What camera bags do people use?

[jamez2014]

So I'm traveling to wdw soon and was wondering what bags people use? I'm planning on taking my xt10 and 35mm 1.4 and that's it, but have a few other things to pack with the camera (sunglasses, iPad, manfrotto pixie etc), currently have a lowepro event messenger 100 and wondering if it's worth getting the 150? Or any other similar messenger bags people can recommend?

 

[AUT1GER]

I don't know how much you want to spend, but I love my Billingham Hadley Pro. It is great for mirrorless cameras or DSLRs. It is waterproof, and it is great to shoot out of. This comes with a price though. It is around $200+. I have had mine for 10 years now. It looks classy, and it has aged well.

 

[DizBee Brian]

I recently bought the Peak Design 20L backpack and I absolutely love it!!! Well worth the $$ [if you think about it, we own thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment, why not a $200 bag to carry it and keep it safe/secure?]. I found that it can collapse almost completely flat, which helps when traveling...

I use either my Lowepro Pro roller x200 [as a carry on bag when flying] or my Pelican 1410 [a hard covered roller for traveling via rail or air, in case i have to check the bag]. Once i arrive at my destination, either roller houses my gear in room [both can be locked and joined to something in room, so no one can remove it or its contents] then the PD 20L bag, is used for daily use.

Good luck in choosing and remember you will NEVER find 1 perfect camera bag!! Trust me, I have about 30 of them!! LOL

-Kungaloosh!

 

[chudlyfudly]

I too am a Fujifilm user and like the Tamrac Apache - it's good for probably one camera and one lens plus plenty of space for batteries, cards, other bits and pieces. I currently use it for my X100F plus WCL + TCL, with room to spare. I also have an X Pro 2 which fits in fine with my 16mm, 23mm or 56mm on the camera (all I'd imagine a similar size to the 35mm 1.4) with room for an additional lens if needed.

 

[klmall]

Oh boy! One of those endless answers questions just like camera neck straps!

I own 7 camera bags each of different styles some bought and a couple free with camera purchases. These are mostly Lowepros ranging from the tiny Lowepro Cirrus 100 all the way up to a extreme hiking/skiing Dakine Sequence.

And I have outfitted 2 other non-camera bags to protectively carry my dSLR and one or more lenses. One of these 'retrofitted' bags has a sleeve on the back of the bag to slide onto my carry-on luggage for plane travel and the other is a large waist pack (eyebrows raised) for hiking. I use velcro inserts to pad my equipment and this works very well.

What I have learned over the 15 years is the following:

• No one camera bag will be best all the time in all situations.
• One strap sling bags worn over my shoulder hurt to carry after an hour or two and end up being hard to slide around for access and that includes expensive messenger-style bags that some people love. I actually returned one of these a couple years ago.
• When I go to the parks I prefer a slightly padded waist pack even though fashionistas discourage their use.
• To make switching between some of the bags easier I also puchased a padded drawstring insert; a little bit like the handbag inserts some women use in purses. Here's the one I got but there are many others out there.
• I also carry water, wallet, meds, sunglasses, camera accessories such as lens blower, extra battery, and memory cards plus a snack or two when I go out with my camera so I need lots of pockets and compartments if possible. A couple of my bags have nowhere near enough of these while others have hidden rain covers that can be pulled out if needed. If these features are important to you look for them.
• I have kept all my bags in case I switch to mirrorless eventually and I do lend them out to family etc.

Here are my camera bags:

• Lowepro 200 AW
• Adorama Slinger
• Lowepro Cirrus 100 (somehow ended up with 2 of these)
• Case Logic rectangular bag; not sure of model name
• Timbukt2 (large multi-purpose shoulder bag)
• Lowepro 1 strap sling bag (small/medium size)
• Dakine Sequence (fantastic skiing/hiking bag with fully separate insert bag as well as room for carrying laptops)

Have a great trip and share your pictures when you return!

 

[jamez2014]

Thank you all for the replies got a good few to look at now, and some useful insight to what you use.

