Some Thinking on the Subject of Camera Bags

My currently most used bag

It’s a not uncommon topic. What camera bag is best and how many do I need really?

Many of us are afflicted with a case of CBAS, or Camera Bag Acquisition Syndrome, a very specific kind of GAS. Sometimes we are referred to as bag sluts. Ok, rude, but accurate. I admit to owning nearly one of everything that the nice folks at ThinkTank make, at least up to what they made as of a couple of years back and I sometimes wonder (others wonder more often) what the heck I was thinking.

It all comes down to this. While I might want to take lots of gear into the field whether for a field shoot or an on premises studio shoot, I simply cannot manage all that weight and all that kit. The more I carry, the more tired I become and the more likely to not get a shot because I am spending too much time futzing with kit.

If it’s landscape work, I can probably take more stuff because if I have done my prep work, I will have a bit more time. If I am shooting sports, I need to go with as little gear as possible.

Then there are the days where I don’t have a specific plan and want to be prepared but also not knuckle under to bulk and weight.

Lots of folks tell me that if I dumped the DSLRs and went all mirrorless it would be easier. I’ve probably humped more mirrorless gear into the field doing tests than a lot of mirrorless owners have and in my experience the statement that mirrorless bodies and lenses are smaller and lighter is bullshit. Good kit weighs. I’d rather pay the weight penalty for metal than have a multi-thousand dollar piece of glass housed in an all plastic tube. That’s me, other’s mileage will vary.

My airport bag but be careful about what plane is being used. Will fit on Embraers, fill not fit on CRJs

I break bags into three families. Rollers, backpacks and shoulder/slings. I have lots of each. I do not include chest harnesses because they are a pain in the butt, belt and holster systems because they are a superb way to bash stuff and I’m not Batman, plus I spent many years with a firearm and magazines around my waist and my back still reminds me decades later. If you like this kind of stuff, cool, but I am going to recommend against any and all.

I bought rollers specifically because airports put gates as far as possible from wherever you are. Then I had to downsize because what was an acceptable overhead bag, suddenly became unacceptable, although it appears that a giant green duffle weighing 900 pounds and requiring 30 cubic feet of space is still acceptable or at least was when I stopped flying due to the pandemic. Rollers are reliable, protective and convenient for travel and mostly useless in the field. Rollers are the ultimate travel bags but don’t go so big as so your gear has to go in checked luggage. If you do, odds of seeing your gear again dissipate. Thieves are also onto putting your nice big camera bag into a piece of crap luggage. They figured this out a long time ago.

This 36L backpack is brilliant, but easily overloaded. Think more about your shoulders and hips than about carrying everything that you own.

I have rollers where the wheels come off, and where the roller can also be a backpack. I like backpacks because they keep my hands free and so long as I do not overestimate my own endurance, I can take a fair bit of kit with me, or use it for my walkabout work which is a body, a small strobe and 2-3 lenses. I also have a backpack specifically for sports that takes the body with the long glass mounted with a pocket for a 16-35, and a place to strap on a monopod. I would never survive a football game where I am moving up and down the field without this pack. I have other backpacks that are not specialized, useful when I need more gear, or where I am taking multiple strobes. I have no personal shreve. He is me and strobes means light shapers and stands and other stuff. I don’t want to take this stuff far, but have discovered that many of the places I need to work with lights, have no elevators or an abhorrence of anything with wheels.

Since I avoid flimsy tripods, the thought of strapping a tripod to a backpack never enters my mind. I find this capability to be mostly mcmarketing.

While all my Retrospective are version one units, i have them in multiple sizes and colours. For a long while they were not seen as camera bags, but since everyone and their cat started copying ThinkTankPhoto the illusion of not sticking out has been terminated. Nice long straps for cross body work

I lived for years with shoulder bags, starting with a now ancient Domke canvas bag (still have it), then an original Greg Lowe CME Magnum 35 and since then all Think Tank Photo bags other than one manifestly unsuccessful foray into Kickstarter and Peak Design. They’re all great for what they are, but as my shoulders slope more with age, I need the straps to go cross body and while nothing I own is festooned with badges and labels, they still look like camera bags and because they slip and slide, are more likely to get put down and then stolen. Theft is a serious issue, and why I nearly never use a shoulder bag any more.

Too small for any of my DSLRs but perfect for my Leica, three lenses and Metz flash

Slings are the bastard children of shoulder bags and backpacks. I use one for my Leica because the camera and lenses are small and light. My other cameras are full size and I can never get what I want in a sling so while it is convenient to wear and carry, that I cannot hold what I might want makes them a non-starter. Despite lovely marketing, I do not find them so convenient to get stuff in and out of quickly either.

Thus at current course and speed, I am using backpacks, and the one I use most is the Streetwalker model from Think Tank that has wheels. For me it’s the most versatile although I must be disciplined to not overload it with crap that I don’t actually need and be willing to zoom with my feet more.

Do be aware that many Euro carriers don’t allow carryons AT ALL, which sucks and blows simultaneously. In this case as I carry medical equipment (a Sleep Apnea machine), I put the body and one lens in this bag and thus far have been ok. Air travel is a consistent pain in the ass and is not getting any easier.

On a related topic, regular reader Wilf made a comment that many makers advertise their bags as not only being perfect for your camera gear, but also for your keys, wallet, passport, phone etc. I cannot more loudly caution against this. Thieves know what a camera bag looks like and even if you do as I do and put gaffer tape on the bag to cover logos and to make it look like it’s been through a war, you are a target. I have been robbed (in Barcelona where all my gear was taken in seconds) and the last thing you want is to lose your keys, your passport and your wallet. Keep those things in hidden pouches on your person NEVER in a camera bag, unless you are perfectly ok with having them vanish.

Finally, if you do travel, or even if you don’t get rid of the strap that came with your camera that advertises the make and model. Who are you trying to impress? It’s a great way to attract thieves and no one else actually gives a shit that you have the newest hottest whatever. Whether you prefer a narrow strap (I do), a hand strap on the body, or a wide strap that lights up and can be seen from outer space is up to you, but stop marking yourself as a theft target.

All the images are of bags from ThinkTankPhoto. This is the ONLY brand that I recommend. You should buy whatever you like. I don’t look at or care about fashion bags, function is all that matters to me, so distressed leathers, shiny buckles and bags that look like 1890 Africa Safari stuff are never in my personal wheelhouse.

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I'm Ross Chevalier, thanks for reading, watching and listening and until next time, peace.