rscheffler
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 p.292 #7 · Leica M/X/T/S/Q/CL/SL Picture Thread | |
Nice image Gregory! The horse really looks like it's floating in air.
Regarding camera bags:
rscheffler wrote:
Tobin, I use the MEC Transit 4 with an insert that I custom made. With the insert it will carry three or four lenses and an M body above the lenses. I can carry 5 lenses if I keep the smallest mounted on the body. If you plan to only travel with two lenses, there will be room for extra batteries, hoods, etc. in the bag. At the moment I use a small cell phone pouch attached to the strap to carry the extras.
The best part is it's about 10% the price of a higher end photo bag like those from TT. But the insert cost me about half a day to design and assemble.
The second best part IMO, is that it doesn't have a cover flap. I tend to change lenses a fair amount and prefer a zippered closure rather than a flap that I have to keep moving out of the way. The zipper allows me to keep the bag open to whatever degree I'm comfortable according to the environment I'm working in, rather than it being entirely covered or entirely closed.
It's a fairly slim bag and stays close to my body. It's not overly padded, nor does it feel very bulky.
The worst part is it doesn't have proper rain protection, such as an extra cover. But, it's small enough that I can carry it under a goretex shell if needed.
...Show more →
So here are some photos...
The bag itself, with equipment inside. As mentioned above, the pouch on the side is something extra I had kicking around and use it here to hold a couple extra batteries, viewfinders, hood, etc.
The zipper you see on the front is a small pocket, large enough to carry some papers. I use it for a cleaning cloth.
View from above with the M9 and ZM35C lens resting on top of the custom-made insert with lenses below. When traveling with the camera in the bag I keep the caps on the lenses below to avoid any accidental surprises, though I may leave the cap off the 35mm for quick photos. Note that I bought the camera used and the LCD cover was already fairly scratched, therefore I'm not overly concerned about the camera rubbing on the lens caps below. A remedy would be a small cloth between the camera and lenses:
View from above without the camera. It's possible to carry up to four 'normal' size M lenses. Something like the 21, 24 or 75 Lux might be a tight fit, though I haven't been able to test that yet:
This is the insert removed from the bag. The initial concept was two pieces of extra thick cardboard cut to fit the slightly non-rectangular shape of the bag. The cardboard pieces cross in the middle to allow four items to be carried without touching each other.. in theory. There were a couple problems with this design: the finely ribbed metal lens surfaces rubbed against the cardboard resulting in fine cardboard particles in the bag and on the lenses. When the bag was fully loaded, everything stayed in place just fine, but during use, the dividers would ride up and lenses would sink underneath. The solution I decided on was to use microfiber car cleaning cloths to cover the cardboard, which I sewed on (using all the sewing skills I could muster  ). With the two dividers together in an X, I then sewed another microfiber cloth to the bottom and along the edges of the dividers. This last step keeps the lenses sitting in the insert, rather than sinking under it. The most time consuming aspect was sewing. A useful aspect of the microfiber cloth, other than its softness, was that it could be cut and welded together with a soldering iron, which saved time by avoiding more sewing:
Lenses in the insert are the ZM21, ZM50P, CV75 f/1.8 clockwise from the right. The insert is just deep enough for the CV75 so that the camera can rest above, flush to the insert.
OK, the bag is perhaps a bit 'manbag' but so far it's the best I've found that is just large enough to carry my M kit, isn't excessively padded (it actually has almost no padding, other than the side against one's body, which I prefer), has a zip top for easy access rather than a flap, and was inexpensive (though did cost me half a day in design and sewing the final insert).
Maybe I should go into business selling these for $100? 
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