I was hoping to go with a messenger bag with camera on wrist strap for quickness and ease, but nothing to big and bulky.

 

[KVH]

One camera and one lens? In the parks? No bag. All the other "stuff" you mention doesn't need a camera bag. Seems like a lot of encumbrance for little payback. Especially something dragging on your shoulder on a hot day. Plus bag check.

But if you really need one, go to LowePro and use the Bagfinder to narrow down your choices with some ideas. But if you're carrying the camera on a strap, you're really just looking for bag - why pay the premium for a "camera" bag?

 

[mom2rtk]

I've used a variety of camera bags through the years. I tend to use those for local outings, but when I go to Disney I always find myself going back to a traditional backpack. I keep each of my lenses in individual padded pouches and just put those in the main compartment of the backpack (usually 1 or 2 extra each day). There's room to add the camera in a pinch, but it's very rare for me to put it away.

 

[zackiedawg]

I'm another of the multi-bag users. I've got bags ranging from full-size Kata camera backpack for traveling with all of my gear including big birding lenses and tripods to a tiny Lowepro Rezo 110 bag that can just fit my mirrorless camera with attached lens, plus batteries, cables, etc. Typically at Disney, I don't need to bring the big backpack - that's more for world traveling, cruises, etc.

If I'm just hitting the park with a camera and attached lens - I don't bring any bags...that's when I want to travel light and not go through security screening.
My lightest alternative would be a small Tamrac Zuma Compact bag, which can fit my mirrorless body with one attached smaller lens and two additional small primes.
Next, I'll move to a cheap Ritz Gear compact bag - this one can also fit the mirrorless with lens attached plus two extra lenses, but the lenses can be a compact telezoom or fat ultrawide.
I've got a Tenba 635 top-load holster - this one is specifically to bring my mirrorless camera with long lens attached - such as a 70-300mm or 100-400mm...if I use the 70-300mm I can also fit a small kit or prime with it.
I have a medium sized Tenba Discovery shoulder bag - this one can fit my mirrorless plus up to 8 lenses, or my DSLR plus 3 lenses - and all random accessories, batteries, and bits.
I have a Think Tank Retrospective Lens Changer 2 bag - this is specifically to carry my DSLR with very big birding lens plus one additional big birding lens, side by side - it lets me hot-swap lenses in the field.

 

[bob100]

I also use different bags depending on the destination and purpose. They range from a small waist pack or no bag to a large messenger type bag that can hold heavier telephoto lens
www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

 

[kcp1377]

I have a ton of camera bags. But as previous people have pointed out, each one has its own purpose. For my XT10, I am using a Hadley Small from Billingham or Lowepro passport sling iii. I also ordered a Tenba BYOB 9 for it (hoping to hold the XT10, 35mm, 18-55 and Rokinon 12mm) so I can use my usual purse or favorite backpack. Fingers crossed that it will work as well as I think it will.

 

[elmoandzoey]

I love such questions. And then reading the answers. Cause then I am reminded I am not the only one who has like a dozen different camera bags at home XD As others have said, it really comes to need and preference.

The largest bag I have is right now is a F-Stop Kenti backpack. Love, love, love it. It's been to WDW with me. It has not been to Universal with me though because it didn't fit in the free ride lockers XD (that made some nice scrambling on that trip to figure out how to bring the camera and extra lenses since I had no other bag with me). The smallest I have is a Clik Elite Access Pack which I take when I just need the camera with a lense attached and no extra stuff (love how it snuggles itself around the camera). Then I also have NY Built bag (which I love because it looks just like a regular handbag but provides enough padding and even space for camer with the 70-200 f2.8 attached). Coming to DLP with me is my Vanguard Adaptor 46 because I don't need as much glass I need at WDW but still need a hookup for my tripod so the Kenti can stay home. For a recent trip to Scotland I got a Jack Wolfskin Atacame which is a transformable bag - you can either use it as a waist bag or a backpack if you have the extra straps attached. That's the only bag I am currently thinking about selling because while I love the idea of a waist bag, that thing is just way too big for me. I mean, the bag packs as much stuff as my Adaptor does and is supposed to be a waist bag. Simply too massive for me. About half the size would be right.

