Using a large lens bag to carry a long camera - making heavy stuff manageable

I had an idea the other day. I'm going to bring a Mamiya 645 with attached Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180mm f/2.8 on a trip. Despite its weight, I want to take it with me pretty much everywhere for several weeks. Started thinking about the best way to do that.



It looks fatter due to the perspective of this shot (not my picture), but the dimensions of the lens and camera, with a 1.5 inch metal lens hood attached, will be about 4.5x5x11 inches. If I added a teleconverter it would be about 13 inches. The weight of it all is 5 pounds.

Lowepro offers a soft case meant for carrying large telephoto lenses with inner dimensions around 5x5x13 inches.



In theory this would allow the camera case to be carried close to the body, lens pointing downward, slung over the shoulder with a strap attached to the rings of the case near the zipper. A strap would also be attached to the lugs of the camera so that you could pull it out of the case quickly by grabbing that. I'd have a compact monopod on a belt clip that could be attached when necessary.

Any major flaws with this idea? Have you done similar, and how was it? I know these bags weren't really intended for cameras but it seems like it could work for a "long" setup.

The goal is to be able to carry it everywhere, walking several hours each day, as comfortably as possible, and still be able to pull it out for use quickly. That eliminates backpacks, or carrying it disassembled. I am relatively physically fit (partially from using this lens ). Will it work?

I don't see any major flaws in your reasoning. Will there be room for a neck strap for the camera?

Depending on the build, the weight of the camera might deform the soft bottom and make it more "torpedo-like". I would explore cutting out a "D" shaped bit of hard board and cover it with cloth or felt to keep the shape of the case if it is indeed made of a soft, non-reinforced material.

Of course, carrying a 645 in a nose-down position, inside of a cylinder, will require you to lock the shutter release unless you never wind-on after each shot. That shutter release on the top of the camera body makes great pictures of feet and bag bottoms when grabbed in a hurry!

I used a padded wine bottle pouch for a similar Pentax 645NII setup.
Worked fine.

Kino said:

I don't see any major flaws in your reasoning. Will there be room for a neck strap for the camera?

Depending on the build, the weight of the camera might deform the soft bottom and make it more "torpedo-like". I would explore cutting out a "D" shaped bit of hard board and cover it with cloth or felt to keep the shape of the case if it is indeed made of a soft, non-reinforced material.

Of course, carrying a 645 in a nose-down position, inside of a cylinder, will require you to lock the shutter release unless you never wind-on after each shot. That shutter release on the top of the camera body makes great pictures of feet and bag bottoms when grabbed in a hurry!

Click to expand...

Thank you! There will be room for a neck strap. Regarding the triggering of the shutter button, I forgot to mention it's a M645J with only the frontal button. I guess that is one advantage that I did not expect when I got the cheaper version of this camera.

choiliefan said:

I used a padded wine bottle pouch for a similar Pentax 645NII setup.
Worked fine.

Click to expand...

Thanks! Cool idea, and if you lose your camera, there's always wine.

I would want a means of using a retaining strap to hold the camera+lens in the case, without them slipping out when the ensemble should get tipped (other than lens-down orientation) when sitting down or bumping against something.
What I might fabricate for the case is to sew a woven strap at one end, then use hook-and-loop at the other end of the strap to secure the strap over the camera body to the mating part of hook-and-loop which is on the body of the case. The illustration shows a D-ring as part of the len case you have in mind...the strap could utilize some clip that connects to the D-ring and unclips to release; or even use a hook-and-loop tape that loops thru and grabs onto itself after passing thru the D-ring

Another suggestion is to consider mounting the lens bag onto a padded belt so it is not swinging off your shoulder.

I like the Lowepro Toploader bags for this type of use - if you can find one that fits.
https://www.lowepro.com/ca-en/protactic-tlz-75-aw-ii-lp37279-pww/
This shows one with a largish DSLR and lens combo, but I did at one time have an older large model that worked with a newer Mamiya 645 (IIRC).

My only concern would be how well the body will fit. The Lowepro Matt posted looks more specifically intende to contain the whole camera. This probably isn't usefult to you, but I have gotten great use out of the Domke F-803:


I use this for my Bronicas. It has a square tube insert that if place in the midde of the back divides it into three more-or-less equal sized sections. I put the camera with lens in the first section, two lenses stacked in the second section, and additional backs in the third section. The front pockets hold the light meter, additional film, and any other misc that I need to brind along. It gets fairly heaevy, but using the Domke postal shoulder pad I can carry it all day.

I think it might be more awkward than it looks. You will have to lift the camera and lens their full length to extract them from the case, and probably with one hand, since the other will be holding the case to prevent it from lifting with the camera. Same thing for putting it back in. My vote would to go for a conventional shoulder camera bag where the camera sits horizontally and just has to be lifted its height to come out. Also easier to put on a chair or table when taking a break.

Try it before you buy, I don't think the one you are showing will fit the M645 with the prism finder.

I use something like this with a Hasselblad V and a waist level finder:

Because it zips down the front, it's pretty easy to get the camera in and out - and you can get these in various sized, the one I have is Nikon branded.

Works well when I'm carrying one Hasselblad with one lens.

I prefer photographic camera bags that load from the top so that the lenses stand up in the bags. Furthermore I prefer them with back frames and belts or straps around waist to keep the bags from moving off my shoulders and hips. I find movable partitions help make the backpacks more useful.

You can use all sorts of brand it does not have to be Billingham them make no better pictures then others.

Thanks for the help. Just a follow up, the Lowepro 5x5x13 case did end up working well, I've gone out with it a couple times and it doesn't hurt my back when its inside there. I added my pre-existing wide strap to the D rings. There is space for the camera's strap, a compact light meter, black plastic film canister and cable release near the top of the bag. It's not hard to get the camera in or out of it because it hangs low enough with the strap I'm using.

Not quite long enough to use with the teleconverter attached, unless I were to remove the lens hood. But that's okay.