My name is Erwin. And I am a bagaholic. I’ve been a bagaholic all my life….always searching for the right schoolbag or backpack to fit all my books….always searching for the right briefcase to hold my printouts (and now laptop). But my bagaholic illness really comes out in my need for the perfect camera bag.
When I first got into photography, I didn’t care what bag I used. Anything that would hold my Pentax K1000 with a 50 1.8 would suffice. As I got into taking pictures more, I saw how limited I was with a 50mm, so I bought a 135mm. Had I stopped buying after the 135mm, life would be perfect. But I was doomed. I switched to Canon and kept buying more and more lenses. As I bought more lenses, my then perfect bag would no longer be perfect.
This went on for a while. I had a closet full of bags until I bought a black Domke F2. That bag was perfect. I could stuff practically all my lenses and a couple of bodies and unlike my other heavily padded bags, the Domke did not look big and bulky. I bought the Domke Post Office-style shoulder pad and attached a 1 inch nylon belt to the F2 to help distribute the weight and I was happy. I loved my F2. I loved the way the contents shaped its form. I loved how the black faded unevenly away.
One day, I did the unthinkable: I dried my F2 in the dryer. I had washed the F2 using the gentle cycle and I hung it to dry. Two days later, it was still damp. I needed it later that day so I placed it in the dryer. Well, needless to say, my F2 shrank. Its insert were now about an inch taller than it was. I was heartbroken. I buried the F2 in my bag cemetary closet and shut the door. My quest for the perfect bag would start all over again.
I bought Tamracs, Lowepros and Crumplers. Even my wife bought me a couple of Lowepros (she has since conceded and stopped looking for the perfect bag for me). I went on ebay and camera forums searching for the perfect camera bag. Once in a while I would dig up the old F2 and give try it, only to end up throwing it back in again. I thought about getting another F2 but the EF lenses have since grown wider than the older FDs; to the point that a lot of them do not fit into the unchanged F2 inserts.
One day, I saw and bought the Kata SB-904. Its design was similar to the F2 plus the insert paddings weren’t sown together like in the F2’s so you can customize it to fit your lenses. I fell in love with it. It wasn’t perfect in that it was bigger and bulkier looking that the F2 so I also bought its smaller brother, the Kata SB-902. I’m generally happy with these plus a backpack for when I go hiking.
Lately though, when I go out for a walk and all I really need is a body and a 24-105mm, I take the F2 along with me.
I am a member of Bagaholics Anonymous myself.
I am now shopping for a camera/laptop bag.
I have a couple of Lowepro backpacks, a waist bag, some sliplock accessories, and a crumpler 6 million dollar home.
My newest desire is the Tenba Messenger laptop camera bag.
(And of course, a bunch of other jansport backpacks, rolling duffels, assorted other suitcases and tote bags.)
As i began my career as a pro, I had one camera, a speedlight and 3 lenses - in one bag. Today, I have 40 lenses, 20 cameras, some 30 flashes and:
11 backpacks (Lightware, Lowepro)
13 Domke bags
8 Lowepro bags
7 trolleys (Lowepro, Calumet, Pelican, Rimowa ...)
23 camera bags from different manufacturers
... and some others, I didn't count.
My wifes says, I am a woman. Collecting bags would be a woman's thing, she assumed. My doctor says, he couldn't find a remedy. And my bank says, I should stop it immediatly.
Dou you think I am a bagaholic, too
http://www.derknipser.de/ebay/Taschen1.jpg
http://www.derknipser.de/ebay/Taschen3.jpg
These are only a few from my huge collection :-)))
Looking at bag threads helps fuel desire to try this or that bag. We're all searching for a holy grail that I do not think exists. All bags have compromises like so much else in photography. I finally let go of a bunch of unused bags to finance a new camera. It feels so liberating. Now I need a new bag to house the new camera....
Savas K wrote:
Looking at bag threads helps fuel desire to try this or that bag. We're all searching for a holy grail that I do not think exists. All bags have compromises like so much else in photography. I finally let go of a bunch of unused bags to finance a new camera. It feels so liberating. Now I need a new bag to house the new camera....
Well, I guess this is a completely wrong way, Savas K.
You'd better hold your bags and upgrade to new cameras from time to time. Bags stay forever (some of them), cameras come and go ...
So, you should better hold your bags and sell your old camera stuff to buy new cameras you have the bags for :-)))
Mario Moschel wrote:
...
These are only a few from my huge collection :-)))
Mario
...
I recognize the Tenba at the base of your pile - That was my first "modern" bag (dividers that can be configured for different systems), and it still holds my Mamiya 7 with 4 lenses. Worked for my Canon FD system, but wasn't suitable for EOS stuff.
I have a fair sized collection of bags myself, including backpacks, a belt system, a rolling case, and soft bags by Domke, Tamrac, and as mentioned, Tenba. Like the OP, I like the basic design of the Domke, and wish it were easier to find padded inserts large enough for lenses like the 85L. I also could use a bag with inserts that would hold a pair of 1D with mid-sized lenses attached.
This is too funny, I almost too embarassed to play. I have an entire closet full of camera bags, brief cases, laptop bags, and ever laptop I ever owned. Wanted to keep the laptops just in case I needed something off the hard drive and forgot to copy it. Oh yes and my wife just reminded me there are also two 645 cameras and 10 lenses in there, not counting the ones I am still using. Then if we move upstairs we have my airline travel luggage, let's not even go there.
