Yesterday I showed you what’s in my [camera] bag now I’m going to talk a little bit about the bag itself. My wife and I have carried dozens of packs and bags over the years with a good bit of trail time to find out what works for us and what doesn’t and I can vouch, when it doesn’t work it REALLY doesn’t work. Hike the [Panorama Trail] with an unpadded, uncomfortable waist pack and the red marks cut into your hips will really let you know the pack isn’t right for you at the end of the trip.
Even though I’m currently a die-hard [Lowe Pro] user istockphoto.com has a really good article on camera bags that have set me to thinking about what I sling over my shoulder when I go out shooting.
istockphoto.com: “You may be a [nature photographer], a [photojournalist], a fashion [photographe]r for a glamour magazine, a [stock photographer] for iStock, or all of the above.
Either way, choosing the perfect bag can sometimes be daunting and sometimes be a no-brainer. This all depends on the amount of gear you have, how much of it you want to carry, if you want multiple bags of different sizes to suit both situations and what your budget is.
You might even be a fashionista who insists on everything matching, so if you are of the female gender and have just found yourself described, you may end up with more camera bags than purses. Your camera bag shopping experience might be a little trickier. Especially if you’re dead set on matching a small bag that will hold a camera body, a lens, a flash, a Gary Fong Lightsphere, model releases and a wallet to match that gorgeous new orange sundress and a totally different bag to go with the sexy zebra print camisole and leather pants.
Camera bags are generally padded with thick protective foam and sometimes have inserts with Velcro strips on the ends that literally make it possible for you to customize the inside of your bag, creating protective slots for your lenses, flash, other accessories and of course, your camera body. These bags are also incredibly easy to sling around, whether you have a backpack, messenger bag, sling carrier, hip pack, briefcase or roller.
Unfortunately, most camera bags (and their benefit is this wonderful, protective padding and the fact that you can sling them around with no worries) tend to look similar and SCREAM, “Hi, I’m a camera bag!”
In my experience, many of the typical camera bags [photographers] tend to lean towards in today’s market look quite a bit alike. Basic, black backpacks. And unfortunately, since all our basic, black backpacks look so, I lost mine. I didn’t have a luggage tag on it.
This story does have a happy ending though. I did find my bag and it now has a luggage tag on it. However, no matter what your bag looks like, you may not end up as lucky. Step one on buying a camera bag. If you see that the camera bag DOESN’T have an exterior luggage tag… GET ONE. You will save yourself from an anxiety attack later.”
Photo by John Adams via Flickr.