the flap itself so in both of these scenarios, the end of the lens is somewhat exposed in the event that something blunt hits your bag. All you've got is the flap, your lens cap and your filter (if any), really no padding.
PS - If nobody in your area carries Crumplers, checkout eBags.com. They carry Crumpler and have a generous return policy (they even pay for it). No affiliation with eBags, just a satisfied customer.
my crumpler bag can fit 1 camera (without grip) with 1 flash & 1 lense (16-35), if its with grip it only can cover 1 camera with either 1 flash or 1 lense, however I have the tube o lager which can cover any other lenses. If you dont want attach tube o lager on your bag, you better off buying Love15 bag.
I saw one in Europe ; tried my 1D2 in it (I was looking for a bag to keep, (worse case a 1D2 with 70/200 2.8IS attached, (stored vertically!). Although it had a removable partition at the bottom to take a long lens, the bag just seemed too small to properly close with this body. I had to really stuff the body in it.
I like the non-camera bag style and strength of the crumplers, but this one seems too small for a reasonable fit, unfortunately...
Thinking of getting either of these bags for days when I want to travel light - 20D with 17-40/4 or 135/2 lens and a 550EX flash. 
