Anyone use a Backpack for their medium format camera system?

Ricochetrider said:

One thing I do like about the smaller Chrome Niko pack is the ability to rearrange the foam dividers to suit one's needs. Although both the Chrome backpacks also accommodate a laptop or iPad currently that's not part of my intended usage. However, I think it essential to have a little extra room to stash layers of clothing in if one is pursuing active movements, IE walking, hiking, biking, X country & downhill skiing, whatever.

Also, Both Chrome bags are made to be outdoors and are pretty well weather proof, as the so all of their stuff is pretty well bullet proof. The
company comes from an urban bicycle messenger background. Honestly, having an extra rain proof cover seems to me that there is just one more thing to lose or misplace... I'm more about reducing elements in the mix- one thing I didn't like about the company F Stop's "system" backpacks.

Click to expand...

So I actually use the smaller Chrome bag you mention- I use a lot of Chrome stuff, as you mention, it's tough, waterproof, and designed for riding, which is what I use it for. I think trying to fit a Hasselblad plus a mirrorless camera in the small bag would be a fool's errand- it's a pretty small bag, after all. I can fit an SLR and a couple lenses in there, or a mirrorless and an slr, a small medium format camera and a small slr or mirrorless, but I doubt you'll fit a Hasselblad, more than one lens, and nearly anything else. I'll also add that I find it to be uncomfortable if it's too heavy- a heavy bag is better held with two straps.

I keep the bag, despite having some issues with it, because it's unmatched if I want to carry stuff on a bike: no one can beat Chrome for functionality in that case, but I don't think they're good bags for walking around. The side access is difficult to use quickly- the zippers are designed to block rain, and they are slow to open. The tripod straps are pretty basic too, and I wouldn't put anything I cared too much about on them. The bigger Chrome bag is quite nice, and I find Chrome's backpack straps to be super comfortable, but it's not usable really unless you take it off, so quickly swapping gear is difficult. Still, they're both very well made bags, but I often prefer a shoulder bag if I'm not actually riding, and if I need to carry a lot, I go to a Think Tank backpack.

Alan Edward Klein said:

My new camera bag carrier. Very convenient. It will even carry me when I'm tired.
View attachment 233004

Click to expand...

Reminds me to Saint Ansel's donkey 'Mistletoe' https://images.app.goo.gl/f9pCLKqj5DrMb9AV6

Ah yes. Ansel's donkey Mistletoe. He must of got the idea from me.

Ricochetrider said:

What's everyone else use?

Click to expand...

I use a backpack for my camera gear. I carry my tripod by hand. I usually extend one tripod leg slightly and hold that one out in front of me, the body of the tripod rests on my shoulder. My shoulder carries the weight and my hand just steadies it. Similar I guess to how one would march with a rifle but with my hand slightly higher up for comforts sake.

Just got this $31 NEEWER backpack for the Hasselblad. Haven't had a chance to travel with it yet but it feels like it will be quite nice for the overnighters to NYC.

500C/M with 80mm and back, 50mm, 150mm, extra back, Metz flash and light meter. Lids holds filters and such, also has a zipper pocket on the outside for notebook. Feels well made, time will tell.

I happened to be on a 3-week road trip when this thread got started, for which I had just purchased a Lowepro Flipside Trek BP 450 AW to carry my Mamiya Universal system, along with my Sony a6000 digital system. I'm very happy with the backpack and would recommend it to anyone who likes its design style. It seems to be on closeout sale right now (ck. your favorite retailer), and available for much less than most quality camera backpacks.

For film, I was carrying a Mamiya Universal, two of the large and unwieldy M-type film holders (the S-shaped ones), 3 lenses (50mm f6.3, 100mm f3.5, 150mm f/5.6), filters for all of them (ND and yellow, mostly), and a Gossen Luna Pro, plus various small bits and 5 or 6 rolls of film at any given time. For digital, I was carrying an a6000, 4 relatively small prime lenses, a couple of filters (they all take the same 49mm size, which was great), battery/charger, extra cards etc.

