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Home >> Learning >> e-Book on Photography Table of Contents Photography e-Book Chapter 8 - Camera Bags and Packs You have bought yourself a nice kit with a good body and a complement of lenses suited to your personal style. Although you gratefully accepted the freebie camera branded shoulder bag from the store clerk, you are finding that,
Do yourself a favor and invest in a good camera bag, case, or pack before you are plucked or break something. I know of one person who has bought himself a decent Canon-based kit but continues to use the freebie bag he received when he did his first major purchase. The branded bag does not even have Canon on it (Pentax) and is so small that he packs his flash in between the hand straps on top of the bag. I suppose he figures the thin leather case for his flash will somehow guard against a drop on a hard surface. No mishaps have occurred but to save himself a piddling amount of money, he has decided to eschew a superior case from Lowepro, Tenba, or any other quality company. An accident or incident waiting to happen and yes he does look like a dork carrying around that cheesy case. Your choice of camera case is dependent on your style of photography. There are cases and packs for just about every style there is. The best ones are made from very thick ballistic nylon (the classic Domke differs with the use of heavy duty canvas) that offer superior resistance to scuffing from branches and shrubs, throwing around in a car trunk, or the occasional downpour. There are several companies offering good products but the largest and most consistently excellent company is Lowepro (and I'm not saying that because I'm Canadian and Lowepro is Canadian-owned, eh).
Having praised Lowepro for their wonderful products, I will admit that I have yet to find the ultimate case or pack but their Street and Field system may come the closest yet. When out in the city doing handheld photography my Street and Field Reporter 400 shoulder bag is what I normally use but even with a modest amount of equipment (35mm or medium format) the weight of the bag will eventually tear at my shoulder and wear me down. Although my shoulder will ache after several hours of supporting the bag, my back is also where the stiffness will surface the next day. Some users prefer adding a waist belt to their shoulder bags to help take the weight off of the shoulders and to distribute it to the waist and legs. Galen Rowell was probably the first to have marketed this idea in a series of bags bearing his name. Lowepro's Street and Field system adopts the idea by allowing a thick and generously sized waist belt to be incorporated with their shoulder bags. Lowepro's Street and Field will even allow you to create a military style harness system in which small bags and pouches can be added as you need. Note though, you WILL stand out in a city environment with such a system on you as most street shooters and pros prefer a photo vest instead. Ah, yes, the photo vest, an accessory that every photographer should own for its versatility. The leader for photo vests is Domke and even wearing a new Domke vest will instantly transform you into a world-weary veteran because new Domke vests look like they have been through hell and back. Industrial-quality cloth here folks so for the fashion conscious, you may prefer Nikon's own boutique leather vest (get real!). Do not wear the vest with your heavy packsack on the trails but do carry it inside and use it to work with the packsack once you have reached your destination. Your heavy packsack can be left at your main campsite and your vest can be used for all the myriad accessories and small lenses you need. If you carry a huge telephoto lens with you, a harness system can be adapted to them or you could use a dedicated lens case to help lighten the load of a Super Trekker sized pack. Noted avian photographer, Arthur Morris uses a custom vest from the Vested Interest for his fieldwork. For heavy-duty fieldwork, many pros and serious amateurs use one of Lowepro's Trekker series backpacks. They range in size from single camera systems to packs big enough to handle a large format system. I prefer a pack larger than what is actually required of the equipment at hand. The major downfall of photography packsacks is that they are all equipment oriented and leave little room for other field needs, like food and water as well as protective clothing. Forget about the marketing crap about how much stuff can be packed in these backpacks because you will not want to hump it all day long with a similarly equipped pack as seen in the glossy brochures. If you did try to pack in everything as seen in the ads you would be as large as an astronaut out for a space walk. The nature of photography backpacks means stuffing in a Gore-Tex rain jacket will cause it to bulge out un-seemingly. The front flap side pockets are often not bellows in design meaning little room for anything thicker than your Kodak gray card (maybe an ultra thin Sony Vaio or Apple Mac Titanium notebook computer but then you would not have any protection for it). Buying a pack larger than is required will at least provide some space for the food and water and if you are very good at it, a tightly compressed rain jacket. I live on the "wet coast" of Canada in case you are wondering why the constant reference to a rain jacket. The best Lowepro packs and cases have the wonderful all-weather cover that will protect your gear in a downpour but what about you? The redeeming feature of Lowepro photo packs is their ability to attach accessory cases or pouches to them but they are also predominantly gear oriented. A small accessory day pack can be attached to a large Trekker pack for the field essentials. The drawback of course is an even bulkier overall pack to carry in the bush. If your style of photography is outdoor-related then you should own at least two photo packsacks. One large Trekker series to haul the gear to your base of operations but another smaller one for those light day hikes in which you are not carrying a portable bazooka of a lens. Lowepro answers this need again and for the money, their Street and Field Rover AW is probably the best mid-sized photo backpack there is. I like this pack a lot and will probably buy one soon for use in the city as well as the trails. The Rover AW (there is a slightly cheaper non-AW version that is not as versatile as the Rover AW) is a two-section pack in which the lower section holds the main equipment and the upper section can be used for anything else. The main pack portion of the Rover AW can be removed from the waist belt and shoulder harness, allowing you to use a military style webbing system if desired instead of a packsack (the non-AW Rover is not detachable). If need be the Rover can handle a 500mm f4 lens by removing the middle partition and using the whole pack for equipment. That would be missing the point of what the Rover is all about, as it is meant for light duty shooting. My ideal configuration of the Rover would be to add the custom Street and Field pouches such as the AW70 to handle a camera and lens attached and a couple of utility pouches for easy access to other sundry items. This configuration allows for quick access to a camera and lens for immediate shooting instead of having to take the pack of the shoulders and opening it up to access the equipment. The pack itself would be used for, guess…food, water, and a rain jacket. I think the Rover AW with a small Gitzo or Manfrotto tripod would be a wonderful way to carry equipment when riding a mountain bike along the trails. The generous size of the waist belt would provide a secure yet comfortable ride. Lowepro's shoulder harness is the best among photo backpacks but it does have a tendency to squeak when walking along the trails. For general-purpose use, there are many choices. I use to own an upright oriented Lowepro Magnum case but grew tired of the two-layer method of stacking equipment. I prefer to see everything I pack all at once and now I use a briefcase style case from Lowepro called the Omni Trekker (this Trekker does NOT have the AW feature). The Omni Trekker is the size of a small suitcase or larger laptop carrying case and works beautifully for my needs whether it is for 35mm or for medium format. The Omni Trekker can also be mated with a Pelican hard case for the ultimate in protection. Whatever your needs, whatever your brand of choice, a dedicated case or pack for your expensive photography equipment is a must and should be given its proper consideration. You spent a lot of money of your gear, why would you protect it with some cheap piece of junk the photo store is willing to give away (actually, because they have been provided with all the freebies direct from the company for promotional purposes). Things to look for in a good camera bag
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Correspondence & About this website Copyright © 1998-2008 Edwin Leong |
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Thick exterior padding
An
example of the type of bag to avoid, though this one is a bit less objectionable
in that the Canon logo is not blasted right across the entire width
of the bag itself.
The
makings of a good photo packsack include the ability to add extra
compartments or accessory utility pouches
The
packsack will have,
1
- A backpack must have thick padding to protect your equipment from
mild drops or accidents. Lowepro packs have thick nylon exterior shells
with a very generous padded casing that fits inside the shell. The grey
interior can actually be lifted out and allow you to use the pack for
other than photographic use but the shell then lacks the support the
interior casing provides.
