Bag suggestions

jmooney · Jun 7, 2008

Hi All,

I have a trip coming up and I'm looking for a bag recommendation. I'd like a shoulder bag and here's what I have to get in it:

Leica M6 with lens mounted
Nikon D40 with 18-55 mounted
Nikon N80 with 50/1.8 mounted
Nikon 70-300VR
Nikon 24-85G
Nikon SB-600
Charger for D40
10 Rolls of Film

I've been looking online till me head spins so any guidance in appreciated.

Take care,

Jim

elekm · Jun 7, 2008

Is this for carrying around every day? Or just for transport? Lowepro has its Reporter series. They zip open across the top, so you don't have to unlatch the flap.

I have the S&F Reporter 200AW. It currently is holding an Olympus OM-2 with winder attached, a spare OM-2 body, flash, 75-150 zoom and a 28mm wide angle. There enough room for maybe 10 rolls of unboxed film (just in the cannisters).

I think there is a larger 400 bag, but this bag is about as much as I would want hanging from my shoulder.

Get a high quality bag. If you're going to spend thousands on camera gear, you should spend a couple hundred more to protect it -- that's always been my feeling on camera bags.

I like the Lowepro, Tamrac and Tenba bags. My Tenba bags are from the '80s, and my other bags are either Lowepro or Tamrac.

jmooney · Jun 7, 2008

I forgot mention that it's for transport mostly. The gear I need for the day will be put in a smaller bag or put over a shoulder.

jeroldharter · Jun 7, 2008

If it is for simple transport in your own vehicle, just get a large soft sided cooler with lens wraps from Calumet or f64.

If you want dividers, I think that your gear would fit into a large sized fishing reel bag from Cabelas which is padded and has partitions. Orvis and Fishpond have nice reel bags too but they cost a lot more for about the same thing. Along those lines, Simms and Patagonia make (expensive) waterproof shoulder bags for tackle or other gear made out of rubberized material.

If you mean heavy duty transport, get a large photobackpack because you have some heavy gear. Or for really heavy duty transport (i.e. dust and rain) get the appropriate sized Pelican case.

Large camera bags are often expensive and overkill for car transport. I would spend the money one the bag that really goes on your shoulder.

jeroldharter · Jun 7, 2008

Some links:

Cabelas reel case:
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Fishpond reel case:
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Simms bag:

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Orvis Reel bag:

http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choice.asp?pf_id=96GT&dir_id=11379&group_id=12900&cat_id=12901&subcat_id=12902&feature_id=16

Pelican case:

http://www.pelican-case.com/15caonca.html

Patagonia Case:

http://www.bestgear.com/patagonia+great+divider+bag

Soft sided cooler:

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Calumet wraps and pouches:

http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?ac.ui.pn=search.Search&query=wrap&x=0&y=0

f64 wraps at the View Camera Store:

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Hope that helps.

Christopher Walrath · Jun 9, 2008

Make sure it's a bigger bag than you need 'cause we all know you're just gonna buy more stuff to put in it anyway, right?

GeoffHill · Jun 10, 2008

I use a huge big peli case to transport my gear about in, with the pull out foam. Its invincible almost

blue_iguana · Jun 22, 2008

"I use a huge big peli case to transport my gear about in, with the pull out foam. Its invincible almost"

My first post here, hope I'm doing it right. I'm travelling to South Africa soon and have too much gear to carry on, is it viable to transport stuff in a Pelican case in the hold? Will lenses and Pentax 67 hold up?

Thanks

ben-s · Jun 22, 2008

Jmooney; I have a Lowepro stealth reporter D650AW, which I believe is the biggest one they do. I manage to fit 2 full size bodies, 1 smaller body, 70-200mm f/2.8, 17-40 f/4 or similar, 50mm, 105mm macro, 2 flashguns, wireless flash trigger and flash brackets, lens hoods, a healthy supply of film and memory cards, several full sets of spare batteries, time lapse cable release, lens cloths and a fair assortment of gadgetry like a torch and so on. On top of that it somehow also manages to have room for at least another lens or two, plus a big laptop and a fair few documents.
It's a great bag, but you do need to resemble a pack horse to carry that lot though

blue_iguana; Peli cases will take a real beating and come back for more. A pentax 67 should be fine in one, so long as there's enough foam around it.
Don't separate items with only one layer of foam, leave at least 2 blocks between them, more if there's room.
The only downside is that they're rather heavy to carry for any distance. I am currently borrowing an RB67 that's housed in one, and it feels pretty heavy pretty quickly.

ehparis · Jun 23, 2008

jmooney said:
I forgot mention that it's for transport mostly. The gear I need for the day will be put in a smaller bag or put over a shoulder.

I'd get one of the Lowepro backpacks for transport then work out of it with your smaller shoulder bag. It would be easier to haul the backpack around with that much gear than trying to use a shoulder bag.

TheDreadPirateRobins · Jul 6, 2008

I use a soft-sided cheapie cooler for transport in the car. Things are padded so they don't knock against one another, and a burglar is far less likely to smash a window to get my "lunch."

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