Lessons learned:

1. The Flipside 450 is one of the new backpacks that opens from the back, rather than the front, and I found this very handy working in the field. Doubt I'll ever use a front-loading backpack again.
2. With all my gear and a medium-weight tripod, the whole pack weighed 25 lbs. But that was no trouble to carry on 2-3 mile hikes up and down mountain trails — the pack's harness system is really good, or was for me. I carried the tripod in a side mount on the pack (as shown in the picture), but it can also be carried centrally mounted. Again, this was not imbalanced or troublesome to hike with (somewhat to my surprise). I am reasonably fit, but I have to be a little careful with my lower back, so I was a little concerned about the carryability issue. No troubles at all.
3. I got caught in a heavy rain once, and the pack's built-in rain cover was super easy to deploy, and it worked perfectly. It's needed, too — if it's not used, the pack will keep a light rain out but not a heavy one.
4. No trouble carrying it on U.S. domestic airlines (coast-to-coast flights). It fit easily in the overhead bins, even without removing the tripod from its side-strapped position, and it got no scrutiny from airline personnel looking for carryons to disallow on full-ish flights.

5. I had a bit too much gear for this pack. Although it all fit, which was great for traveling, it was packed too tight for easy working in the field. I ended up taking my digital stuff out, and carrying it in a small Domke shoulder bag most of the time. The upper compartment (referenced in the photo below) is designed for non-photo stuff (lunch, jackets etc.) and has no partitions. I'm probably going to get a camera insert of some kind that will fit that space, so I can use it to carry the digital gear. Lunch be damned.
6. Not germane to this thread, but the M-type holders for the Universal are a real pain to travel with and work out of a bag with. I had to carry the camera without a back in place and that was a big nuisance when actually trying to hike and take pictures. I'm going to reconfigure my gear as a result of this.
7. A solo roadtrip, with cameras, cool places to see (San Francisco to the Canadian border, mostly on the PCH), and 20 rolls of film, is just about the best.

Here's an annotated picture of my load. (There are several pockets on the front, which can hold thin kinds of stuff [film, small accessories etc.]). What may not be clear from this picture is that the pack is fairly deep, allowing two normal sized lenses to be stacked in a single space. The Universal body is almost 7" tall and fits comfortably with room for a filter pouch on top.

I have two backpacks that I currently use. One for a 4x5, and I have one that I use for an RB67 kit. They're good for carrying as well as storing different kits.

My frame is no longer up the carrying a heavy backpack, so I have a cart that I devised out of a Bag Boy golf cart . . .

https://www.largeformatphotography....p?128968-Photo-Cart-Based-on-an-Old-Golf-Cart

This cart works really well. I found the correct height that balances the load as I walk along. The larger wheels are suitable for semi-rough terrain. Film holders, filters, step up rings, meter, etc., go into the black case.

Versus this large backpack, I now use a Redwing backpack with photobackpacker containers that I've been able to scrounge.

I recently got an Atlas backpack: https://atlaspacks.com

I got the smaller one (the Athlete) for my digital gear but will get the larger one (the Adventure) later for the 4x5 and/or for multi-day hikes into the mountains with either camera.

What separates these packs from the rest of the herd is how they expand to hold non photographic stuff. With most camera packs the only option is to use an extendable collar at the top, stuff a few outside pockets to the max, or strap stuff to the outside. The Atlas packs have a big main compartment, just like a hiking pack, which can expand out and carry the extra clothes and supplies I need to work in a wet or freezing cold temperate rainforest. I love my pack!

Some photos of the Atlas Athlete. It's the smaller pack, suitable for smaller cameras such as Fujifilm X cameras. The Adventure is bigger, so might fit the bill for medium format gear.

Here it is opened up:

Here's a side view of it with basic stuff for a day hike. The second one is almost it's most bloated size, packed for an overnight hike (which I haven't actually done with this pack yet) with a sleeping bag good to 10C and a tent.

Has pockets built into the waist belt that fold away when not in use. Great spot for bear spray allowing gunslinger quick access:

Thankfully, no. Keeping it light, my MF 'system' is a Rolleicord, a light meter, film and a short lightweight CF tripod. If the camera is not on the tripod, it is in the over-the-shoulder bag. This bag also doubles as a 4x5 or 5x7 film holder bag (with light meter) for photographing with the camera on the tripod.

Here's me, camera bag under my arm. Fern Canyon, First Fall Rain, several years ago. Larger tripod that trip -- old Gitzo Reporter Series.

I use a Lowepro Sling Shot 300AW sling pack for my Pentax 645 (original manual focus version) - body with 75mm lens; 4 other lenses (45mm, 120mm macro, 150mm, 200mm); Pentax AF280T flash; film holders; lens filters, etc. It's very heavy, but I'm strong. The sling design allows swinging it around to the front to access things. The waist strap helps with back comfort. Because it's very heavy, it's definitely not for long hikes but it's workable when you want to carry all this gear. I don't think Lowepro makes this bag, which was the largest of the sling packs they made at the time, and I bought used 10 years ago.

ParkerSmithPhoto said:

Just got this $31 NEEWER backpack for the Hasselblad. Haven't had a chance to travel with it yet but it feels like it will be quite nice for the overnighters to NYC.

500C/M with 80mm and back, 50mm, 150mm, extra back, Metz flash and light meter. Lids holds filters and such, also has a zipper pocket on the outside for notebook. Feels well made, time will tell.
View attachment 233270 View attachment 233271

Click to expand...

This is an amazing price. How is it working for you so far? Are the straps comfortable? Any quality issues? Thanks!

Kodachromeguy said:

This is an amazing price. How is it working for you so far? Are the straps comfortable? Any quality issues? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Pretty good so far, although mostly the toss it in the back of the van stuff. When I've had it on it's been very comfortable.

I just use one of those Lowepro hybrid packs, for me it is a Lowepro Primus AW. So the bottom section are for the lenses etc .. Which holds a SLR or a Hasselblad 500 body. If I was using a RB67, I use the top compartment which is designed for non photography equipment - usually people use a smaller camera system and use the bottom section and the top section they put their packed lunch and a sweater ..... As long as you don't rock the camera too much b/c there are no padding that holds the RB snugly.

wiltw said:

I travelled about Chile for over two weeks, with my Bronica ETRSi and several lenses within a DAYPACK and I had the tripod hanging from my shoulder with a padded shoulder strap.

I was staying in hotels and I had a car, so admittedly I was not hiking about everywhere carrying all my stuff on my back.

Click to expand...

That is one of the things I learnt most and still challenges myself. I love to take more gear but I really really should not. You use the magic words, "carrying all my stuff on my back". I even tried to do that with 35 degrees celsius or 95 farenheit in a overseas (Asian) city with non photographers. I carried so much stuff and I didn't even get to use much of it. I had with me a dSLR, a fim SLR autofocus and a manual focus film SLR, a tripod, 2 zooms and 1 prime and even filters and one flash gun hahah. Premium compacts with a 35mm or a 28mm with a fast aperture is a godsend and I guess with one of the more compact ILC cameras.

guangong said:

Fifty years ago I carried a lot of stuff, but gradually realized that most of it was never used. For Hassy I have several bags for different purposes. I have a foam lined and fitted suitcase like container for taking camera, three lenses and incidentals from here to there for a specific task, a leather Hasselblad fitted case for camera, lens, backs, etc with shoulder strap when traveling by car. When roaming about walking I sometimes use the Hassy ever ready case along with a couple extra belt clips for magazines. The Hassy camera case has a great design. On such occasions my non MF camera is a Minox.

Click to expand...

Yes this comment also I would never think of using an RB67 overseas as a tourist walking around haha. Not that insane yet. With the Hasselblad 500 I could but I wouldn't take it out every day with me, one body, 2 lens kinda thing, no tripod and if I did use the tripod I would strategically grab it on specific evenings for a sunset shoot. What I do is that as a walking around bag I use nothing more than a Lowepro Photo Runner bag which is a belt bag with also a shoulder strap. A key point for me also is not to over pack the bag, I could stick in a autofocus 35mm body with a 18-35 and furthermore 2 primes or 2 compact consumer level zooms or 1 lens and 1 flash gun but ......

Yes, years ago with my first Hasselblad system, I bought a LowePro (sp) back pack, with an arched top, no frame, that simply had HD Foam inside, back and forward.

I was able to arrange two 500 c/m bodies, one with 80 cf and 50mm, 150mm, 250mm, three spare a12 backs, an a70back and a 135c and bellows, as well as adjustable shade hood, and at least two of my Minolta meters, double cable and a polarize (I always kept skylight filters on each lens.

As much as it sounds, there was plenty of room between the lenses, etc. I don't take chances on over packing and endangering lenses and bodies!

Film, extra filters, yada, yada, yada, extras, in a Lowepro wrap around pack, about 1six inches deep and 4 inches wide or so, and 8 -20 inches long.

I carried my lenses in a vertical position and almost always, opened the pack laid down, as gravity is no friend to heavy lenses!

I was in my early 20's and in great shape, so I did no even notice the weight, though the bulk was always apparent, but now, in my early sixties, a system that same size, more or less, the less being a 50mm and the 135mm/bellows and A70 back, I joked with my wife the other day, I might start loading the system in my steel garden wagon, for full gear days, out of the house.

The old Lowel pack always reminded me of some of the packs our astronauts wear for EAVs.

Cheers.