The largest bag I ever had (and lugged around DL for a day) was a Lowepro Photo Sport 30l. It was a nice bag, but for the size of the bag, the camera part was just too small for me. It took a camera with a short attached lens plust an extra short lens and then it was full. The 70-200mm and the 30mm had to go into the backpack itself which was pretty stupid given that the camera part was accessible from the outside only so you always had to take it down, get the lens from the top, take the camera from the side access and then switch around. Interestingly enough I was not the person with the largest photo bag in the parks that day.... I saw a guy with a fully packed Loweport Rover 40l. That was really interesting....

Shoulder bags would be a no go for me in any of the parks, no matter if I took the camera or not. You have to carry your stuff the whole day. A backback with a nice suspension is a lot easier to carry and will result in myuch less back and shoulder pain than a shoulder bag....

 

[KVH]

Maybe think about it this way. For many, a camera bag is nothing more than a device to move somewhat delicate equipment from one place to another AND NOTHING ELSE. IOW, once you get to where you're taking pictures, the bag isn't very useful. Example - You take a pic of the Mayor on Main Street, put your camera back in the bag, walk 20 feet, pull your camera out of the bag, take a shot of a window display at the Emporium, put your camera back in the bag. Oh, wait, Marie is actually out, gets the kids, pose them, take your camera out of the bag, take a shot, and put your camera back in the bag.

See? So if your bag isn't for the camera, you gotta ask yourself whether anything else you bring through the turnstile is really going to make a park experience that much better compared to the incovenience the weight the stuff represents. Unless you are going with multiple bodies and lenses, bags in the park can be worthless from a camera viewpoint. Maybe there's an argument for a belt-type toploader but that's questionable. Of course, this doesn't stop scads of people from bringing as many of their worldly possessions as possible into the parks but that's between them and their comfort and sanity.

I too happen to be in the multi-bag club. Huge fan anything by LowePro's with the AW designator, especially in Florida weather. Then again, I've learned that hanging anything more than 15-20 ounces off my shoulder on a long September day in Orlando is a no-win situation. It's a lesson once learned that sticks with you.

 

[jamez2014]

Thanks again for all the replies I do wonder if I'm over thinking it, the bag I have a event messenger 100, is prob going to be sufficient, a bigger bag will most likely mean more stuff, and more weight not ideal in the heat, so I might take a BR sling with me as well and alternate between the two.

Last time I went I took my lowepro backpack with DSLR and a few lenses and found that to be a burden in the end, hence the Fuji purchase, single lens and nice and lightweight

 

[kcp1377]

Thanks again for all the replies I do wonder if I'm over thinking it, the bag I have a event messenger 100, is prob going to be sufficient, a bigger bag will most likely mean more stuff, and more weight not ideal in the heat, so I might take a BR sling with me as well and alternate between the two.

What, photographers overthink bag decisions? No way! I think your plan sounds perfect. I agree that more space = more temptation to carry more gear. I always want to bring everything, but in the end use only 1 or 2 lenses. I also have to bring some kids' stuff - water bottles, extra diaper/wipes, sunscreen - so I need more pockets than a dedicated camera bag can offer. The Tenba 9 came in and I think it will be perfect for my x-t10, the 18-55 and 35mm inside my diaper bag/backpack. That will make packing a lot easier for me since I don't have to have 2 different bags to worry about.

 

[bob100]

Thanks again for all the replies I do wonder if I'm over thinking it, the bag I have a event messenger 100, is prob going to be sufficient, a bigger bag will most likely mean more stuff, and more weight not ideal in the heat, so I might take a BR sling with me as well and alternate between the two.

Last time I went I took my lowepro backpack with DSLR and a few lenses and found that to be a burden in the end, hence the Fuji purchase, single lens and nice and lightweight

right, and you could easily use a smaller bag if you're carrying just the camera and a couple of pancake lenses

www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless